by Madeleine KandoI am old, 6 years past the average life expectancy of most countries in the World. My life spans from the end of World War 2 to the present year of 2022. Like most old people, I am not aware of how old I am. Until now, that is.
The War in Ukraine that started in February 2022, made me realize that my life was spent during a time when the Western world, my world, was protected from the worst that can happen to human society. It was a time of relative peace and stability. Yes, during that time (which now spans almost a century), there were wars, conflicts, terrorist attacks and injustices done in many parts of the world.
But the rule of law and other basic principles on which the world order was built, protected us from what we now realize has metastasized into the most dangerous and lethal attacks on a way of life that I took for granted. All of that might soon be a thing of the past.
There is a concerted attempt to destroy that which made my life worth living. It was not without personal and social conflict. I am one of those ‘liberal intellectuals’ that many of you out there have a problem with. I am sorry for that. I am not a politician. Just an ordinary wife, mother and grandmother who now weeps when she watches the atrocities taking place in Ukraine. I am sorry that I have been hiding under a rock, suffering from the general delusion that what matters in life is happiness and peace.
The truth is that complacency and a sense of entitlement has brought Armageddon to the doorsteps of the Western World. We just didn’t pay ATTENTION! Is it too late? Do we have to keep whining about higher gas prices? Do we not understand that what is coming down the road is a tornado, gas prices be damned?
If memory serves, it happened before. The Roman Empire destroyed itself as much as it was destroyed by the invading Huns, Goths and Visigoths. It was weak, corrupt, unstable. It had lost its edge, so to speak. Did it deserve its own fate?
I live on borrowed time according to the statistics. I was lucky to live in a period of history where Pax Americana ruled the world. I weep for the young people who will soon forget about the hard work it took to grow and maintain the precarious principles on which a Democratic Western World was built on, the world that ruled my own life.
The war in Ukraine makes me realize that a free society, free press, freedom of speech, freedom to choose who will lead your country, might soon be gone, and once it is gone, it is gone forever.
Please stop your bickering, your infighting, your divisive bullying and listen to an old woman who has probably lived longer than most of you. leave comment here
The War in Ukraine that started in February 2022, made me realize that my life was spent during a time when the Western world, my world, was protected from the worst that can happen to human society. It was a time of relative peace and stability. Yes, during that time (which now spans almost a century), there were wars, conflicts, terrorist attacks and injustices done in many parts of the world.
But the rule of law and other basic principles on which the world order was built, protected us from what we now realize has metastasized into the most dangerous and lethal attacks on a way of life that I took for granted. All of that might soon be a thing of the past.
There is a concerted attempt to destroy that which made my life worth living. It was not without personal and social conflict. I am one of those ‘liberal intellectuals’ that many of you out there have a problem with. I am sorry for that. I am not a politician. Just an ordinary wife, mother and grandmother who now weeps when she watches the atrocities taking place in Ukraine. I am sorry that I have been hiding under a rock, suffering from the general delusion that what matters in life is happiness and peace.
The truth is that complacency and a sense of entitlement has brought Armageddon to the doorsteps of the Western World. We just didn’t pay ATTENTION! Is it too late? Do we have to keep whining about higher gas prices? Do we not understand that what is coming down the road is a tornado, gas prices be damned?
If memory serves, it happened before. The Roman Empire destroyed itself as much as it was destroyed by the invading Huns, Goths and Visigoths. It was weak, corrupt, unstable. It had lost its edge, so to speak. Did it deserve its own fate?
I live on borrowed time according to the statistics. I was lucky to live in a period of history where Pax Americana ruled the world. I weep for the young people who will soon forget about the hard work it took to grow and maintain the precarious principles on which a Democratic Western World was built on, the world that ruled my own life.
The war in Ukraine makes me realize that a free society, free press, freedom of speech, freedom to choose who will lead your country, might soon be gone, and once it is gone, it is gone forever.
Please stop your bickering, your infighting, your divisive bullying and listen to an old woman who has probably lived longer than most of you. leave comment here
2 comments:
Very well said, Madeleine. I wish you were president.
I wish the leaders of the free world and all citizens of the US would read this excellent post.
Powerful testimony!
Thank you,
Gail
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