Thursday, May 20, 2004
An open letter to my readers
Welcome to all the new and returning visitors. Hope you'll have good time browsing through the blog. And I hope you'll keep coming back for more "chrenkin' off".
I wanted to make this point for quite some time, but now with so many of you coming to visit, it's probably the opportune time. The message to my freedom-loving friends around the world is: don't get discouraged.
We live in fast times, whether we want it or not we're slaves to the news cycle, at every turn we get bombarded with information and opinion. We almost participate in the events taking place around us and often we get so caught up in them that the ups become really exhilarating and the downs really depressing. The falling statue of Saddam generates euphoria and an expectation of a quick and happy resolution; the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib sends us into depression and defeatist resignation.
I've written on my blog on numerous occasions before about the absolute need to maintain the perspective and remember the context. And this is the most important example.
The struggle between friends and foes of liberty has in many ways been going on for thousands of years. The political struggle between what we can term as the right and the left is more than two centuries old. The century we have said goodbye to not so long ago was one big bloody struggle between the open, democratic, free societies and their numerous enemies.
So every time you feel down because the resistance in Fallujah is proving to be stronger than we thought, or another photo of a prisoner on a leash becomes a propaganda coup for our foes, do take a minute to come up to the surface and take a few breaths of air. This struggle has gone on for generations before and will continue for many more, perhaps as long as human beings will inhabit this world. There have been many victories and many defeats, many triumphs and retreats, but the war goes on. And if you're still feeling depressed and ready to throw in the towel, do remember how in 1940 Great Britain was the last one left standing, and only barely, on the continent partitioned between two seemingly invincible dictators. Or how in the late 1970s the United States could only count on a dozen friendly votes at the United Nations.
I don't know how the situation will unfold in Iraq and in the Middle East. It might get better or it might get worse, but one way or another it won't be the end. So remember the big picture and don't get too distracted by what only tomorrow will become history's footnotes.
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I wanted to make this point for quite some time, but now with so many of you coming to visit, it's probably the opportune time. The message to my freedom-loving friends around the world is: don't get discouraged.
We live in fast times, whether we want it or not we're slaves to the news cycle, at every turn we get bombarded with information and opinion. We almost participate in the events taking place around us and often we get so caught up in them that the ups become really exhilarating and the downs really depressing. The falling statue of Saddam generates euphoria and an expectation of a quick and happy resolution; the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib sends us into depression and defeatist resignation.
I've written on my blog on numerous occasions before about the absolute need to maintain the perspective and remember the context. And this is the most important example.
The struggle between friends and foes of liberty has in many ways been going on for thousands of years. The political struggle between what we can term as the right and the left is more than two centuries old. The century we have said goodbye to not so long ago was one big bloody struggle between the open, democratic, free societies and their numerous enemies.
So every time you feel down because the resistance in Fallujah is proving to be stronger than we thought, or another photo of a prisoner on a leash becomes a propaganda coup for our foes, do take a minute to come up to the surface and take a few breaths of air. This struggle has gone on for generations before and will continue for many more, perhaps as long as human beings will inhabit this world. There have been many victories and many defeats, many triumphs and retreats, but the war goes on. And if you're still feeling depressed and ready to throw in the towel, do remember how in 1940 Great Britain was the last one left standing, and only barely, on the continent partitioned between two seemingly invincible dictators. Or how in the late 1970s the United States could only count on a dozen friendly votes at the United Nations.
I don't know how the situation will unfold in Iraq and in the Middle East. It might get better or it might get worse, but one way or another it won't be the end. So remember the big picture and don't get too distracted by what only tomorrow will become history's footnotes.
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