Monday, 4 January 2010

What I'm reading: "The Secret Freedom Fighter"

If you want me to commit to reading a book, then make the opening line, "Please smuggle this book into any country you can. No other single work can do more damage to enemies of freedom."

Full text here

The Secret Freedom Fighter is a 1986 book by an American (who else), Jefferson Mack. It is a guidebook, explaining the weak points of tyranny, and making the suggestion that individuals act alone and in secret, but working towards the same collective goal: to sabotage the tyranny from the inside; to regain freedoms lost.

Although its contents are still more relevant for unfortunate areas of the third world, the author was even then well aware of the threat that 'it' could happen 'here' (first world) at any time. In fact he apparently uses as an example a Red Dawn style Soviet invasion of the United States.

The concept of 'secret freedom fighters' reminds me of slave labourers working in German factories during WWII, who would deliberately loosen parts on a tank, or even simply jam moving parts with cigarette ends, so that they would fail in the field when they were needed. Certainly, this is the kind of thing the author of this book would approve of.

As for 'one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter', the book specifically rejects any concept of 'collateral damage'; its subtitle is Fighting Tyranny Without Terrorising The Innocent.

More on this to follow.

Edit: full review here

1 comment:

  1. Wow, I started reading this. Its pretty amazing. I need to find a print copy.

    ReplyDelete

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