Hemlock has removed a body.
\nBut the disturbing truth is still among us.<\/p>\n
399 BC. A court is established in Athens.
\nThe accused Socrates.
\nThe accusation is familiar; corrupting the youth, destabilizing order.
\n501 people vote. The decision is narrowly decided. Death.<\/p>\n
But it was not just one man who was on trial that day.
\nA society was eliminating a mind that made it uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
Socrates was not giving information.
\nHe was poking at things that people thought they knew.
\n\u201cWhat is justice?\u201d he asked, unpacking the answer step by step.
\nAs the conversation progressed, people were confronting what they did not know.<\/p>\n
One does not accept this easily.
\n\u201cI don't know\u201d is heavy.<\/p>\n
So most of the time we don't think.
\nWe suppress restlessness.
\nWe change the subject.
\nWe ignore it.
\nOr we devalue the person who reminds us of that unease.<\/p>\n
History has shown this time and time again.<\/p>\n
The questioner disturbs first.
\nIt is then labeled.
\n\u201cDangerous.\u201d
\n\u201cDisruptive.\u201d
\n\u201cIt does.\u201d<\/p>\n
A decision is then made.
\nAnd everybody relaxes.<\/p>\n
Is it really so different today?<\/p>\n
A sentence is being formed.
\nWe look at who said it, not what he said.
\nWe pass judgment in minutes.
\nThe idea is not being discussed, the person is being discussed.<\/p>\n
This is the fastest extrajudicial execution of modern times.<\/p>\n
Maybe no one is killing anyone.
\nBut people now weigh themselves before they speak.
\n\u201cHe thinks, \u201dWhat will happen if I say this?\"
\nand most of the time he is silent.<\/p>\n
Now let's be honest.<\/p>\n
Are we really discussing truthfulness?
\nOtherwise, everything we are uncomfortable with
\n\u201cWe push it aside because it's \u201ddisruptive\"?<\/p>\n
Because it's easier.<\/p>\n
You demean the speaker,
\nthe promise also shrinks.
\nAnd you'll be comfortable.<\/p>\n
Democracy does not start at the ballot box.
\nIt starts with your reaction when you hear an idea you don't like.<\/p>\n
The measure of freedom is not what you can say, but what you say
\nis what you encounter.<\/p>\n
The level of civilization of a society
\nnot how many people are talking,
\nby how many people are silent.<\/p>\n
Now ask yourself.
\nHave you ever kept quiet just to avoid a reaction?
\nHave you ever swallowed something you thought was true?<\/p>\n
If it happened,
\nSocrates is not that far away.<\/p>\n
Nothing had changed with Socrates or U\u011fur Mumcu.
\nThey could not tolerate their ideas, they eliminated their bodies.<\/p>\n
And what happened?<\/p>\n
Nor were Socrates' questions silenced,
\nnor what Ugur Mumcu put forward has been lost.<\/p>\n
On the contrary, every silenced voice
\nresonated in more people's minds.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil yesterday morning, you could not refute anything I had researched and written.
\nSo hit them, smash them.
\nFrom every part of me will be born those like me, those who will surpass me.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so it was.
\nThey destroyed their bodies.
\nBut they could not kill their ideas.<\/p>\n
I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those who were silenced for their thoughts.
\nU\u011fur Mumcu, \u00c7etin Eme\u00e7, Ahmet Taner K\u0131\u015flal\u0131, Hrant Dink, Musa Anter and hundreds of journalists, writers, philosophers and thinkers...<\/p>\n
Learn to tolerate ideas.
\nEvery idea you silence is your helplessness.
\nA mind that cannot endure its opponent is not strong, it is cowardly.
\nWhere everyone is silent, there is not thought but surrender.<\/p>\n
So now... who's next?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Democracy does not start at the ballot box.
\nIt starts with your reaction when you hear an idea you don't like.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":284043,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[286],"tags":[289],"class_list":{"0":"post-284042","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-yazarlar","8":"tag-manset"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284042"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":284044,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284042\/revisions\/284044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}