Amidst the tyranny among us, let us not forget the terrible toll that SARS-COV-2 is having on the world and the United States. Click on the link for the most current data and information.
Lesson 16: Learn From Peers in Other Countries
“Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends in other countries. The present difficulties in the United States are an element of a larger trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.”
Timothy Snyder, “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century,” 2017.
Snyder wrote this while the former president was still in office. The darkness was darker then it is now and we aren’t exactly in bright sunshine yet. The former president advanced from one stage to another in the electoral process. Interestingly, as Snyder points out, Ukrainian and Russian journalists took the pulse of the American Midwest and saw that there was indeed a chance, in fact a probability, that this person could be elected president.
They had seen the fake news thing used before. The Ukrainians were the target of a Russian disinformation campaign in 2013. The Ukrainians knew how to handle this misinformation campaign. Russia failed to get their candidate elected president. When the Russians engaged in a similar disinformation campaign in the American presidential election of 2016 alleging that Hillary Clinton was ill because she had mentioned an article on “decision fatigue” in an email, the story was spread by Americans to Americans. This time, however, the Russians got their person into office. We here in the West need to start taking our lessons from the East.
We have the good fortune to have friends in Europe and Australia. My wife’s family opened their home to foreign exchange students on three occasions. We still have contact with these women and their spouses to this day. We don’t see them often, but thanks to the Internet, we are able to share our thoughts and feelings with each other and learn from each other. It is important to get different perspectives on issues that are so close to us. It is like the saying “you can’t see the forest for the trees.” We can see the trees. They can see the forest. I am very grateful for these opportunities to see the forest through the eyes of our foreign friends.
Travel has had a substantial influence on my world view. The world was opened up to me by watching the slideshows and listening to the stories of my Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Ed who travelled literally the entire world year-after-year in their retirement. Their son, my cousin, went on to join the Peace Corps. The examples of my aunt, uncle and cousin made me curious about the world. When combined with the altruism of my father (who had no desire to travel after his experiences abroad during the Second World War), I was inspired to join the Peace Corps and experience life beyond the borders of Tulare County, California, USA. I got my first passport and went on to serve my country and humanity for two years in Belize, Central American in the late ’80s as a Rural Education Volunteer.
A passport and the travel opportunities that it makes available to you will change your life and your world view. It will also give you a place to go should you want it or need it. If you don’t have a passport, I suggest that you get one.
Listen to outside voices. Change your own voice.
Bruce,
Enjoy your writing style. keep them coming.