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Chapter 11. Over to You

Tyrants can live happily amidst slavery, provided they are the masters. Tyrants can live happily in a police state, provided they are the oppressors. Tyrants will happily see our civilisation crumble to dust, provided they get the biggest pile of dust. But they need help.

Look at yourself. Be honest. Few people are tyrants, but many people help tyrants. Are you one of the tyrants’ little helpers? In the scam operated by the tyrants, there are many shills. They are often marks who were innocently drawn into the scam, but now stay to get their share of the payoff. There are “enforcers” who punish dissent. There are “enthusiasts” who cheer-on the tyrants and excuse their greed. But once you consciously notice the scam, and realise that it is immoral, you cannot participate innocently any more. What are you going to do?

Carroll Quigley summarised Western civilisation in the phrase “the truth unfolds in time through communal effort.” We never see a final truth, just closer and closer approximations. I have struggled in this book to carry you and me closer to the truth. In writing it, I certainly learned some new things. I’ve made mistakes, I’m sure. Maybe you can do better, build on this. Let me know.

In a thousand years from now, when the Clock of the Long Now next strikes the millennium, what will history show? Few of us can do anything significant, but if we all do nothing, we hand victory to the tyrants, and most likely oblivion to everyone.

So what should you do now? I can’t tell you what to do. The right thing is going to depend on who you are and where you are. So look around. See clearly. Make up your own mind. Work together. Find the right thing. Do it.

Good luck.

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