Everyone thought I was crazy in 2011 when I wrote these words…

“Western Society is in danger of becoming self-righteous, sanctimonious and insufferably judgmental.”

“If history is to be our guide, the next 20 years will be when we move from our agreement of mutual brokenness, “I’m Not Okay – You’re Not Okay,” to embrace a self-righteous indignation, “I’m Okay – You’re Not Okay.” Sanctimonious vigilante-ism will become popular as indignant leaders demonize their enemies and rally their followers by appealing to their inborn sense of rightness and social obligation, ‘Let’s clean this place up and to hell with compromise. They are entirely wrong and we are entirely right. They are stupid. We are wise. They are evil. We are good.'”

“The last time we went through this, America formed a committee in Congress called the House Un-American Activities Committee (1938) and later watched with glee while Senator Joseph McCarthy destroyed countless lives by recklessly branding his enemies as ‘Communists,’ and creating the infamous blacklists.”

“This sounds a bit far-fetched, doesn’t it? I know it does. I’m writing because I want you to be able to look back and recall how absurd this all sounded when I first told you what was on the horizon.”

Our best and highest hope to avoid the dark side of the zenith of the 2023 ‘We’ is to remember and value our heroes, those valuable icons of the ‘Me.’ To that end, I’ve gathered 134 stories of heroes you’ve probably never heard.

Each of these ‘everyman’ heroes is presented in his or her most favorable light. You’ll even find a few wicked people you previously assumed had no ‘good’ in them at all.

Yes, some of these stories are about villains who made horrible, tragic mistakes. But my hope is that you will be able to open your heart and stretch your mind to embrace the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said, ‘Every man is entitled to be valued by his best moment.’

I’ve created a book of ‘best moments.’

Come. The future awaits us.

Roy H. Williams

HEADLINE for MMMemo:  Was I Wrong in 2011?

Rabbit Hole

In 2011, Joan Smith of Great Britain wrote, “The red poppy has been a symbol of remembrance since shortly after the First World War… a means of honoring the fallen and raising money for veterans and their families… This year, the pressure to wear one has been greater than ever… This year, coercion of reluctant red-poppy wearers has been joined by an outbreak of sheer nastiness towards the few who wear white ones.”

“There is a holy mistaken zeal in politics as well as in religion.”
– The Letters of Junius, 1769 – 1771

 “Men who believe themselves to be good, who do not search their own souls, often commit the worst atrocities. A man who sees himself as evil will restrain himself. It is only when we do evil in the belief that we do good that we pursue it wholeheartedly.”- David Farland, 2001