The Modern Gadfly

The modern gadfly would have to disguise his own agenda of addressing wrongs by asking questions or coming  off as being irritant in our modern age. Socrates did this by  questioning civilians around him but the range of his agenda was very limited. With the use of technology of our time, the gadfly can work on his agenda on a much larger scale. The gadfly can question, inform, or irritate hundreds of people now with the internet,  television, etc. but who in this modern age has the same goals of Socrates? Asking the hard questions, providing radical and different opinion, and  questioning the "truth"?
Thanks to the civil liberties in our country, anyone can be a modern gadfly. Bloggers and political pretend to be ignorant, find ignorance in the government, and question the "truths" our government or otherwise has told us but really anyone can do it. Many people in Socrates's  era feared the government and freedom of speech was not a liberty for all and this explains why so few questioned their surroundings but we are not executed for freedom of speech. Most internet tools like message boards, social sites, and blogs are used by gadflys to spread their wisdom and inform the people.
I may not be able to think of a real person who questions the government like Socrates did, but the idea of a modern gadfly reminds me of the fictional character Andrew Ryan. Ryan rejected the idea's of the well established forms of government and order (the american government, communism, and christianity) He   wondered  if you worked for something, then why can't you and you alone  enjoy the fruits of your labor? The fruits of your labor shouldn't help the government or the poor(the american government) shared by the people(communism) or they belong to God( Christianity), he believed. He and Socrates were similar in the fact that they questioned the the lives given before them and considered them not worthy of living. (Socrates going as far to choosing to be executed instead of accepting a lower sentence and Ryan going as far as building his own city based on his ideals)

The Unexamined Life is not Worth Living?

"The unexamined Life is not worth living" 
-Socrates


Is the unexamined life worth living?  I think so. This means, to me, that simply living is not enough. You have to question and analyze life to reveal things both unique and new. If you don't, then you are merely wasting your life with ignorance and bitter acceptance. 
What do I think? What activities and traits that waste your life are simply opinions. People who chose not to question their lives probably have good reasons. The truth may be more disturbing or more horrifying than they can comprehend. Ignorance is bliss. Can you imagine a  future world where there were no lies and we knew everything? Every dark secret known, every lie disproved, every question answered. To some, this would end wars and create peace among the human race. On the contrary, the result will be anarchy. We would know all the evil that has happened,  that is happening, and that will happen. Could we all live together knowing the evil we are capable of , the evil we have done, and the evil we will do to each other?
Also, if the point of examining your life is to not waste it, why not just embrace and celebrate life instead? If you simply ask questions all your life, you'll never be happy.  There will always be someone to disprove you and answers will only lead to more questions. In the beginning, you were ignorant, and in the end you will be ignorant, right? Its not like you keep examining, you will answer all life's questions. so what's the point? to die a little smarter?  

Eulogy

Well it seems that Malik  has left the world of the living. OK let's get this over with. Malik spent his life living trying to spread his seemingly endless joy with others with his sense of humor and enjoying pleasures both simple and complex, whether it be enjoying nature or drawing.   He often listened to others and lightened the mood. Life has never been easy for Malik but he still sought to make other people happy before himself because he considered this more important. He grew up feeling unwanted and alienated by his own immediate family. Ironic, isn't it? The people who are supposed to love and accept him made him feel like a freak with their relentless criticism and dissatisfaction with almost anything he ever accomplished. He quickly learned  how cruel the world could be at an early age with own family and sought to relieve sadness in others  with his humor and charity and relieve his own pain with his art. 

Sadly he died, without knowing the same joy he has instilled in others.   He died thinking that no one ever understood him or even cared if he lived or died.... just another joke to laugh at.  I can't say that I blame him.  How many of us here can say they truly knew him? Do not grieve for him for he would not want it. Malik didn't try to think about these things too hard, for they would add a darkness to his soul that he both feared and suppressed. Instead of where of most people saw gloom, Malik would try to see light, whether it be in others in himself. There was almost nothing he couldn't find good with.