Liberty Is An Inside Game

By Chris Rossini

Let's say a friend approaches you and says, "We really need to fight what is going on right now. We need to fight this belief that 2+2=5."

You respond that 2+2 never has, and never will, equal 5. What is there to fight? It's not real. How do you fight something that isn't real? 

And why stop there? 

2+2 doesn't equal 55 either...or 555...or 5 million...

Must we fight those too? Isn't the "fight" over at the moment that you acknowledge, accept and believe that 2+2 always has, and always will, equal 4?

You've won! There's nothing to fight.

But your friend replies, "No, you don't understand what I mean. That person believes that 2+2=5. We need to fight and punish that person."

To which you reply, "No, it is you that doesn't understand. That person is already punishing himself. He's decided to believe in the unreal and the untrue. He is deluding himself and has sentenced himself to a life of frustration."

This is a world of free individuals. We have the power to seek the truth and live by it, or we can create our own delusions and struggle every day because reality will never match up with our delusions. 

This is an inside game that we all play.

The life and experiences of the person who accepts and lives by 2+2=4 will be very different from the experiences of the person who insists that 2+2=5.

Fortunately, since we are free, we can always change our minds. Someone who once fervently believed that 2+2=5 can right his own ship. He can let go of the unreal and embrace the real.

Usually, this change occurs when he hits rock bottom and the pain of hanging on to the unreal becomes just too great to bear anymore. But it doesn't have to be that way. He can avoid rock bottom and change his mind right now. But it's 100% up to him! There's no reason to "fight" him. He's in this fight with himself.

Furthermore, instead of looking for a "fight" with someone else who is in error, it would be much wiser to root out our own errors. Perhaps we don't have a problem with 2+2=4, but since no one is perfect, we certainly have a problem somewhere else. Best we focus on righting our own ships instead of trying to take the wheel of someone else's.

Your friend sees the logic, and starts to get it. But he's still not satisfied.

He says, "Ok, so we don't have to 'fight' that person. But what can we do? I'm not the type of person that can just sit around and watch people follow each other off a cliff like a bunch of lemmings. What can we do to help?"

You reply with one word: "Speak."

"Speak what?" he replies.

"Speak the truth. Explain to people, in the best way that you can, that 2+2=4 and there's no way around it."

"But other people can be really nasty and mean," he says.

Yes, most will call you names. That seems to be the default response. When you speak to 10 people, 8 of them will call you some kind of name.

So be it. Let them go on their way. 

Your great interest is in the 2 out of 10 that are open to new ideas. Those are 'the fish' that you're interested in catching each time that you speak. 

When you go fishing, do you focus on the fish that you catch, or the fish that you didn't catch? 

You focus on the catch!

Maybe you even take a picture with it, and message it to your friends!

​You don't even think about all the fish that swam right passed your hook. They went on their own way.

Let's say you use the technology that is at your disposal, and you reach 100 people. Yes, 80 will give you a nasty and snarky reply. They'll find a way to laugh at you. But your interest is in the 20 that nod in agreement with you.

What if 1 of those 20 that you reach is a high-powered CEO who has the reach of 100,000 employees and (thanks to you) starts to weave in the truth when he speaks to them? Out of 100,000 he picks up 20,000 that nod in agreement.

Your speaking the truth has now led to it being spoken to 20,000 people!

Hopefully you can see why George Washington said: "Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth."

This is how the truth prevails.

This is how Liberty, since it is the truth, must prevail.

You don't 'fight' that which doesn't exist and isn't real.

You speak that which is real and true to as many people as you can. 

The rest will take care of itself.