You’re a prisoner in your own home. Not able to fall asleep from the gunfire down the street, you fear that your house is next. You protested a new law that gave even more power to a despotic government. One of your friends was murdered, another was raped. This is a fear that has not played out in the western world. We have security, peace, and far more freedom than others. We got to this security because our ancestors fought for it, risking their lives to make their world a better place. It all happened because of protest.
Since former President Hugo Chavez died of cancer, Venezuela’s economy has taken a nose dive. President Nicolas Maduro has given the country an inflation rate of 56 per cent to go along with an almost 50 per cent increase in the budget deficit. The currency is atrocious, and supplies are not reaching the country, leaving citizens desolate. Justifiably Venezuelans have hit the streets; in response Maduro’s goons are shooting protesters on the streets, at their homes, and wherever the protesters are assumed to be.
In Ukraine, a people who wanted a more exclusive relationship with the western world, broke an anti-protest law, and dodged bullets to force their prime minister from office. Ukrainians lost their lives, but they are slowly winning their freedom. What we saw in Kiev was a replay of world history. When people are oppressed by their government or an unjust law, defiance is the best weapon you can use in your fight for freedom.
