The Moth Speech

Sept 2021 Melbourne .
Still applicable today

To all my fellow Freedom Fighters,

I have always been intrigued by how, if you switch on a light in the darkness, you attract moths.
Why? Are they lost? Or are they butterflies who have been coerced into thinking that night is day? Until they see a greater light and not only realize they have been tricked, but also that they are starving for liberty?
The leaders of what used to be the free world have something we do not: a vision for the future.
This vision allows them to justify manufacturing this current darkness. They call it the ends justifying the means.
And they are so committed to reaching their new dawn that they are switching off our liberty.

Some of our brothers and sisters, who we claim are asleep, are not only awake but are now purposely complying, believing that when they reach this new dawn, their loyalty to these leaders will be rewarded.
But many others are just lost.
And then there is us—these small, small groups of resistance fighters reacting to their meanness.
But the question that has been intriguing me is: What is it that connects us?
Now I know. We are united by values that they have already sacrificed:
Decency, honesty, empathy, and courage. Or, to use another word... humanity.
And humanity is our best hope.
But while hope can be an engine for defiance, it's not enough.
What we need to do now is come together and create an alternative vision.
And we have all the values to create a culture that the majority of people would prefer to live in.
We just have to see it—in our heads and in our souls—and then, then we have to market it.
Think of it like switching on a powerful light in their dark.

At the moment, all of you are determined candles flickering in their winds of change.
But a communal vision will become our greatest weapon. One so powerful it will even override our greatest weakness: our leaders' egos.
A weapon so bright that, to our brothers and sisters lost in the dark, we will be the new dawn.
But for now, our country—and even our world—needs you to do two things:

Through simply talking, help us clarify this vision.
For once we can see it, history proves that we will reach it, for our souls—like moths lost in the dark—will eventually yearn for liberty and freedom.
And this is going to be tough. But I want you to promise me, that no matter how cold and dark it gets, you will try your best to never stop being you. For each of you is not only a light in this darkness, but each of you is what our world needs now... a defiant beacon of hope.
Michael Gray Griffith