As many of my friends know, I've been the target of vicious attacks by trolls. It has been going on for nearly five years. Their goal is to ruin my online reputation and 'turn' me into a Nazi. The name 'Ben Garrison' the artist has been ruined. Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous--and it is ridiculous. My father was a WWII vet who was part of a generation who fought against such fascism. My best friend's grandfather was in a Nazi prison camp. I detest Nazis. Hitler destroyed Germany. The good people in that country unfairly continue to endure the shame he caused. Hitler deserves perpetual condemnation--NOT praise. Yet the new Nazis attempt to influence young minds and draw them to their cause on places such as the 4chan 'pol' board. Let me clue you young people in: Hitler was NOT cool. He killed millions of innocent men, women and children.

I detest and condemn the neo-Nazi's attempts to rewrite history and claim the holocaust never happened. It did happened. It was documented by the US Army and many others. It's a fact of history. I've seen the Nazis make fun of it. They've made fun of Anne Frank. They are disgusting. They are the lowest of the low. Please young people--do not go down this path. It leads toward destruction. We human beings are all the same species. We all experience the same emotions. We are all capable of great things. Let's all advance in consciousness. Hate is not a high level of consciousness.

As an artist and cartoonist, I want to seek out truth. In my quest to do this, I've been smeared, defamed and libeled as an an anti-semitic racist by young chuckleheads who do it for the 'lulz.' This can happen to any citizen journalist. The haters detest those of us who attempt to ring alarm bells. Those of us who are presumptuous enough to think we can 'make a difference' are targeted most of all. We are not perfect and they look for weaknesses to exploit. "AHA!" He or she said or linked to this, that or the other...therefore they're worthy of our attack!"

Who are the trolls? Most likely they are frustrated young people leading empty, dead-end lives. They are extremely unhappy. They are pizza deliverers and burger flippers with no future. Those that try to help them are hated the most. Someone told me I should pity them. These young people think they can't make a difference and detest those who try.

The Nazis are a different story. They are few and most people ignore them. They are either laughed at and/or scorned. Rightfully so. Their ideology is empty. Their art is empty. There was a thread on one Nazi board where they talked about art. It was so crude and ignorant that my sides left the galaxy. The consciousness of these Nazis (if they have such a thing) is low. From them it's nothing but hate hate hate. BUT...they now have a loud voice on the internet due to the fact that they enjoy relative anonymity. 

I remain a libertarian cartoonist. I am for freedom. With freedom comes responsibility. Freedom of speech does not mean people are free to further their cause by destroying the reputations of others with lies. 

Ben Garrison