The Heroes We Worship

There has been a photo circulating on social media in the last couple of days that, while disrespectful in some way, speaks volumes in others.

Here is it ….

Cory Monteith’s death from a mix of heroin and alcohol is indeed a very sad event and yes, this photo unfairly “dismisses” him.

But listening to the outpouring of grief, including the number of people who indicated that they may need counselling to go on, seemed a little disturbing to me.

One person interviewed on the radio indicated she would miss the person who wrote and sang “Jesse’s Girl”.  Sorry, Rick Springfield, it appears that you have been demoted.

When I think of heroes and the people who we worship, I think of those who make sacrifices for others or who go above and beyond for the greater good.

How about when a soldier or first responder dies, that we have the opportunity to hear his or her life story – how they put everything on the line, including their family, so that we could enjoy freedom, safety and security?

How about businessmen or, yes, even some politicians, who have made a large impact in the world through their efforts?  With all due respect, Steve Jobs is not the only businessman who has impacted our world significantly and other great leaders deserve an opportunity for their story to be shared when they pass on.

How about other unsung heroes in our community who make our world a better place just because they were in it?

Their efforts inspire us to do better for ourselves and others.

So why don’t we hear more about them?

Who we worship (outside of personal religious beliefs) is a strong indicator of our upbringing, our character, our values and what we think matters in the world.

All of those attributes are not only a reflection of who we are but play a significant role in forming our future and the future of the world.

The question becomes …… who do you worship?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Addendum

We need to be careful also that we don’t accidentally create hero worship by the way a story gets treated.  Rolling Stone magazine is facing a lot of criticism for how it featured the Boston Marathon bomber on the cover of its recent issue, as discussed here.

The cover of the magazine makes the bomber look “cool” as shown below.

We need to be more cognizant of that which we portray as “desirable” lest we create more people who seek to emulate it / them.

The Master of Distraction

* A musing continued from Living on the Edge – How Close Do You Dare (March 29, 2013),  “Preventing A Disaster – Or Preparing To Survive One”, (November 29, 2012), "Divide and Conquer", (August 5, 2012), and “Financial Crisis” (March 11, 2008).  There is significant benefit to reading those first (oldest to newest) but it is not required. *

------------

Four well-dressed men sat at one end of a very long boardroom table in a voluminous, softly illuminated boardroom, each studying the report before them.

One of them sat back and rubbed his eyes as the enormity of the report sank in.  Looking up at the wall, he studied the Seal of the President of the United States of America and realized that he wasn’t dreaming.

He wished he was.

And yet he was being called upon to lead this group and produce a solution to what he saw as an unsolvable problem

His colleague to his left cleared his throat and spoke.

“Well, gentlemen, here is the dilemma as I see it. The event at Benghazi was unfortunate but the press was unable to let it go, creating all kinds of difficulty for us as they ferreted out details that we preferred to keep hidden.  The Boston Marathon bombing was something we should have prevented but didn’t despite all the intel at our disposal.  The EU continues its spiral into continued recession.  The Fed has been artificially propping up the markets with the intention of showing consumers that there is confidence in the market but a few reporters have been exploring this too closely as well.  Even our efforts to increase the Department of Homeland Security’s level of preparedness for a potential domestic event by purchasing significant quantities of armor-piercing rounds has not gone unnoticed by the press.

With all of this stuff going on and the press getting too close, we leaked a little info about the IRS sniffing around into people’s affairs.  While we did this to distract the press, it has now backfired as the press has uncovered more wrong-doings on the part of the IRS than even we were aware of.

On top of that, we arrested 7 Pakistani and Saudi nationals with chemist-backgrounds after midnight last night, poking around Boston’s water supply at the Quabbin Reservoir.   Their claim that they were there for ‘intellectual curiosity’ reasons reminds us and our citizens that our essential infrastructure is totally unsecure and that our communication and first-responder infrastructure will collapse should a nationwide emergency occur as a result of the compromise of said infrastructure.  I could go on but there’s no need to rehash things yet again.  Congress and the press smell blood and we may be losing control of the situation and possibly the nation.  Thoughts?”

After an extended silence, a distinguished looking man sitting across from the leader spoke.

“If the average citizen knew the difficulty of running a nation so complex that its political, financial, judicial and societal systems have momentum and inertia all their own, maybe we could explain our vision and intentions in a way that would make sense to them, engage them and possibly avoid a more complex scenario.”

The colleague to the leader’s left laughed sarcastically and replied, “Since when has honesty been the best policy in politics?  How would you respond if your leaders held a press conference and said ‘we have no idea how anything works anymore, we have no influence whatsoever over the future direction and safety of our society and that the system just runs itself’?  Do you think that would be a confidence booster for the people?”

He paused for a moment and then said, “Gentlemen, we are no longer in the governing business.  We are in the positive message business with our goal being to keep the people contented …. and quiet.”

The distinguished man frowned, nodded slightly but said nothing.

The fourth member of the group, silent until now, said quietly, “How much longer do you think we can keep all of this under wraps before cracks start to develop and people lose confidence in the system and their leaders?”.

Again, there was extended silence in the group.

Having given his colleagues a chance to speak, the leader leaned forward and said, “If only we had something that could unite our citizens.  A common goal that everyone could embrace, a passion that would resonate with everyone …..”

He was interrupted by the distinguished gentlemen who said “Or a common threat that would unite the people”.

They stared at each other for a moment.

“What kind of threat are you thinking of?”, asked the leader.

The distinguished gentleman shrugged and said, “Perhaps that is where our esteemed guest can provide some guidance”.

They all turned their attention to the far end of the table.  A very tall, very thin man, wearing a slightly dated suit and dark glasses despite the soft lighting, quietly leaned forward as he recognized his cue.

Removing his glasses and pausing for effect, he spoke softly but forcefully.

“This is exactly where we can help”, he said, his thin lips pressing together in his best effort at a smile.

He gazed at each of the men, his large, dark eyes glittering despite the lack of obvious light to reflect off of them.

Each man shuddered as they gazed into the guest’s eyes.  Most people know evil when they see it.

The guest continued, “You need a distraction from the difficulties of the world.  We are about to offer your nation the greatest distraction it has ever witnessed”.

“And what assurances do you offer that our citizens will be safe in the course of implementing this so-called distraction?”, snapped the distinguished man.

The guest interlocked his very long fingers, sighed and then looked directly into the distinguished man’s eyes.  “I’m not used to people begging for help and setting the terms for their rescue at the same time”, he said threateningly.

Silence fell over the room as each man reflected on the decision before them.

The guest waited …. patiently.

After all, he had all the time in the world.

To be continued.

------------

© 2013 – Harry Tucker – All Rights Reserved

Addendum:

This series, a departure from my usual musings,  is inspired as a result of conversations with former senior advisors to multiple Presidents of the United States, senior officers in the US Military and other interesting folks.

While this musing is just “fiction” and a departure from my musings on technology, strategy, politics and society, as a strategy guy, I do everything for a reason and with a measurable outcome in mind. :-)

Wikipedia, Pornography and Bomb Making

As a long time opponent of most forms of censorship and a life-long student of the human experience, I am curious about something that I am hoping someone can explain to me.

Wikipedia has been embroiled in many a court action over the past few years regarding the use of explicit pornographic images.  They have also made a concerted effort to remove them where possible, especially in the area of child pornography. 

Many a website, including giants such as Megaupload who enabled the piracy of digital content, including movies and music, have been shut down because commercial entertainment entities were being denied their royalties.

Hundreds of websites selling counterfeit products have been shut down by federal agents after ripping off consumers and authentic merchandise vendors.

And yet. the Al Qaeda magazine Inspire, a hate-filled diatribe that promotes violence against Americans and allegedly provides suggestions, ideas and plans on how to carry out acts of violence is still widely available on Wikipedia.  This is the case even though in places like England, mere possession of the magazine can result in prosecution.

Apparently included in one of the issues are plans on how to use pressure cookers as a bomb component to hurt Americans.

And now we have the events of the Boston Marathon and preliminary information that such a device was used to kill and wound so many innocent people.

As a strategy guy, I understand the concepts of follow-the-money, all-things-for-a-reason and all of that.

But I can’t understand why Wikipedia is allowed to present all of this material given everything else that authorities have shut down so quickly.  I even sent an email regarding this material to various government agencies almost two years ago and never received a reply.

Personally, regardless of my beliefs about censorship and information sharing, I would NEVER allow anyone to use anything associated with me to enable people to commit atrocities or acts of violence.

And yet this American organization allows and enables such actions.

Since we are so quick to shut down websites that adversely impact other organization’s financial well-being, why can’t we shut down content that threatens someone’s personal well-being?

I think there is a consistency / priorities issue here that warrants an explanation.

I also think that when it comes to doing what it takes to minimize the level of terrorism we face, if we really cared and were sincere in our intentions, then we would remove obvious sources of information for terrorist wannabes.

I also also think that we can never be perfectly safe and that we face a difficult balancing act when it comes to security versus freedom as I noted in Boston: Freedom, Security and Difficult Choices.

And finally, I think that everything happens for a reason.

What do you think?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Addendum:

In my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador, MHA Gerry Rogers was found in contempt of the House yesterday for being a member of a Facebook group where someone else had made threatening remarks against the Premier of the province.  According to the Speaker of the House, Ms. Rogers is considered to be automatically condoning such remarks merely because she is a member of the Facebook group and therefore she should apologize immediately (which she refused to do, as would I).

While I recognize that we are the company that we keep, if any of us are considered to be automatically condoning any social media content just because we can be loosely associated with it, then how do we explain allowing Wikipedia to continue to carry such content, given how many of us have contributed to its content somewhere along the way.

A slippery slope indeed.

Addendum 2 – April 23, 2013

Officials finally admit that the Boston bombers may have gotten their ideas and plans for the explosives from Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine. 

Are we really doing what we can to protect ourselves?  The new CISPA bill now before the Senate will allow employers to demand social media passwords from employees / employment candidates under the guise of “security” while Al Qaeda’s bomb making plans are on Wikipedia.

Everything happens for a reason. I just wish I knew what this one is.  I have some ideas but they are best left private …. for now.

Addendum 3 – May 9, 2013

It is intriguing that shortly after viable 3D gun plans are made available on the web, they are removed at the request of the Pentagon as noted here.  Meanwhile, the bomb making plans remain available.  Curious indeed.

Boston: Freedom, Security and Difficult Choices

The cowardly, senseless attack at the Boston Marathon this week once again brings a powerful question to the fore – a question that people seem unable to come to grips with.

It is the question of which do we value more – freedom or security?

We all demand security for ourselves, our families and our nation.  We all like to live as we please, doing what we enjoy.  Many of the latter also demand the ultimate right to do as they please outside the all-seeing eye of government, various security agencies, law enforcement groups or Big Brother organizations.

Sadly, when we demand both and champion such freedoms that we enjoy in Canada and the US, freedoms that many brave people have paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect, such freedoms also provide reasons for some to resent us. 

More importantly, such freedoms also provide opportunities for nutbars to leverage vulnerabilities created by such freedoms to inflict pain upon us.

The only way that the cowards, miscreants and deviants of our world can be totally prevented from inflicting pain upon us is for us to totally give up all the freedoms that we cherish, including but not limited to the areas of:

- the right to assemble (especially to celebrate)

- privacy of communication

- privacy of financial transactions

- the right to go anywhere in the world and be assured of our safety

- the right to do whatever we want without fear of oversight (including regulatory) and

- the right to go wherever / whenever we please without the inconvenience of metal detectors, being wanded or being corralled inside specific areas.

Few people are willing to give up such freedoms in totality.  We believe that such freedoms are a foundational component of our society, a foundational need for our species and one of the many things that makes our society great.

Unfortunately, while we have become a society of “I want it all and I want it now” there are still a few areas where we can’t have it all, including in the areas of freedom and security - at least as we define them today.

Our society, as it strives (and struggles) to find the best solution possible, will always find itself navigating the difficult balance between these two things that we believe we need and deserve.

As Dwight Eisenhower once said:

“If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom. ”

A truly enlightened species wouldn’t have a problem with figuring out how to have both.

But an enlightened species we are not and so we must do our best to recognize that such violent acts will always be with us – at least for the foreseeable future.

However, when such heinous acts occur, human attributes in the areas of bravery, love, unselfishness, teamwork, collaboration and yes, justice, will always stand out and clearly send a message that such acts are not acceptable.

It is a message that we are not defeated by the intimidation attempts of the few, the weak and the cowardly.

And maybe, just maybe, if we give ourselves enough time and don’t tear our society apart before we figure this out, we will have an opportunity to discover that we can find a way to bring freedom and security together.

Until then, we move forward, together, in support, in mourning, in strength, in love and with a vision and intention to move towards the promise of something better and with a strong message to those who oppose such ideals that their actions are not acceptable nor will they ever be.

But until then, human beings will continue to demonstrate the perfection of our imperfection, reflecting the best and worst of our potential.

And until then, the question of “why?” when it comes to understanding the evil motives of certain individuals will rarely produce a satisfactory or even a rational answer.

But those questions can be answered tomorrow.

Today we mourn the lost, comfort the living and show the world the best of humanity.

What human potential do you promote, allow, enable and create?

How do you know?

Are you sure?

In service and servanthood,

Harry