There's a personal side to this one, as well as a practical one. We often hear things like "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything." A similar concept influenced me almost a decade ago when I Royce said something like it in a book: "To those who don't chose their Philosophy, it will be given." (paraphrase).

Part of that inspired us to begin this conversation.

Nearly every time the mainstream news begins gawking at a shooting, it starts looking rabidly for a manifesto. The word carries a certain weight in contemporary society, but for how long? Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto, but does it get treated differently?

I have reason to believe that words men write and the beliefs they hold has more impact on their actions than the circumstances they find themselves in.

How do you define manifesto?
Do you know where your conviction lies?
It's more important that you have it, than if you share it.