As a close follower of news event and analysis from around the world, one is left with the perception that the world, much of which was united with the people of France to declare "Je suis Charlie" has taken a back sit and is waiting for the next event that would give a sense of how the French government and its people have adjusted to the new realities that are an inevitability of happenings as profound as one that, as in this case, threatens the philosophical bedrock of a people.
Emotions ran high in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack as one would expect. It caused a lot of generalization which at its best, seemed to suggest that the Kouachi brothers were disaffected youth from marginalized Parisian suburbs whose lot could perhaps have be bettered by a more attentive government. At its worst, they were Islamists whose wholly embraced jihad- fueled nihilism had been fatefully employed to threaten freedom of expression, a critical cornerstone that makes France the country it is today.
As things continue to evolve however, It is perhaps best to be reminded that there are dysfunctional individuals, people with a poverty of spirit, that would latch unto any excuse to wrought mayhem on society, tarring the collective black, and instigating wars if necessary whilst they are at it. The Kouachi brothers can safely be put in this category given the terrible wantonness of their crime which has no justification.
However, a balanced approach to getting to the bottom of the happening of the 7th of January which sees France question not only fundamentalist Islam but itself would go some way to guaranteeing that such dysfunctional individuals remain on the fringes of society, where they belong.
