Gary W Griffiths

Five Minutes 'til Midnight Gary W Griffiths

"five minutes 'til midnight" is a work of fiction. It graphically tells a story about what happens to a democratic society that fails to take its freedoms seriously and when they were under attack they failed to defend them. They failed to understand that freedom was not guaranteed and there were many examples across the dusty pages of history that showed how free societies were willing to give up their freedoms when fear replaced trust, when tribalism replaced unionism, when nationalistic populism replaced internationalism, when mistrust and bigotry replaced open dialog, and when despair replaced hope. The greatest threat to a democratic and open society is ignorance and apathy. Apathy is a silent and deadly disease to democracy. People will silently standby while their rights are freedoms are slowly eroded away. They will rationalize that a new abnormal is normal. They will turn a blind eye to attacks on institutions that are there to protect their rights. They will even vote their rights away when confronted by irrational fear stoked by racism, economic uncertainly, sexism, and ethnocentrism. It's hard work to live in a free society. The responsibilities are endless. Free citizens can never let their guard down and they need to be on the lookout for those that have simple solutions to complex issues. Those that believe in freedom and human rights must be willing to stand up and support and promote unionism over tribalism.