The I am Charlie movement captured recently the media attention, and many manifestations of protest and sympathy were organized in Toronto and around the world.
This made me question the concept “Freedom of expression”. In my opinion, everything we do or say represents freedom of expression, reflecting the beliefs we hold in that moment or what we accepted to act upon (without having the courage to step up for expressing our own beliefs, for certain reasons).
It I take the example of someone who uses a gun to kill another: he acts from the belief that it is the right thing to do in that moment (according to his own judgement) , or that he has to do it (which is still a belief, formed because of certain reasons; for example believing there is no other option). So he chooses to kill which, in my opinion, still represents freedom of expression: the expression of what he believes it’s the right thing to do in that moment.
This being said, I don’t think that freedom of expression was the real issue regarding the events that led to “I am Charlie” movement. It might in fact be that someone’s freedom of expression is not aligned with the bigger purpose of making a better world for all of us. As long as we act directly or indirectly against each other invoking the freedom of expression, we don’t only hurt each other, but we slow down the evolution process of humanity on Earth.
What might be needed now in the world is a shift of perspective: instead of acting from an individual perspective (me, what I think is good), we should increase our awareness and act from a system perspective (thinking of what could be the impact of my actions on a larger scale, then take more conscious actions to create a better world for all of us). The system perspective might not be easy to grasp as the individual perspective, but could bring much more benefits (even at individual level) along the way. It might just need to be practiced more often, until it will become a new habit that benefits us all.
What are your thoughts on this?
Gabriela