What does it mean that The Front Line is Everywhere...

Obviously, I took the name from the song by Rage Against the Machine.  "There'll be no shelter here....the Front Line is Everywhere."  But that statement means different things to different people.

In the words of Voltaire, we could be discussing the quote from Candide "Il faute cultive votre jardin."  By taking care of yourself, you will be influencing the rest of the world.  This is true, and bears an affinity for anarchists, who almost by definition are individualists.  An anarchist desires to reject the power of the state and bear their own responsibility and they do not desire to force anyone else through coercive means of the state to a different point of view.  Therefore, taking care of yourself first is a priority.  The front line is where you are.

However, that could also mean that you would lose connection with your neighborhood and neighbors.  While we all know of the neighbor we would rather not know, the truth is that people are social animals.  The front line is all around in your connections and interactions with your world.  This is where philosophy meets action.  This is where a person stands up and questions authority.  This is also a great place to influence your life.

But this is not where it ends.  The further we look into the world, the more injustice and problems we see.  In fact, our philosophy in action does not stop at the corner or the neighborhood.  It raises to the level of our communities, counties and even states or Commonwealths.  We all recognize that the policies that are effected on the local, county or state level have a great impact.  These can range from dog laws, bicycle registration laws, to zoning, to laws impacting the redistribution of wealth and how industry will be allowed to pollute our waters and streams.

Obviously, there are winners and losers.  Obviously, to state the front line is everywhere is to ignore that the winners increasingly are isolated from the losers.  So there is one more explanation of where the front line is.

Everywhere we are.  Whether we are at home, visiting out neighbors, dealing with local officials interacting with the county, state, or even federal and international officials, we need to keep in mind our principles and our philosophies.  Live your convictions.  Your thoughts, your mind are your own.  Act on your own.  Conspiracy is such an ugly word.  But be assured you are not alone.  Look around. Remember the smallest wounds can hurt the worst.

The front line is everywhere.