The World Mourns Jobs’ Death in Pictures

Snapshot from my Apple computer. RIP, Steve Jobs...

People- young and old, rich and poor, free and unfree- across the world mourn the passing of their hero Steve Jobs. From USA to UK to Japan to the Arab world to China, Jobs is called by many names in honor of his great, heroic accomplishments. He changed the world. No doubt about that.

In China, a totalitarian country that embraced a few of the institutions/elements of free market system, he’s called “Qiao Bangzhu” or “Master Jobs. Yahoo and his fellow technology geniuses call him “Technology Hero”. A CNN article calls him “master showman” and “cult hero” for being a “demigod” to “technology freaks and geeks”. Even anti-capitalism Barack Obama, whose political policies are utterly anti-business and anti-economic freedom, calls him “visionary.” Many call him “The Man who Changed the Modern World”. 

Inspirational eulogies, wonderful life stories about Jobs’ heroism and struggle as an inventor and entrepreneur, photos, blogs, twits, video tributes, and quotes flooded the world wide web moments after Apple announced his tragic death. Objectivists and capitalism advocates Yaron Brook and Don Watkins, in their Forbes column, reminded the world “what we owe Steve Jobs”.

In memory: A tribute Apple logo created by Hong Kong student Jonathan Mak.

“For one, we owe them gratitude, which we do not always give them–Jobs, here, is the exception that proves the rule,”  But we owe them something more than that, something not even Jobs has received. We owe them the recognition that their achievements are profoundly moral,” they said.

They added:

“If dedicating your life to creating the values that advance it is a moral achievement, then there is nothing greater or nobler than the creative geniuses whose productive ability has created our modern world: a world where we live more than three times as long as our ancestors; where our homes are heated in the winter, cooled in the summer, and lit at night; where we can travel across a continent in a matter of hours; where we can say goodnight to our children from the other side of the globe.”

… “Let us mourn the loss of Steve Jobs–but let us also use this as an opportunity to look in the mirror and question whether we have treated Jobs and others like him as they deserve.”

Observe the timing of almost every important aspect about Jobs weeks before his death. Apple became the world’s best managed, most successful corporation at a time when debt-ridden, downgraded United States of America was on its knees. Jobs quit his post knowing that his health condition rendered him incapable of carrying out his indispensable functions and duties as Apple CEO. Jobs’ resignation exemplifies the virtue of a great business chief, and that should give Pres. Obama some idea about what makes a truly honorable and noble leader.

For me, there’s one great thing that we owe Steve Jobs. The achievements, heroic struggles and death of Jobs reminded people that success and wealth should not be hated, but admired and praised. He somehow reminded people across the world what is meant to be free.

In China where the central government curtails its citizens’ individual rights and freedom, the Chinese begin to understand that wealth and economic success are only made possible in a society that respects and recognizes the inviolability of freedom. They begin to grasp that wealth and technology-creation requires men to be free and unshackled by government’s interference, regulations and restrictions. They begin to understand that the rich must not be defiled and mocked, but thanked. A Chinese academic named Wu Jiaxiang said: “It is said Chinese people hate the rich. But all the Chinese are mourning for Jobs after he died. They don’t hate the rich. They respect the rich who accumulate their fortune via talents and innovation as well. What Chinese people hate are those get rich by monopoly, corruption and cheating.”

In death there’s life, they say. Jobs’ death made people across the world how wealth is created and how economic success is made possible. Wealth is created not by force or compulsion, but by man’s sheer ability, talents and skills. Jobs and Apple did not achieve economic success by creating substandard products, by cheating on their consumers, by following conventional marketing and corporate techniques, and by taking advantage of people’s gullibility and ignorance. They achieved success by simply creating things and values that they selfishly want. In Jobs’ words: “It isn’t the consumers’ job to know what they want.” And: “We figure out what we want. And I think we’re pretty good at having the right discipline to think through whether a lot of other people are going to want it, too. ”

For the last time, let’s witness how the world mourns Jobs’ death…

Photo Credit: From my friend Bosch Fawstin. http://fawstin.blogspot.com/

iSad: An admirer writes a message on a board in mourning of the death of Jobs outside an Apple store in Manila

In China…

A Chinese man takes a photo of flowers and tributes to Steve Jobs placed outside the Apple retail store in Beijing, China on Thursday. Click on the photo to see a slideshow of world reactions to Jobs death.

A woman reacts as she mourns the death of Apple co-founder and former CEO, Steve Jobs, at Sanlitun Apple store in Beijing on Thursday.

Fans are also placing cards, flowers, candles and notes on Apple stores around the world, including San Francisco.

In London.

People mourn Apple co-founder Steve Jobs at an Apple store at Sanlitun Village.

In Tokyo.