With the arrival of my firstborn less than two weeks away, this is the overwhelming concern in my mind.

What type of world will he mature in? When he’s my age, will there be any property rights? Will the existing remnants of Capitalism be extinct? Will enough people in this nation wake up from their mental slumber and realize the path we’re heading down? Will it be too late?

Despite the desire to be parents that my wife and I have held for so long, I’d almost come to the belief that it would be an injustice to sentence a new individual to the potential hell that this place could become, likely within their lifetime. Why did I ignore the risk? I think it was the sliver of hope that perhaps our offspring, while certainly being element of joy in our lives, could also serve as a fellow agent of reason; a teammate, a person that will see others as individuals, not as members of a collective; a person who will value reason, productivity, unwaivering principles, morality, self-reliance and his family.

Below is a representation of the same mindset by another individual that see the graveness of our situation.

(Edited 12/13/07 - I’ve been made aware of other opinions from this author that I do not subscribe to. That being said, I do understand and agree with his sentiment to the extent that it is conveyed in this piece, although our definition of the inevitable dire circumstances at hand are possibly very different. The doom I’m referring to is that of life with limited personal and economic freedom in a nation under the reign of Statism.)

By Louis Beam

What will you tell your children when the long dark night of state tyranny descends upon America? Will you tell them the truth? Or will you pretend to them that you did not know?

You have allowed yourself to be fooled for many years. That is why America is in the political, religious, moral, and social decay it is in. It was easier for you to watch television than to bring the POW’s home from Vietnam. It was easier to attend sporting events then to replace your corrupt congressmen or president with an honest one. It was easier to vote for the lesser of two evils or not at all rather than to work for those who you were told did not have a chance of winning. It was easier for you to be politically correct, jeer, and make sarcastic comments about “patriots,” gun owners,” and “religious right wingers” than to join with fellow countryman who were concerned about your homeland. It was easier to believe lies than to search out the truth.

Because you have taken the easy way out, life will not be easy henceforward, not for you, your children, and those you have made fun of.

You have betrayed not only your countrymen, but the past, present, and future. Your ancestors passed on to you the sacred torch of liberty. You personally, by inaction, have allowed it to be almost extinguished. The present moment, this brief time you were given here on earth, was your moment, your chance to give meaning to your life, to make a difference, to leave this earth a better place than you had found it. Instead, the future you have bequeathed to your children, will be because of your complacence and inaction, an ugly one of little happiness, safety, and freedom. All of this so you could take the easy way out.

It was easier for you, oh weak man, to do nothing rather than to do anything. You thereby leave your children nothing of value. Nothing lasting. You bequeath to them a hollow existence, the toy of tyrants, the slave of evil men. What will you tell your children?

Future generations shall curse your name, your grave, and your memory. But worse yet, what will you tell your children when they ask you why the long dark night has descended upon them?