Again with the fascism?!

It's very easy to bask in the wealth of the United States, even if you are not wealthy. Even though we have a government and media that picks and chooses what we hear and are asked to believe, we have the ability and freedom to look outside our government and borders for information if we choose. There are places that are much less forgiving.

A co-worker's daughter is a foreign exchange student in a South American country, and the last letter was filled with this 17-year-old's story of political retaliation for speaking out against the president. Her host "mom" has been working with a successful, flourishing business. Recently, the business began losing business very quickly and was forced to downsize its staff. The woman, while on a sales trip four hours from her office, was shown her picture and an article in a local newspaper, and told by her customer that they could no longer do business with her company because of the position she had taken against the president. She ran for public office in her community, and spoke out about the country's administration, and how she felt they were wrong. It seems because of that, both she and her company have been punished. And the laws that have been passed about dissent include prison time.

This young student has learned much, it seems, about her world neighbors. Only a couple of years ago she was a rebellious teen who thought that moving to a new community with her family was the end of her life! She was, like most young people, inexperienced in anything outside her small world. In a very short time, she's become a young adult with an understanding of world affairs many of us never realize. She's perhaps received more education in 9 months of being out of the country that she has in her life to the point at which she left the U.S. I have no doubt she'll return to her native U.S. with a very different perspective than the one she left with!

Though we may not agree with any or all the branches of our government, we still remain relatively free to voice that opposition and stand on a soapbox while doing so. Other places and their people are not so fortunate. I know things are not perfect here, but I'd like to work on making things better, and hope the young people of the country will see the value in doing the same.