I never believed that revolution is the best way to free the people. In history we saw many revolutions and each one was a massacre of human beings, leaving behind destruction and crippled human beings. I don’t believe in democratic elections, as long as human beings are not sincere and cheat, just to have a majority. I cannot see any perfection in any so-called democratic countries, including Europe and the United States.
During the election and onward, the people fought vehemently for Obama. It is to be recognized that all of Obama’s nice speeches and promises were indeed intended to create enthusiasm and fill the peoples’ minds with dreams that the audience could identify itself with. Who does not love living in peace and sharing the wealth of our great prosperity and having social justice for all?
Those are empty phrases and lovely words that every human being loves to hear and to enhance their dream until the day of their disillusion arrives. Since my youth I heard such beautiful language, which let me dream, until the first German bomb awakened our peaceful town. Who did not dream about peace in his youth? About brotherhood, about lovely songs we learned in our French school, like this song, “Si tous les gars du monde se donnaient un jour la main et marcheront la main dans la main, le soleil brillera pour demain “ (If all the guys of the world would one day join hands and walk hand in hand, the sun would shine for tomorrow). These are beautiful words, similar to those that our President uses. But unfortunately we saw in our time, I mean over seventy years ago, instead of peace – Nazism, Communism and WWII. Those who have lived in that era will understand what I am saying. That’s why I believe that in order to reach those beautiful times of which I am writing, we should be careful not to advise other people to make a revolution. If they want a change from one regime to another, they should advance the idea very slowly. In my view, we have to let every country and every people blossom on their own, according to their stage of development, their pace, their way of life, and without any coercion, just like a toddler who is learning to walk by himself.
We should not forget that all human beings are created equal but also that each one is unique and each nation is unique and has its own age, its own customs and its own cycle. In our judgment, we should take into consideration those facts. The bible teaches us to love your neighbor as yourself. Those words I understand. Let every citizen live in peace as he desires, as long he doesn’t bother his neighbor.
But killing a human being for any interest is wrong and does not belong to my philosophy. Many politicians think that they can perform miracles without having at least a comfortable majority of people with them. I didn’t vote for Obama but when he succeeded I believed that he would be the president of all Americans. I wished I was right and I wished that some people could be right. And I really hoped that my wish come true . Then I could say that the world is safe and everyone can live in peace and enjoy his life as we dream it, or better yet, that human beings realize that their life depends on the wellbeing of humanity and particularly as the human being feels deep in his heart the serenity and the goodness in every fellow human being. This is not a dream but a reality that every innocent child feels.
Obama is using his intelligence and school knowledge, but in a different direction, which we all have not expected. In fact Obama is the one who had caused the creation of the Tea Party movement, as he was not listening to the people. The November election had proven it, despite the fact that he is a nice person, a persuasive man, and he is mastering the language with great talent and intonation. I recognize that he expresses himself with magnificent words. He reminds me of a few leaders in history who succeeded to change the world and awaken many forces, innate in the human being. Some performed marvels and others have created disaster, even if in their mind they wanted to change the world for the better. I should not forget that Obama succeeded to divide not only the American people, but also the American families.
If we continue mixing ourselves in any revolution, we identify ourselves with one side or with the other and would create at the same time friends and enemies. But in my view, we should help both sides with humanitarian aid, as we don’t know what is best for everyone. I still believe that these revolutions were not spontaneous, but even if they were, I knew that no one has a guarantee that they would succeed. Only time would tell and it did.
Furthermore they cause the death of many people and suffering for the wounded and the displaced, without mentioning the material destructions. Just by seeing the thousands of refugees from many poor African countries, who lost their jobs, heading towards Tunisia, one has to wonder what will become of them. They were peacefully working in Libya and had their livelihood there. Who is responsible for that? It took thirty years with Mubarak, with Khadafi and with all those leaders to maintain a peaceful Middle East, despite some incidents, and the entire world was enjoying a steady oil supply. Now everything is in question.
The case of Tunisia is very unique as the population has been educated and prepared for many years to act in a peaceful and intelligent way. The strong tourism influx has also contributed to a constant exchange of ideas and culture. I believed that the Tunisians would be able to solve their problems on their own by creating a balanced, non extremist government, maybe even creating a secular country. I guess I was wrong. The extremists didn’t care for all the civilized forces that exist in the country and have turned it upside down.
I can’t understand how an intellectual person like our president could encourage these revolutions. I never believed in revolution, be it a democratic one or a fascist one, they are all the same, they kill people and they create chaos like we see it in Syria. We have seen how Obama chased away President Mubarak. Does he think he is the master of the world? Egypt is a sovereign country. The same he did in Tunisia and in Libya. Has he ever seen the ugliness of revolutions or a war? I have seen it. My people were decimated during the war, in Russia or in Europe. By helping the Islamists, Obama awakened all the negative forces. He seems not even being aware of it. I was living among the Arabs in a very peaceful and friendly environment. It was not a democratic country. There was a king. We were at peace with our neighbors, and enjoyed every day of it until the first bomb shattered our peace. When I came to America forty years ago, I did not expect a change like that. A divided United States. A divided Congress and a divided Senate.
Copyright 2013 Emile Tubiana
Love ya!
Jane
My family has been here, except for some of its German heritage in the late 1800s since the 1600s. Americans are a war loving people, very proud of our two revolutions, and especially proud of winning World War II and defeating the Nazis and Japan. I have traveled the world and studied with students from many countries. All of the countries of the world have intelligent people that see through dictatorships and other authoritarian regimes and work to expose and overthrow them. A good example is Nelson Mandela's long fight with the apartheid regime in South Africa. In this case right one over might.
In countries controlled by the Muslim religion, things are different. Although I do recall that Mahatma Gandhi, through peaceful means and partitioning India and Pakistan achieved a peaceful revolution by separating Muslims from Hindus in 1948. Violence appears to be an integral part of some of their religious practices, in direct opposition to freedom and a peaceful life.
I only give these examples because they prove your article right. Unfortunately president Obama has inherited a long culture of supposedly superior American manipulation by the State Department and covertly by the CIA that is hard to overcome with our heavily funded defense [offense] infrastructure built on the military-industrial complex.
It is only by straddling the fence that the president has become president. It is only by gentle, step-by-step changes, will he and others change the world for the better.
Ron