©2014 Raymond Alexander Kukkee  

It takes Leadership at the Edge

  Here at IncomingBytes it seems we have difficulty remaining silent about the problematic status quo. You know, zip the lip, bucko,  or stifle it, Edith,  as Archie Bunker might say. We try hard;  it's  good to restrain one's self  where  possible, but the devil's in the details isn't it. The desire to be  silent is not always  achieved. Yes, we doodle, dawdle, go for coffee and procrastinate hoping that delay might remove the sense of urgency to comment upon occasion,  but that changes nothing. If we choose to leave it to someone else to raise hell speak up about any given issue, close to the edge,  fact is, it feels like a betrayal, passing the buck. It takes leadership to stand on the uncomfortable cutting edge —to do the right things at the right time. Should writers  zip it and silently shift responsibility to others? Should writers  live a life of avoidance apathy?  I think not. If we, as communicators fail to speak up, we lose the right to complain, or  speak at all. It becomes incredibly easy to bitch about everything, make random observations and comments.Draw  incorrect conclusions. Raise ire, draw fire.  And perhaps raise hell.  Remain silent while innocent people are being beheaded? No.  Should we collectively live in fear? No. Is that conundrum something new under the sun? No. It  is also easy to criticize and forget the path others must walk, but let's take a closer look at what's happening.  Let us generously allow other people to define their own straight and narrow, their route to happiness, or equally their chosen path to disaster, disillusion,  tragedy, loss, and grief, even death. Yes, it is their choice;  their actions, their beliefs, their dogma, —and their outcomes,  problems, and in some cases,  their biting mad-dog lunacy that condemns them.  Barbaric acts committed in iron-clad, intolerant zealotry  affect everyone in the world in one way or the other, lessening the civility in this civilization but seldom achieve the intended goal.  And no, for the record, civilized people  do not have to "like" or tolerate murderous barbarians, whatever their 'ideology'. Standing close to the edge, wondering why the world is tilting toward total destruction, we must open our eyes.  Blood and guts, warfare, murder, mayhem, bombs  and hell, —or not, we must give pause for thought.  Timely action must be taken against outrageous aggression, genocide,  the bristling threat of fever-driven religious  fanatics—cooperation with traditional enemies must be considered—no matter what the plan, and yes,it can still be a no win. Why? It is simple. Fear.  With the world in turmoil, there are already more than enough difficulties and fear to  share without the  unknown unpredictability of fanatics. Terrorism. Heinous acts committed by barbarians attempting to force their agenda upon the civilized.  ISIL fanaticism. Genocide. There is warfare. Israel and Palestine. Sabre-rattling aggression and potential expansionism of Russia into Ukraine. The civil war in Syria.  Never mind the complexities of  warfare, there's Ebola, a horrific, unprecedented global health challenge.   Climate change. Environmental and economic disasters. Earthquakes.  Dying oceans, suffocating carbon dioxide levels. Get the idea? The fact is, no one, global leaders included —can now claim the luxury of standing back and simply observing potential global threats and shrugging their shoulders. There is always trouble somewhere in the world, but for our own 'pseudo-civilized' security  and control, it has always been convenient  trendy  to consider those things happen elsewhere.  The other side of the world. Other countries. Other places. Leaders say "It's  over there, we're monitoring the situation......"  Uh...huh. Apparently not carefully enough. Regardless, it's always somewhere else. Really?  Nowhere close to our comfort zone? Perhaps until now. New threats lead us ever closer to the edge. There's a whole new 'game' on, where everyone actually wakes up --including politicians and world leaders --and are forced to look down over the edge, into the abyss. It's time to do more than just observe. Don't waste time setting the alarm clock. Wake up early and think for yourself.   # Is that Incoming I hear?     photo by rakukkee2014 all rights reserved