I never thought Twitter could do any good outside of an easy joke or a momentary distraction – I was wrong – sometimes you only have a few words to get out before the Iranian Police come to take your freedom away…
His arms were outstretched in a cross like pose as he was supported by the protesters below him. His mouth agape, his face contorted as if every muscle in it was crying out “FREEDOM!”
It was a picture. A picture from Iran this week – a protester angry with the outcome of the Iranian quasi-democratic election. And he wasn’t alone. Images keep pouring through the swiss cheese holes of the Iranian government understanding of technology. Photo after photo shows the same thing – the grasp for freedom exploding out of the individuals who now know, with no doubt, that they are not free.
I worry. I worry for them, their safety as they begin yet again to go through the motions of revolution. Hopefully this time justice, human justice will prevail and they can reclaim their seat at the world table as a truly free and vibrant people.
But I also worry for the journalists left behind trying to report the chaos and the truth. It’s so hard to get that out – the truth. It can be a mortal yet necessary desire. Maybe this event will remind journalists what their function is in this world. To simply tell the truth and not what a state or body or sponsor tells them to say.
In the end I am amazed that Twitter, technology, information, communication – I am amazed but not surprised that they are making a difference. It’s reassuring to think that human progress is not just up to men in long grey beards and old families. We have come so far – and we as a human race are tired and weary but we are so very close to achieving our potential – to achieving peace and prosperity for all on this planet.
Thousands of years of fighting and death and abated breath are almost done. We are so close…so very close…to overcoming our greed for power.
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