An Idea of Freedom…
September 19, 2007What is the price of freedom? How expensive is this thing called freedom? How badly do you want it and how far will you go? The Blogger will say ‘a blog a day’- by this he means the spare 30 minutes he has after he’s finished his ‘busy doing nothing but socialising’ on hi5, hoping the PS doesn’t notice or simply disregards, NGO’s will say ‘a press release a day’- after checking with their bank manager making sure the funds for another noisy and nosy ‘save the jido’ or ’save the boto’ campaign has arrived, the lawyer will say ‘a court appearance a day’- checking himself two times, no three, no four times in the mirror before he presents himself to the judge in his private chamber (for legal things I hope), well, the list is endless and shows how accustomed we have become to bullcrap routine formalities that is doing nothing to get back what we have lost- FREEDOM and those thousands of jobs. Give me my back my freedom. We the people demand our freedom. Today we shall sing of a beautiful land so far away yet so near, of a soothing voice we long to hear and should we chance upon death on this path to liberty all the more louder shall our merrymaking be.
For to lay down ones life for ones country is one of the most glorious acts of sacrifice a man can do. For in doing so one does not necessarily die for the country. For one does not die for the land, nor for the houses, the cattle, or fish. One does not die for the chief, the pampered Ratu or the Adi who will dine on roast pork tonight with a sprinkling of european dressing splashed on top to give that saliva dripping effect and a glass of the finest French wine to wash it down - while the rest of the villagers scavenge the bulago from yesterday- nor does one die or should die for the military officer who uses his soldiers as human shields. For one is a gluttonous fool, an overfed piglet with a never ending appetite for sex, wine and swine whose achievements pale to insignificance when compared to that of his predecessors, his fathers of yesteryears, conquerors who led the battles in those glory days of tribal warfare. The other is basically a coward and an idiot whose never ending repetitions of ‘progress’ in his speeches supported by a miniscule list of achievements makes me wonder if I’m still in the 80’s watching a clip from the three stooges. But one dies- and if one dies- for his country and her people, for her children, for her fathers and mothers, for her brothers and her sisters, for her future. For only in sacrifice can the children of this country be provided by the generation of today a hope for tomorrow. One must put aside ones social status, and other materialistic pleasures that are nothing but the devils trappings to cocoon us in a never ending cycle of selfishness and fear.
For an enemy approaches and I fear is already in our midst disguised as a friend. An enemy never before faced, never before known, never before engaged. A spiritual enemy that has found a place in the hearts and minds of willing vessels, terrorists. Taking the form of a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, it seeks to shatter age old traditions and customs of the i Taukei and render the i Taukei landless. An enemy, that, in its very nature is evil. It dreams, but only of evil. Motivated by greed and hate it seeks only to invade and plunder the wealth of the Owners of this Land. An enemy that, instead of bridging the racial divide, has widened it more. We must not flee in the face of this threat, of this demonic horde, imminent though it may be, we must stand and fight. Neither must we be foolish to throw oneself carelessly into its open jaw. I could never even imagine the thought of my bones being crushed by its rotten teeth. But we must, in all sleekyness and slyness, foxily outwit the enemy with our ideas, small as it may seem but when put together collectively we could make Hiroshima look like childs play. I do not, however, propose that we build bombs and guns and bazookas! Heavens no! Far be it from me to turn my little paradise into a terrorist playground, a wasteland. God forbid that such ideas ever see the light of day. I am simply talking about ideas. Simple ideas. Simply.
Think about it. A spiritual, intellectual, cultural kind of bomb searing through every fabric of society, ignited by the desire to change and fused with a progressive mindset, breaking every wall and destroying every barricade that for the past twenty years or so has robbed us of our rightful inheritance as children of God, the i Taukei, custodians of this land yet willingly sharing it with those who deserve it. Think. About it. A bomb that could go off tomorrow and with it the racism, the anger, distrust, and pain that has so far succeeded in separating the Indians and Fijians, tearing this country apart and economically slowing down our progress. A bomb that, instead of resentment brings forgiveness, instead of hurt brings healing, instead of hate brings love. Think about it. Is it possible? Maybe. Its only an idea of freedom.