Social Media Is Changing the World

This is an absolutely incredible moment in history. Unlike many of the political discussions on Facebook and other social media forums, discussions regarding the Iranian protests are important and are having/will have an impact. While much of the political discussion on Facebook and other sites can become hateful and disrespectful quickly ultimately accomplishing nothing, this issue is quite different.

The Iranian people, knowing that their government would restrict or prohibit international journalists from covering their protests are telling us their story themselves. Tweets on Twitter, blogs, Facebook posts, YouTube videos and other social media entries are sharing a story with the world that the Iranian government has been working actively and violently to repress.

For decades the Iranian government and other extremists governments have used anti-American politics and policies as a very powerful political tool. Think about it...if you did not did not know anything about America or Americans and your government kept telling you how awful and evil Americans are, there is a good shot you would buy into the message. Our government has also given Middle Eastern extremists ample material for their stories of hate and violence. Then we had an American President who for eight years used very strong and divisive language . This posturing strongly supported the anti-American messaging of the extremist Middle Eastern leaders.

The absolutely incredible part of the Iranian Protests tragedy is that there is now a global understanding that people (common people) of the world can talk to each other. Individuals talking to each other and better understanding each other can change the world tiny bits at a time. Masses of common people crying out to other masses of common people for help and support can change the world very quickly.

It is fun to think about an idealistic, yet realistic vision of this power. Let's say, hypothetically, that the German government implemented a policy that caused a negative situation for American citizens. American and German citizens could communicate, exchange their respective views on the situation. German citizens, if so moved, based on their new understanding of the position of American citizens (not the formal position of the U.S. government) could pressure their own government to reverse the policy.

I believe in my heart that 99.9% of people around the world want to live in peace, raise their families, educate their children, provide for their families, etc. It is the one tenth of one percent of very powerful people in the world (government leaders and in some cases very powerful business people) who often do tremendous harm or in some cases tremendous good.

When people, everyday people, can take power back by simply talking to each other, global leaders will be forced to fall in line and govern in ways that has the interests of their people more in mind. This holds true in Iran and it holds true in America.

My heart goes out to the Iranian people and I am praying for them. The good that is coming from this is that the Iranian people have truly changed the world.

We are in a unique point in history in that doing what does not seem like much...sending messages on discussion boards, finding ways to get your well wishes to someone in Tehran, participating in peaceful vigils will go a long way to helping to destabilize an extremist government.

Iranian people seeing American citizens standing beside them means that the anti-American politics will no longer work in Iran and in other extremist Muslim governments. Keeping their citizens fearful of American aggression was a key political tool for these governments and our current President and us as individual Americans are talking that away.

Despite the rhetoric of some who seem to believe that acknowledging a larger world makes us less American, we ALL are global citizens. We all live on one planet and are bound together by nature and the health of our planet. We are also all tied together by economic markets and the cross-pollination of our cultures.

Yes, we as Americans are one people and I am proud to be an American. However, the most patriotic thing we can do as Americans, in my opinion, is to do what little we can when given the opportunity to try to advance peace in our time and for future generations.

So....participate in a local vigil. I think most of us, regardless of our specific political views, can agree that people should have the rights of freedom of speech and peaceful protest. From my understanding vigils are being organized around the world this Friday and have been going on for the last week or so. The Iranian people need to see pictures of millions of Americans and other global citizens standing with them.

Photos of these events will make there way to Tehran via facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets.