SolarGeneral Proudly Presents...
...by James Mason
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I've just stated that your first time up against the Big Brother System– just like a brand new boxer's first time in the ring– isn't likely at all to be a winner. In fact, the first several times, one is likely to fall flat. We recalled that it was Nietzsche who said, "That which does not destroy me only makes me stronger", but we have to include the unspoken proviso that says, obviously, if you take a hard enough blow from the System to the point where you are more or less permanently incarcerated or otherwise seriously handicapped, you can count yourself effectively out. It has been observed that the road to the palace leads through the dungeons, and Commander Rockwell changed that to read that the road to the White House leads through the jails. We also said that the object is to deliver our blows and yet avoid the jails at all costs. We've said that in the event of an arrest, you shouldn't expect to be shown any mercy (and nor shall we show it on the day the tables are turned). We've seen cases which demonstrate that System persecution can and does make the sufferer stronger and sharper as a result. I've experienced it myself where such things can provide the opportunity for new commitment and new beginning. We've said that, when it comes, it is your duty to take it like a man.
The final thing to discuss on this matter is the personal decision of just what and how much is acceptable. Robert Miles, in his FROM THE MOUNTAIN newsletter, advised NEVER let them put you in their prisons. Prison is one of the hardest realities. When faced with the certainty or strong likelihood of going to prison, one of the most difficult decisions is whether to submit and hope you will come out alive and in one piece or whether to resist, either by going completely underground or by dying in a final act of supreme defiance. These are the things each and every revolutionary must have already carefully sorted out in his mind well in advance of when such a situation may arrive.
The cases of James Earl Ray and Joseph Paul Franklin are illustrative of what, to me, would be totally unacceptable. On the other hand we see Rudolf Hess and Charles Manson bearing up quite well and admirably as it is their belief that suicide under conditions of mere confinement is unmanly and dishonorable. Michael Pearch and Fred Cowan chose death1 in their gun fights with police, rather than a life– and death– in hellish prisons. One circumstance that does very definitely make the prospect of even minimal confinement appear outside the bounds of consideration is the thought of prison after having not struck a significant enough blow at the Enemy first. In short, prison as a result of failure, as a result of inaction. I know I could not tolerate the idea for myself.
The mark of a true revolutionary movement is that its members make their own choice as a matter of proper course as duty and circumstances dictate. They avoid situations where their actions are governed by stimuli applied by the System, such as pressure and fear. Proper decisions are seldom made under such sudden and always inopportune constraints. The revolutionary moves FIRST. Decide what your course shall be well in advance. Have your plan well laid so that the possibility of arrest, imprisonment or untimely death may be reduced to a minimum. It is an inescapable reality that the Underground must be built, the Underground Army, and as any student of warfare knows, an army of volunteers far surpasses one of fugitives. As a sudden fugitive, your chances of successfully adjusting to and functioning within an underground environment are tremendously reduced. As a volunteer, you first prepare and then choose the time and place.
In revolution the price of failure generally is death. So whatever you do and whatever course you choose, don't sell yourself cheap. MAKE IT COUNT!
[Vol. XI, #8 – Aug., 1982]
1Michael Pearch, killed in 1975 by police in Wheaton, Maryland after the shooting of black victims in automobiles. Armed with guns and a machete, he was referred to by eyewitnesses as a “smiling gunman”.
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