If your voice held no power, they wouldn’t try and silence you.

If your voice held no power, they wouldn’t try and silence you.

It is immaterial which side of the discussion you are siding with. At the end of the day, the great power of freedom of speech is the ability to be outspoken. To make your thoughts, feelings and concerns, known.

The whole world of freedom of speech is convoluted, confusing, frustrating and it could not be more important. In a representational democracy, the needs of the public are presumably made into law by the elected representatives that serve as their voice in the respective seats of government. 

As the United States veers ever further from being a representational democracy, the voices of special interests have grown so powerful as to squelch the voice of the individual into a squeak, when it was once a lion’s roar. 

This could not be any more evident than the tragedy unfolding in our nation with respect to the gun lobby. There have already been 256 school shooting incidents in the United States since Jan 1, 2022.  Certainly no person wants to know their child is going to a place that could become a massive tragedy.

Even if you are a strong proponent of the 2nd Amendment and the Right to Bear Arms, as a parent, you cannot be comfortable with the escalation of these experiences and the devastation and horrific grief that they perpetuate in our society.

People are quick to become numb to anything that happens with frequency, no matter how horrible those events truly are. If those events are continuously followed up by politicians expressed (feigned) disbelief and offering their prayers and condolences to the surviving family members, and no further action is taken, then you have one of two choices. Complacency and acceptance, or standing up and being counted.

One of the only weapons you have in life is your ability to stand up for what you believe in. To vocalize your perspective and to share it appropriately as may be required.

Your voice and your opinion do matter. Your children’s safety and your own safety in a world so populated with weapons also matters.

If you are courageous and determined to see progress unfold, it must start with your voice.

Happy Friday!

Please follow and like us:
Pin Share
Share:
Written by Brian Weiner
When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!