The Big Lie

"From the first, let us dispense with the Big Lie. You know the one we refer to: the eternally repeated claim that we cannot make real and deep and radical change in our way of living, even if it is the right thing to do. The Big Lie narrows both our perspective and our perception of our alternatives, while making our failures seem natural and inevitable. The Big Lie claims that we are cowards, that we are weak, that we are no longer the inheritors of our revolutionary past and that we lack moral integrity. it is a slander, and yet we believe it. And until we stop believing it, we cannot lift our hands, our voices or or shovels and get on with the work of change.

So let us dispense right this moment, today, now, with the Big Lie. We can be the moral descendants of those who fought back against slavery and oppression, those who overthrew unjust rulers, who marched and stood firm and said "No" and backed it with their action. We are those people - there is nothing inherent in us that makes us less courageous or less good, strong or moral than the world's ordinary, heroic people. All we need to do is to begin, to take up the courage and honor, morality and strength as our banner, and to bury the Big Lie beneath a thousand working shovels."