Tom Kawczynski - Off the Record

Although I've had several blogs through the course of the last few years, this one has certainly been the least personal of any that I have written.  As I have become more involved in public life, I have come to believe that is a necessity; that I limit what I share lest that be used in an unfair way against me.  That said, I want to take one post here to talk about my feelings.

I am someone who works very hard to find a way to a better future that is sometimes difficult to see.  When you advocate for liberty, sometimes, it is hard to grasp what it is you are actually asking.  The best metaphor I can think of is that liberty is like air, no one seems to think about that much until it thins, until breathing becomes difficult, or until it is gone and you can only choke when you try to inhale.

Sometimes, I feel like I am selling hot air.  There are times when my words are difficult to share because I'm really trying to promote an idea.  Where others promise tangible rewards, I only am able to offer this idea of freedom.  I think it more precious than anything that any program could possibly offer, but not everyone sees it that way.  Not everyone sees that as the price you pay when you let someone else make a decision.  And honestly, it isn't always so black and white in this world.

For all that, I know to my core that this is right.  I imagine what the future will be, and what will be the foundation of who we are as people.  I think of myself.  I want a world, terrible as it can sometimes be, where I have the chance to determine my own destiny, explore my own ideas, express my own personality, and shape a life for my family based upon the strength of my will, reason of my ideas, emotion of my heart, and imagination of my soul.  I am willing to give up easy for good.  Even if you could have everything paid for and we wouldn't go bankrupt, it wouldn't matter, because it didn't have a price.  We invested nothing.

So, the future.  My values never change; I just become stronger and clearer in my expression and expectation.  Perhaps I become more radical, because I feel principle matters more than pragmatism.  You can compromise on policy, but not on belief.  That is where people lose themselves.

I have a few projects.  I will continue working to build a media that exposes corruption.  People deserve to know what happens in their country, what the relationships are between candidates, campaign finance, contractors, and parties.  No turning a blind eye, and no accepting what should not happen.

It's a new world, but to find independence, one must be willing to independent, and to walk the long road with their head held high even when the end is clearly nowhere in sight.