Keep Living, Keep Working

As I sit down to write this, my mind keeps returning to the recent horrific events in Paris. In the couple of years that I’ve been writing this column, I have taken on a few topics that did not exactly generate universal admiration. I’ve earned my fair share of reader rebuke, and I generally know when to expect it, based on whatever is stirring my pot that particular week. But my point of view on any given issue is obviously never a matter of life and death. I never have to worry that a reader, no matter how irate, is literally going to pull the trigger.

Terrorism in any form is a particularly insidious act. And here in America, we have suffered through three major terrorism events that have forever altered our sense of security, though not our sense of self. We know who we are.

The 12 staff members of Charlie Hebdo and the four hostages who were murdered in cold blood knew who they were, too. But the terrorists apparently didn’t, or at least, they didn’t appreciate that their cowardly act would have the direct opposite effect than they intended. Rather than silencing the paper, they amplified its voice. Two million copies of the “survivors issue,” released Wednesday with the Prophet Mohammed again on the cover (this time in tears), immediately sold out and three million more are planned. The magazine’s normal circulation is a mere 60,000.

For any democratic nation, terrorism as a means of censorship is especially abhorrent. It goes to the heart of what defines us as a people and makes us thank our lucky stars every day of every year that we were born with the precious right to think what we like and say what we think. Terrorism will not and cannot change this, ever. It only serves to strengthen democratic resolve and galvanize people and nations around the globe who believe in basic human freedoms.

So, here I am, back at my laptop, hammering out my thought of this week. And my thought is this: we will all carry on, continue to raise our families and do our jobs and hope for the future. We must. It is the only way. For me, at this particular moment, I am looking ahead to what 2015 will bring for Marcum. We are already in the early throes of gearing up for several signature events that have become integral to our Firm, including the annual Marcum MicroCap Conference, coming up on May 27-28; the Marcum Long-Term Care Symposium on May 12; the Marcum Workplace Challenge on July 28; and a calendar of awards programs and industry conferences in the fall. You can find details about all these events on our website. Please join us.

You may have noticed that we recently launched a new brand campaign that speaks to the deep well of experience and expertise our Firm provides to our clients, the theme of which is Ask Marcum. Please do. Ask Marcum, that is. I hope you take advantage of these and all the other resources available to you from Marcum throughout the year. We are here to help you achieve success and to support you in pursuit of the goals you have set for yourselves, your businesses and your families.

Live well and be successful. That’s the best possible response to terrorism.

Julie Gross Gelfand contributed to this blog.