I dont make statements like this a lot, and I dont really feel like engaging in a huge debate. But theres something I need to say regarding Charlie Hebdo. God knows I have little in common with the folks who died. I doubt wed have agreed on very much. Looking over some of their work, I find myself rolling my eyes a lot. But I do agree on at least one matter with them--they should be free to speak their minds without fear. I saw this tweet attached to one of the cartoons responding to the massacre: Still mortified about our fallen cartoonist colleagues, but free speech will always win. No. No it wont. The history of the human race demonstrates /very/ convincingly that free speech is the /exception/ to the human condition, not the rule. For millennia, those who spoke out were imprisoned or killed. Hell, you could say something that wasnt even subversive, just inept and stupid, and be destroyed for committing the crime of lese majeste. Make no mistake. What we have today is a level of freedom and self-determination on a scale unparalleled in the history of our species. We live in what is, in many ways, a golden age. So much so that we give tremendous credit to the adage, The pen is mightier than the sword. But everyone always forgets the first half of that quote: Under the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword. Im not sure I know of anyplace thats ruled by anyone entirely great. That adage wasnt a statement of philosophy, as it was originally used: it was a statement of irony. Dont believe me? Look around. Notice that everywhere you go in the world, whoever happens to be ruling seems to have a great many swords. Still, the idea contained within the quote is a powerful one--that intangible ideas, thoughts, and beliefs can have tremendous power. And thats why we should be paying close attention. After all, intangible fear can be mightier than the sword, too. Hell, it has been for quite a while now. Dont believe me? Try getting on an airplane without taking your shoes off in the security line. While youre doing that, try cracking a joke about having a knife. Thats the power of fear, guys. We. Are. In. Danger. The threat isnt aimed at our government or our borders or our resources. Its targeting something far more precious--our identity. Its changing us, who we are, how we live, and not for the better. The Western world has got the biggest and sharpest sword the planet has ever known, yes. But the extremists are armed with a weapon just as powerful: Fear. And these nuts are really good at using it. There is /one/ way that freedom, freedom to speak, to choose, to grow, to believe, to improve, survives in the face of violent attack. Free men and women defend it, violently if necessary--or it dies. Its that simple. It really is. If we forget that, if we forget that there are predators in the world who very much want to destroy those freedoms in the name of their god, their philosophy, their politics, if we forget that our freedoms /can/ and /will/ be taken away if we sit staring and do nothing, they are as good as gone. Freedom doesnt defend itself. We have to do that ourselves.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 02:52:26 +0000