Day: February 20, 2024

 “What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander.” – Elie Wiesel

I got into trouble during the last presidential election. I made my views too well known. I angered people and lost longtime friendships and relationships. I still grieve that some did not understand that my fervor was never about myself or meant to hurt others. It was simply my way of making observations that seemed so clear to me. I was warning them of dangers that I saw. I had hoped that some of them would understand my love for the United States of America and all of its people, but sadly for some I became an enemy, a naive communist who was just the opposite of what I thought that I was. 

I decided that I would be more circumspect in making my beliefs public in the current political maelstrom. I admitted that I had not changed the viewpoints of anyone with my editorial blogs. I wanted to go under the radar again lest I inadvertently ruffle the feelings of someone that I love. I felt that my personal ideals had been mostly ignored and had at times been interpreted as deluded or even insulting. I was determined to be mostly silent, but something happened that made me realize that silence hurts innocent people and that I must never give up attempting to alert people to the cruelty and oppression that is threatening our beautiful democracy and the hard fought freedoms that it has engendered. 

I was a child of the Cold War. My parents endured the Great Depression and World War II. My father was a history buff and my mother was someone whose parents had fled from oppression in their country that would one day be called Slovakia. I grew up with truths about how powerful figures use the good will and fears of people to enhance their own self interests. My teachers taught me how to watch for propaganda. They showed me how to think critically and how to analyze conflicting arguments. They engaged me in deep analyses of  human behavior. My grandfather helped me to see the long arc of history and its march toward progress, but also the ugliness that can stain the good that humans have achieved.

I don’t claim to have all of the answers but gravely fear for my nation in its present state. I know that when I speak of the issues that threaten our democracy I am preaching to the choir and alienating those who do not share my views. The reasonable thing to do would be to be silent and yet I wonder if silence is the fertilizer for the growth of authoritarian nations like Russia. If enough of us fear speaking the about what we believe to be true are we in a sense complicit in hurting the people around us?

The death of Alexei Navalny in a prison in Siberia awakened my sense that we should never simply look the other way when we perceive wrongdoing. He was perhaps the loudest and most important voice against the authoritarian policies of Putin and his government. He was poisoned once before and nearly died which only intensified his critiques of the current state of Russia. He might have stayed safely abroad but he understood that to keep his truths alive he would have to return to his native country. He clearly realized that he would be in danger but nonetheless kept his voice alive for the sake of his countrymen. 

Navalny predicted his own death. He told his followers that when he was gone they needed to continue to protest the actions of Putin and his loyal followers. He was a hero not unlike the founders of our nation who might have been hanged for their revolutionary beliefs. He gave his life for his love of Russia and his hope that one day it would be a land ruled by democratic principals. Navalny inspired me. 

I am but a small voice making noise in the wilderness. I do not believe that my words will necessarily have any impact on the way others believe but I know that I must be true to my principals by being unafraid to speak them. If I allow fear to guide me I am admitting to defeat of my ideals. I truly believe that the United States of America can return to it’s greatness but not of the variety described by Donald Trump and his followers. 

We have aspired to be a nation that welcomes a diversity of people and ideas. We have been at our best when we allow all voices an opportunity to speak their minds. We are most likely to solve our problems when we do not avoid speaking of our history with honesty. We do not want to turn back to a time when one race, one religion and one sex dominated life. We have moved past the idea that only one group of people are worthy of making decisions for the rest of us. It should be okay to take down memorials and flags honoring those who attempted to destroy our union. We need to talk openly about what happens when we rank people from best to worst or plant a seed that some among us need to be spurned simply for being different. We must be certain that Donald Trump and those who support his lies should not hold important offices. 

Our democracy is on the precipice of danger as are democracies in Europe and around the world. Our upcoming election is not about which old man should hold office but about who will keep the principles of democracy alive and who will kill them. The choice is clear but if too many among us simply sit this one silently out the man who loves dictators like Putin will be in charge. Trump has already bragged that he will be vindictive toward those who have voiced opposition to him. He will turn on patriots like Liz Cheney. Anyone who has ever pushed back with be at his mercy. Do we really want that to happen to our country? Do we want to create prisoners like Navalny in our own land? I think not. We have to use our voices at the polls this November by voting not for Trump and Republicans who have been afraid to cross him, but for a Joe Biden who was duly elected in 2020 and who guided us through some of the most difficult times in recent history. He may be old and we may not agree with everything that he believes but he is a champion for democracy and freedom. There is no more important issue!

There…I said it!