A profound event has awakened a lethargic world. Millions of people have instantly materialized in city squares across Europe and in cities elsewhere around the globe in peaceful demonstrations of solidarity with those slain in the Muslim terrorist attacks on the offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris. Most of the signs carried by the mourners held very simple and very telling words, “Je Suis Charlie.”
These powerful words translated as, “I Am Charlie,” tell all Muslim terrorists and other witnessing eyes around the world that they stand with liberty of expression. In so doing, they also demonstrate a stand against “political correctness.” They stand for freedom. They stand against keeping your mouth shut, much to the chagrin of Obama’s Administration and much against the stand of almost 100% of our media in North America. They stand against closing your eyes pretending Muslim terrorism and extremism doesn’t exist and shouldn’t be identified, or shouldn’t be talked about. They stand against being ordered not to write or draw anything that might be considered satirical, or anything other than reverentially adoring of Muhammed.
The contributors of the French satirical publication who were gunned down, including Stephane Charbonnier, Georges Wolinski, Jean Cabut, Bernard Verlhac, Philippe Honore, and Bernard Maris, all knew the dangers presented by efforts to portray some of the too often unspoken elements in the underbelly of Muslim fundamentalism. The portrayals included cartoons, the existence of which required presence of security guards in Charlie Hebdo’s offices.
Our media, from the NYT, to CNN, to NBC, to LAT, hide behind pretence that any portrayals having anything to do with Islam are inappropriate, or not politically correct. Has it really taken the slaughter of 12 French citizens who courageously stood for Freedom, to awaken us to the reality that we have a gutless, ideologically entrenched, politically correct, and almost worthless media?
We stand in solidarity with those who knowingly took the risks, and with those who today recognize that courage.
A constituent of the vast baby boomer generation with a career which has been fortunate to know the ponderous corporate worlds, as well as the intimately pressurized, and invigorating entrepreneurial domains of high tech and venture capital, I have harvested my share of mistakes meandering through corridors of enterprise from Silicon Valley, to London and endless, colourful, sometimes praetorian points in between. The voyage has provided an abundance of fodder for a pen yielding to an inquisitive keyboard, a foraging mind, and a passionate spirit.
Whether political or business or social or economic or personal, is it not all political? It is a privilege to write, and an even greater privilege to be read by anyone, and sometimes with the wind at my back the writing may occasionally be legible. I do not write to invite scorn, nor to invite respect, but if I get really lucky the writing can stimulate thinking. I also write for the very selfish purpose of animating my own processes, and engaging the best of what life offers. Above all, whether biting fire or swatting shadows, I am grateful to be gifted the freedom to write and publish whatever flows down to the keyboard. To all those who enabled this freedom, and to all those standing guard to preserve it, I am indebted.