 There are wars, stories of wars and wars that the
world does not hear of. But all in all, there is just so much
fighting going on in the world.
Governments are thought by most to be our
peacekeeper. But the government of whom? The government of
those with the most guns. The government of those holding the
ballot boxes. The government crowned by the people. The
government put on the throne by foreign powers.
Countries where those with the biggest guns or
the biggest purses have the biggest vote. And sometimes, the
only vote. Countries where the paper ballot of the people can
so easily be just tossed in a trash can.
We know the problems, but what’s the solution.
How do we stop the violence.
You must find a peaceful center.
There can be no peace in the victory of
polarization
The mentality of “all power for us or nothing”.
The completeness of victory of the few will never bring peace
for the multitude.
And a peaceful solution that fits one country
sometimes can not fit another. Every country needs to find its
own peaceful center.
A long time ago I had a project with the Kenya
government. I was talking to a member of their embassy staff.
Privately he told that he had strong doubts about the American
brand of democracy being a good political solution for all of
Africa.
He said that the government in their country then
was mostly based on the British parliamentary system. He said
that in the American system, you held elections and one group
won, while all the other groups lost. That losing would be
unacceptable, he thought in some countries.
I remember him laughingly saying, “If they lose,
they go home and get their guns.” His remarks were private
because publicly America, as a big brother, should not be talked
against.
In some African countries, where the West is
assisting leaders to stay in power and has even put some of them
in power, there is conflict. In some African countries, where
the West has declared leaders to be dictators, there is no
conflict. There has to be found a peaceful center.
I love America and I love our democracy. It
works, not perfectly, but very well for here.
It must be remembered that in 1976 America
celebrated 200 years of independence. While countries like
Nigeria and Mauritania whose elections are covered in this
edition, have only been free for a little over 40 years.
This editorial is as close to a ramble as I hope
to get. But as it goes around in circles, somewhere in the
middle is a peaceful center.
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