Political Violence
Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama battled tonight in a tense debate televised on ABC. It is six days before their showdown in Philadelphia. As each day passes, the pressure is mounting for both candidates. They have been fighting it out for over a year. Each one is fiercely campaigning in city after city with no clear winner emerging. It continues to be a long, hard fought battle — one that will probably continue raging right up until the Democratic convention in August.
Frankly, I was beginning to get tired of it all — the political bantering, jabs, attacks, and talk show discussions — until I received a disturbing call from one of my employees. This call reminded me how lucky I am to live in a country where we have the freedom to express our beliefs and vote according to those beliefs without the threat of violence or bloodshed.
During the call, I learned that this individual grew up in Kenya. His parents still live there. That is, they did until a few short months ago. After the elections last year, extreme violence erupted. Hundreds of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled the country to escape the violence.
His parents escaped, but they left everything behind — their home, their business, and their lives. They are living temporarily in India with friends. Thinking the violence would die down quickly, they had originally planned to be away for only a couple of weeks. It’s been months since they left, and they are still frightened to go home. Nothing has improved. In fact, four more people died yesterday.
These people are the same age as my parents. They are stranded with only a few belongings, not knowing where to go or what to do. They can’t return home, and they can’t stay in India.
I can’t begin to imagine how horrific that must be. Instantly, I felt ashamed for taking my freedom for granted. We live in one of the greatest countries in the world. Sure, it’s not perfect, but we can express our beliefs. We can participate in a democratic election process and have confidence that our country will not falter or be subjected to extreme violence resulting from elections.
No matter what you think of the election process or the candidates, you should remember how lucky we are to have the freedoms and security we enjoy today. Don’t take it lightly. Don’t complain. And don’t take it for granted. There are hundreds of thousands of refugees who would gladly give everything to switch places with us.
