Charlie Hebdo, the Realities of Terror and the News Media

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. - Soren Kierkegaard

Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality. - Nikos Kazantzakis

As the world mourns the senseless slaying of the journalists at Charlie Hebdo in Paris today and the policemen who were assigned to protect them, there are two grim realities that we must come to accept in the 21st century:

1. We can choose to have security and safety in our society or we can choose to have unlimited freedom.  We cannot have both.
2. Whatever side we lean towards produces greater opportunity for compromise in the other.

Given that the average person in the western world demands freedom as an inalienable right of humanity, we trade away the opportunity for perfect safety and thus make terrorist attacks in the west not only possible but inevitable.

If we accept that such attacks are inevitable, then the notion that they are shocking and surprising is simply not logical and yet the news media runs banners such as this one on CNN.

As they run such banners, the rest of the world reels in shock, anger and dismay, falling to the negative emotions that modern news media seeks to evoke – negative emotions that will not produce any measurable, effective solutions moving forward but serve to keep us off balance.

Some would argue that the news media is reporting the news but I would counter that argument with the notion that if such events are inevitable, then they are in fact not news at all but rather just another routine event.

Meanwhile, other news that is much more shocking but cannot be leveraged by the news media goes unnoticed.

For example, 24,000 children under the age of 5 will die today from tainted water but that is not news since it doesn’t evoke enough emotion that can be used to attract viewers and ratings.

We have infrastructure including energy and water production and distribution that is open to an attack that could kill tens of millions but this is too frightening to comprehend so we don’t talk about that either.

But sadly, a terrorist attack offers just the perfect blend of outrage that touches our heart and spirit, drawing an outpouring of anger and grief that is just right for the news media.

Even more sadly, a group of innocent people died today in the Charlie Hebdo attack at the hands of misguided cowards.

And most sadly of all, innocent people will die from terrorist attacks in the future.because we collectively choose freedom over security.

When we make such choices, attacks like the one in Paris today shouldn’t surprise us because such attacks are inevitable.

And since we have made the choice that enables such an inevitable event, it is not newsworthy at all.

That’s not to say that such attacks cannot be prevented.

I’m also not suggesting that we not take a moment to honor those who died at the hands of cowards today.

But a preventable attack is something we are unwilling to invest in and in doing so, we acknowledge that today’s loss, while shocking, is somehow still acceptable.

While many would protest such a supposition, I would counter their protest with the idea that it is results and not merely desires and intentions that define how we see society.

If we truly wanted a totally safe society, we would draw a line in the sand and say that no more innocent people like the ones lost today will ever be lost to terrorism and we would then do whatever it takes to accomplish this.

However, I think we lack the desire to do what it takes, thereby defining a level of “acceptable losses” in society despite our cries to the contrary while making those lost today to have been lost in vain and without surprise. 

I also think in making the choices that we make, we give “the news media” more opportunity to share negative information that serves no value at all outside of shocking the people who made the collective decisions in the first place.

What do you think?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Addendum

One of my readers asked me what we define as “acceptable levels of loss” in society. 

It’s a great question that I don’t have an answer for.

Do you?

Addendum 2 – January 9, 2015

It is more than three days since these events began and as I write this, the terror suspects are holding hostages as news media blasts this story live around the world.

This is unfortunately providing terrorists with the very thing they desire – free press for their cause.

I wonder what would happen if we didn’t report terror events at all (or just minimally), thus not providing the mouthpiece that the terrorists desire.

I doubt that the news media could be so self-disciplined as to give this a try.

What do you think?

Nelson Mandela–Terrorist or Freedom Fighter

"I was made, by the law, a criminal, not because of what I had done, but because of what I stood for, because of what I thought, because of my conscience.” – Nelson Mandela - Statement during trial, 1962.

“Difficulties break some men but make others.” – Nelson Mandela - From a letter to wife, Winnie Mandela, from Robben Island, February 1975)

“When people are determined they can overcome anything.” – Nelson Mandela - Johannesburg, South Africa, Nov. 14, 2006

Accolades and tributes continue to flow as the world honors the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela, a man who spent 27 of his 95 years in prison for crimes against his government before throwing off the shackles of oppression and leading his nation into new directions of racial equality.

In his early years he was, at least in the eyes of his government, a terrorist for daring to stand up for what he believed in – that a better world could be created but which had to be seized and not merely requested.

And yet today he is remembered for his bold actions in demanding racial equality and becoming the epitome of what many believe to be the ideal freedom fighter – a person who dares to overcome all odds including savage physical and mental attacks to change something they believe is wrong.

He wasn’t perfect nor were his results,  crime-wise or economically, and he had many enemies right up to his death.

Anyone who stands up against injustice, indifference or incompetence is guaranteed to make enemies, as noted by Winston Churchill when he said:

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

In the poem Desiderata, there is a line that says:

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story

While the dull and ignorant may have their story, Nelson Mandela knew that they didn’t define his story.

He also knew that sometimes the only way to overcome the dull and the ignorant is to speak one’s truth loudly and to demonstrate it with actions that speak louder than words.

And that is perhaps his greatest legacy that we need to learn from.

While we can quote him and other people who fought for freedom, they didn’t live (and die) so that we could merely quote them incessantly.

They did so in the hope that we would continue to follow in their footsteps.

Freedom, equality and a better life for all aren’t things that are won once and then go on forever without additional effort and sacrifice – a perpetually free gift that we should take for granted.

They have to be fought for daily.

And while many of us believe that we must wait for ourselves and our situations to become perfect before we can champion what is important to us, we must remember that many who have gone before us weren’t perfect.

In fact they were far from it.

But as Mandela, Gandhi and others knew, if we don’t follow where our hearts lead us, the story of the dull and ignorant will become our story.

Is that what you want?

I didn’t think so.

The world is waiting for you.

What are you waiting for?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

PS I remember a song that came out in the 1980’s during some challenging times in my Life.  The chorus struck me then and I have never forgotten the song or when I first heard it.

“And when the night is cold and dark
You can see, you can see light
No one can take away your right
To fight and to never surrender
To never surrender” – Corey Hart – Never Surrender

We each have a song, a story, a quote or an event that inspires us.  Inspiration when felt within doesn’t mean much unless that inspiration creates action that touches others.

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