Scared

I have always considered it a good thing that the world is getting smaller. That technology is helping us become ever more aware of what is happening in other Countries and other cultures. I have enjoyed traveling relatively freely through that world, experiencing first hand the openminded, easygoing welcome of those whose Country and culture I visited.
And as long as I behaved respectfully, it never mattered that I grew up in a different religion, that my skin had a different color, that my native language to their ears was a bunch of impossible sounds. Nor did it matter that I was taller than most of them, had different ideas than they were used to, and often asked different questions than most.
Ultimately each and every one of these ways in which I found myself different from them, was good for a giggle, if not a laugh!

I have always felt truly sorry for those who were living in sad circumstances under often fast changing dictatorial regimes. I have failed to understand why there hardly ever was an outcry about those type of situations in the rest of the ever smaller world.

But the world can only get as small as the events that are picked up by the media outlets. And as long as the media picks and choses what to report on, rather than presenting every event that we ~ as humanity; as people all over the world ~ need to know about (whether we necessarily want to or not), the world we perceive will have gaping holes in it.
A sort of black holes that we are unable or unwilling to explore.

And whenever a dictator came to power, it was usually in one of those far away black holes of the world. And while the fact that this happened might make it to the eight o’clock news, the results, the agony of those trapped in that painful situation usually were not.

But today things are different.

Today we are seeing a dictator’s rise to power in that part of the world that is well covered by the media; the Western world.
The type of personality, the ill-founded ideas, the lack of foresight as to the results of his actions; all of it is out in the open for the entire world population to see.
And as with many abusive relationships, the first thing this new dictator seems to be doing is to isolate the Country. Walls are put up, and travel is made more difficult. And with that comes his need for a scapegoat. In our ever smaller world he clearly had no problem identifying one; and so now he can pitch the “us versus them” theme, isolating the Country even further.
Already he has made known that the media should only report on his truth, rather than the factual truth…

The rest of the world is looking on at this dictatorship in the making. Aghast at what they are seeing. Following the events minute by minute, day by day. Wondering what it will take for the abused ~ those who live in that Country ~ to rise up. To stand up and say enough is enough!
What are they waiting for?

At the same time uncertain as to what is coming next.
Even though we are living in different Countries far away from these events, we are affected by them; emotionally, but also in the backlash of how we now are perceived in a world that is by no means as big as it once was.

And I have to say ~ even though I am not scared easily ~ there is a fast growing global uncertainty. And travel doesn’t feel as safe anymore (independent from the security measures at airports all over the world) as it once was. A new kind of apprehension is palpable when meeting new people, new cultures…

Today I have to admit: I’m scared.
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