At this moment
my friend, Takayuki Noguchi, is sleeping in a prison in China,
where he has been trapped for 4 months.
Tak's crime
is aiding people escaping from the oppression of governments.
Henry David
Thoreau said, 'Under a government which imprisons any unjustly,
the true place for a just man is in prison.'
Tak is a just
man in an unjust land. He has sacrificed his own liberty by trying
to bring it to others.
This is not
a small sacrifice for him. Tak is a profoundly happy person with
a calm ease who enjoys life immensely and freedom and hiking and
backpacking around the world.
It was not
thoughtlessly that he risked these things. His compassion drives
his actions. I was told Tak at one point refused release unless
the North Koreans he was helping were freed as well.
Right now
Tak faces a 5 to 10 year prison sentence. I don't understand why
the Chinese authorities want Tak imprisoned. I don't understand
why anyone would want to hold power over and restrain others.
I do know that there is nothing more unnatural or wrong.
I hope they
release Tak from captivity soon, so he can again enjoy self-ownership
and freedom and the happiness they bring.
I hope everyone
the world-wide speaks out and acts out against the initiation
of force by unjust governments and men.
Let us believe
in liberty and noncoercion.
Let us, like
Tak, help other find this.
I miss you,
Tak, and I hope to see you soon.
