Please pass the mic to Ganji

Posted by Paul Woodland | No Comments

It is time for the reasonable voices in this world to rise up and be heard. It’s time for people like Akbar Ganji to take center stage. I encourage you to read the Washington Post profile of him.

Ganji has spent the last 6 years in prison, often in soletary confinement. While in prison, he engaged in multiple hunger strikes in protest of his incarceration with the longest hunger strike lasting 73-days.

He speaks as an individual, a rare quality these days, and often finds himself in opposition, not only to the authoritarian Iranian regime, but also to the democratic reform movement for their timidness and willingness to compromise with Iran’s theocratic dictatorship. He also opposes the Bush administration policies, which have undermined democratic movements throughout the Middle East.

The people of the earth, the silent majority, have a right and a responsibility to make their voices heard, as Ganji does. We need to find means and courage to peacefully overthrow the many oppressive and violent regimes throughout the world. We need to find means to effectively oppose the insane policies of our own government witout resorting to the entrenched ideology of powerful political parties and special interest groups.

The time has come for a world conversation, but the question remains. How do we shut the lunatics out? They have run the asylum for much too long. Despite claims to the contrary, it seems that the Internet is empowering the psychotics and allowing them to rally popular support like never before.

Media savvy dictators, religious fanatics, and all those who wish to make the world bend to there wishes have found the Internet an exceptional tool for shaping public opinion, and the rational voices are beginning to get drowned out. Please pass the mic to people like Ganji.

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