7 Roles of Freedom Fighters
When Bill Moyer first introduced the idea of roles for activists in the 1987, he only included four different roles. At the time, it seemed an accurate list but since that time, social media and independent journalism have changed the roles of activists. We are also in a very different war than that of the civil rights activists in the 1960’s who fought for equality for blacks and opposed the Vietnam War.
The internet and social media have radically changed activism and we have more roles to play, keeping in mind that these are roles and not our identities. You can change roles as needed and you can also assume more than one role.
Freedom Fighters need to be seen as responsible citizens in order to win respect, acceptance and credibility from the majority of ordinary citizens who must be won over for our movement to succeed. Effective citizens are in agreement with the society's core values. One tiny suggestion is to dress normal at rallies or during public actions. Unfortunately, people judge a book by its cover, and if you dress weird and outlandish, people will think you are weird and outlandish.
Freedom Fighters must also be rebels who are against social conditions and public policies that violate these values such as the vaccine passport, mandatory masking and stay-at-home orders. Freedom Fighters must also be social change agents who work to educate and involve the general public to oppose present policies and seek positive, constructive solutions.
Finally, they must be reformers who work with the official political and judicial structures to get solutions incorporated into laws and governmental policies and accepted as the conventional wisdom of the day.
1. Rebels
The most vocal leaders of revolutions, rebellions, protests and public rallies against tyranny and social injustice are usually rebels. They very often lead the movement during the beginning stages because they put the issues on the table by publicly speaking out, loudly and boldly.
Rebels create the tension in society by highlighting the gap between the society’s ideals, rights and freedoms and what is actually happening. Rebels are generally fearless and have the warrior spirit. They represent the vanguard of the Freedom Movement, the frontline warriors at the head of the battle.
Downside of Rebels:
Often, negative rebels use blunt, tactless rhetoric and advocate aggressive actions against government, media and corporations. They promote militant protest actions that are driven by strong feelings of anger, hostility and frustration. They advocate change by any means necessary, including disruption and destruction.
At protests, they often engage in skirmishes with the police or vandalism. Their activities are mostly tactics-oriented and often counterproductive. They tend to see themselves on the margins of society, and view the world as polarised into good (them) and evil (the enemy).
2. Foot Soldiers
Generally speaking, foot soldiers are the backbone of the Freedom Movement. They go to all the events, attend all the meetings and they are the people who bang on doors, hand out info and talk to people on the streets to wake them up.
Foot soldiers are the voice of the average citizen that represent the vision of the society. They try to achieve legitimacy in the eyes of ordinary people who are asleep and don’t see what is happening. They withstands media attempts to discredit the movement by confronting the media at events. They reduce potential for violent attitudes and actions within the movement.
They are the helpers of the movement who are willing to do whatever needs to be done: making posters, marching, helping set up tents and sound systems at events.
Downside of Foot Soldiers:
Sometimes foot soldiers do not spend enough time educating themselves about the complexity of the issues on a global scale. They often reduce everything to black and white issues. They can be overly patriotic and believe that their country is the best and don’t look at the international scene to get a broader view of what is happening.
3. Organizers
We couldn’t have events and protests without organizers. They are the ones who get everyone together, promote the event on social media and find guest speakers, musicians, rent the sound system, and make the schedule so the event runs on time.
Organizers are able to bring large groups of Freedom Fighters together to build morale at big events. They help build our public consensus and allow us to speak with one voice at rallies. Organizers also promote a long-term perspective in comparison to rebels, for example, who promote fast-and-hard solutions.
Downside of Organizers:
Being a public speaker often comes with the unintended consequences of being a target for media to spin their twisted version of events. Organizers who are in the public spotlight, like all people who have attention pushed on them, can become overly preoccupied with the attention instead of the message. Human beings often have a weakness with fame and ego.
4. Advocates
In the Freedom Movement there are many advocates who seek to use our existing institutions and judicial courts to affect change. Advocates are at the interface between the movement and the public. They have faith in our existing institutions and are not seeking to reform them but to fight from the inside using our constitution, Charter of Rights, law courts and legal system.
Downside of Advocates:
Maintenance of the organization becomes the prime concern. They can embrace the power-holders’ outlook and end up promoting only “realistic” minor reforms. They get co-opted by the power-holders. They become cut off from the grassroots movement and the general public. They act as if they represent the whole movement.
5. Influencers
The influencer is a new role, created since the internet and social media have, in some respects, revolutionized activism. The power of Facebook and Twitter cannot be underestimated; US presidential candidates spent millions on social media ads between January 2019 and October 24, 2020. Trump spent around $107 million on Facebook ads alone, per Eyewitness News and Biden's campaign came in second by spending $94 million.
There are thousands of keyboard warriors out there, fighting for freedom on social media and on chat groups like Telegram, Signal and others. Social Media Warriors also comment on MSM news posts that help shape public opinion. The fight for truth is being waged openly on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many other sites. Democracy is a public debate that ideally results in the right side winning. Without public discussion of issues we lose our freedom of speech, the cornerstone of democracy.
Downside of Influencers:
As with all high-profile media personalities, there is always a tendency for drama and ego. We need social media influencers, they promote our message, often better than anyone else, but the Freedom Movement doesn’t need celebrities.
Fighting for freedom on social media can become the path of least resistance – you don’t have to leave your home and the illusion of safety that the computer screen gives makes people bold. Things you would never say in public are fair game on social media. We can’t be fooled into thinking we are safe on social media. The NSA, CSIS and other intelligence agencies are just as active on the internet as elsewhere and all our digital communications are permanently recorded.
6. Independent Journalists
The internet and social media have also contributed to the rise of independent journalists over the last few years and during this time of media and internet censorship, their role has intensified greatly. The mainstream media have proven themselves to be propaganda artists with zero integrity – the word “presstitute” applies.
Downside of Indie Journalists
As with almost all media in the last few decades, objective news reporting has gone out the window. All media now comes with an opinion, an agenda and an ideology. Though our indie media journalists are giving a far better picture of what is really happening in our world, journalism has become the mouthpiece of differing agendas. Will we ever return to objective non-biased news reporting?
7. Spiritualists
Last but not least, our emerging and growing Freedom Movement has produced a plethora of spiritual activists who are inspired and motivated to go out into all the world and spread the good news.
One thing about the Elites is apparent – once in awhile they speak the truth. Klaus Schwab is on record as saying, “The pandemic represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world.” Schwab is quite correct, the window of opportunity is wide-open; even though it is the Empire of Chaos that has created this window, the truth is that this window of opportunity is open for our Freedom Movement as well.
We, too, have a rare opportunity to create something new. While the world is in chaos, people are searching for stability and solutions to the mess the Elites have created. It is the task of the spiritualists in our Freedom Movement to lead the charge into the unknown territory of a better world. We must be guided by the inner spirit who makes us lie down in green pastures, and leads us beside the still waters.
Downside of Spiritualists
Sometimes spiritual people can get caught up in a multitude of doctrines and dogmas. Pantheism, or the belief in everything can become a Pandora’s Box for our movement if we are not careful. Our movement is roughly divided into Christians and Non-Christians. Many Christians believe the Freedom Movement is the fulfilment of end times prophecy and they also view themselves as the “owners” of the movement, but this isn’t a Christian movement – it is a human rights movement. Failure to focus on that has been obvious to many of us as we observe Christians hijacking the message of the movement at rallies and events.
Conversely, Non-Christians are sometimes tolerant of any belief, except Christianity. It is up to all spiritual people to break down barriers and keep the movement focused on our commonalities. Without a doubt, we need a spiritual revolution, but it can only be based on our common spiritual goals, our common spiritual destiny and the common spirit we all share. All spiritual activists draw from the same spiritual well and it is a well that never runs dry.