Remember, Remember
The following speech was deliver by V to the citizens of London in the movie V for Vendetta. It sums up my thinking quite accurately.
“Good Morning, London. Allow me first, to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of the everyday routine, the security of the familiar, the tranquility of television. I enjoy them as much as anyone.
But in the spirit of commemoration whereby those important events of the past, usually associated with someone’s death or with the end of some awful bloody struggle, are celebrated with a nice holiday, I thought that this year we could mark the Fifth of November, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat.
There are those, of course, who do not want us to speak. In fact, I suspect that right now orders are being shouted into phones and that men with guns will soon be on their way.
Anything and everything will be done to stop me talking to you.
Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. The truth is there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there?
Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And here once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission.
How did this happen? Who is to blame? Certainly there are those who are more responsible than others and they will be held accountable. But again, if truth be told, if you are looking for the guilty, you need only look in the mirror.
I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be. War, terror, disease. Food and water shortages. There were myriad problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you and in your panic you turned to the now High Chancellor Adam Sutler with his gleaming boots of polished leather and his garrison of goons. He promised you order; he promised you peace. And all he demanded in return was you silent, obedient consent.
Last night, I sought to end the silence. Last night I destroyed the Old Bailey to remind this country of what it had forgotten. Four hundred years ago, one of our citizens wished to embed the Fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice and freedom were more than words – they are perspectives. So, if you have seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I suggest that you allow the Fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see – if you feel as I feel – if you would seek as I seek – freedom from their tyranny and an end to their oppression, then I ask you stand beside me one year from last night outside the gate of Parliament, and together, we shall give them a Fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot!”