Politics is the study of how governments and countries interact and function. But the word itself, perhaps lazily, has evolved into the study and discussion of current events as they pertain to society in general. I pride myself on my knowledge of Politics. I enjoy being a news junkie and a history buff. I like being up on current events, ready to whip out of my holster some nugget at a cocktail party. Given the choice between being informed or not, I like to know what’s going on despite the terrible toll it sometimes takes. But at the end of the day, I don’t know shit.
As an American, I enjoy a sense of security that a citizen of only a few countries ever have. We have never had our shores breached by an enemy, we have a strong military and a representative government in place to see that we (hopefully) never fall victim to civil war again. With the exception of the Great Depression, we have never known widespread hunger and poverty. Our standard of living, even at “poverty” levels consists of not just food, shelter and clothing but multiple televisions, a car, a cellphone, and internet connectivity. While we could do better, we could be worse off. Even in our darkest days, we seem to look to the future with optimism. The American Dream. And when we look at other countries, it is my opinion that we see things the same way.
Yet, there are people who have seen real civil war, experienced abject poverty, experienced true desperation and watched their once beloved country crumble before them. Only our immigrants from war-torn countries could relate to such an experience, I certainly can’t. Yet today I read a post by one of my favorite bloggers, Bojana of Bojana’s Coffee and Confessions to go that details the day to day struggles of the Bosnian Conflict. It is the third installment of a series and I have been anxiously awaiting its posting. https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/133032654/posts/506 It is a must read for all.
In 1984, I was a year out of High School. I was pretty big into politics even then and I was intrigued by the Winter Olympic games being held in Sarajevo. A communist European country with a pro-western leader, tarnished by the persistent memory of an assassination that led to a world war had earned the opportunity to put on a great show for the world.
Less than 10 years later that beautiful country was ravaged by a civil war. The sight of the games now looks like this:
The world, for the most part, sat and watched it happen.
I remember sitting in my living room, like many, thinking to myself “ugh…ethnic cleansing, mass graves, concentration camps, old hatreds…it’s a civil war let them work it out”. And that’s just what most of the world did. The US, in particular, was still licking its wounds over the last civil conflict that we had no “National Interest” in but, in the name of humanity, got involved in. Americans still had this image from Mogadishu etched in our brains.
We stayed out of it. But people were suffering. We did get involved eventually as a UN mission. We ineffectively bombed where we could. It was a band-aid at best and we acted like we helped. But millions were robbed of their lives, many of them young people who lost their youth and possibly their belief in a just world. Besides mountains of bodies, lost youth is the second biggest casualty of war.
In America, we loosely throw names at our leaders such as Nazi, or Fascist, or Dictator but we have never experienced such a thing. We have never had in power a despot, a dictator, a Shah or Cleric, a General or Generalissimo, or a Fascist.
We had a King once and kicked his ass to the curb. We cannot pretend to know what it is like to be killed or imprisoned for our beliefs, religion or ethnicity. We have never walked down streets with bullets ringing by as we step over bodies. And we have never been without the support of one, centralized government that is always supporting us.
Yet with foreign policy, we act out against leaders at the expense of the people. Extreme sanctions, bombing campaigns and other harsh means of punishing the bad leaders of bad countries don’t hurt the leaders, only the people they lead. In many of those cases, the people don’t even support the beliefs of their leaders. They just want what we want. To eat a warm meal, sleep in a warm bed, to walk the streets without fear, and a future for their children.
Behind the great big wall that we call politics, there are just people. Strong, brave, resilient people who refuse to give up their lives despite what is going on around them. As evidenced by this iconic photograph of a Bosnian woman walking down the street. According to the photographer, bullets were flying close nearby, yet she walked upright and proud. Going about her day.
Superman found his phone booth 
I appreciate your post (and Bojana’s) and I agree with floweringink about reading about current events in a community of caring people – ‘news’ it makes a difference in HOW it is conveyed and our world (now) is doing it all wrong. If you have it in you, I’d like more of your writing on current events/history – you tell it well.
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I tend to avoid current events and politics but I’ve thought about venturing more into it. It’s so polarizing
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as I think I’ve stated, I bury my head so I don’t become depressed and hopeless. I like to hear about what’s going on but I don’t want the drama with it…objective reporting is what I prefer.
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Bojana has just introduced me to your blog and I am very grateful. This was an incredible and thought provoking post. I am emerging from the shadows, or waking up, as Bojana says, and I am glad to be doing it amongst the intelligence and sensitivity of so many amazing writers.
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Thank you so much and welcome to my world. One thing I love about WP is the quality of the people and the writing. I surround myself with writers like Bojana, Grace, Tom being Tom because they make me think and challenge my own beliefs. It’s a great community.
I look forward to reading your blog
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Thank you so much! And, I absolutely agree. It is an incredible feeling to be so inspired and to have the opportunity to learn from so many different kinds of people. It is a great community.
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Great piece. How we pick and choose our battles in terms of who and where we try to help is what fascinates me, but sometimes the hypocrisy in what we say and do is sad
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Super, you know how much I love your writing, and our chats.
But this one was really something, It really touched me. Not because my post was mentioned in it but because it tackles some of the burning questions today and bleeding wounds worldwide.
So let’s talk about wars and guns and suffering. Let’s not take things for granted. (THANK YOU.)
Oh boy, did we enjoy those Olympic Games in Sarajevo! Who would have thought, huh?
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you didn’t comment so I was concerned that maybe I offended you. In the process of an homage by your inspiration I ran the risk of harming the original work…as it were
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NO, the thing is, I opened it, read some, and was tied up with stuff…..And now, while everybody’s asleep (my time, tween 4-6am), I read it in peace.
Can’t sleep ever since I posted it. Too many memories, thoughts rolling…
You couldn’t harm anything or anyone even if you tried.
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I can’t even imagine. I hope it helped you to tell it it sure inspired me to read it
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I liked what you said about a whole nation/country being punished because of one man, who these same citizens in most cases have fought against back home. What a lousy excuse!
Writing about it now. I have a lot more to say.
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I anxiously await it.
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Yesterday, I had a “bad” day. The kind that I was watching the clock thinking “IT has to be 5 oclock somewhere”. My integrity was called into question and I was very angry, I even started at post about my ‘horrible’ day. ( I deleted it because I just wanted to forget it)….Now I am again REMINDED that thing could be so much worse. Thank you for helping me put things into perspective
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Sorry about your day. But I’m glad my post helped
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heh did I mention, it was nothing compared to what other people have to live with
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The world was raised in ignorance. For the good of the few, the many have been made to suffer. In this day and age, we know more, more quickly, than ever before. Now we just have to teach folks to pay attention. Not easy to do when competing with reality TV (and now reality TV presidents), but the voices of those who suffer are getting louder. The voices of those who care (those brave kids in Florida) are being heard.
Great homage to a great friend and blogger, Bill. And what a wonderful, terrible memory of a time when I didn’t understand a thing. I remember all of that, all that you mentioned. I don’t remember giving a damn. I can’t forgive myself for that, but I can pay my respects to all those lost by giving a damn, now.
Thank you for spreading the word, for being a voice. The more, the louder, the better. 🙂
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her post profoundly affected me. All 3 installments. Not that it will ever happen but if people looked at people and not geographic coordinates and natural reserves and trade deficits and “favorable regimes” we could change the world. This from a conservative!
It isn’t until it hits us that we see people. Bojana made me give a damn that I also didn’t when it was happening.
Thanks for the feedback buddy
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Thank you for doing it, Tom, day in day out, from the bottom of my heart.
It’s better to sleep and wake up then never to wake up.
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I hope you don’t mind my linking your post Bojana
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Mind? How the hell can I?
I’m humbled beyond words.
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