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To Fight For Democracy Your Heart Must Be In The Right Place
The Fight for Democracy
To Fight For Democracy Your Heart Must Be In The Right Place
What does the body language between two presidents tell you in this photograph?
How would you describe each individual's expression?
What do you think Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, is thinking?
--
There is a clear distance and dissonance between the two men.
One is expressionless, emotionless and seemingly disengaged, sitting forward and looking at nothing in particular: the former president of the United States Donald J Trump.
In contrast, the other is slumped in his chair as if puzzled or confused, looking over at his "companion" intensely, a worried and thoughtful side gaze across his face: president Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
Both men share a common background in the entertainment industry: Trump was a reality TV star and business "mogul" on The Apprentice and Zelensky was a popular television actor, where he played a school teacher who accidentally becomes president.
As the children of the Baby Boomer generation, whose parents (our grandparents) fought in and won World War II we learned in school that our great nation the United States of America was a great defender of freedom and democracy at home and around the world who saved Europe from the evils of Nazi Fascism and won the day, heroic until the end of days. Perhaps we too, like Putin, have come to believe our own propaganda a little too much.
Knowing that Trump had openly professed admiration for Putin and Russia, I believe that Zelensky is foreseeing the war in Ukraine at this very moment. Perhaps he is wondering, Who is this usurper in the presidential seat? How will Ukraine remain independent if the powerful USA does not stand up to Russia? Who are our allies? Who fights for democracy? What is democracy? Why does it matter?
Democracy is government of the people, for the people, by the people.
This image embodies the fight between autocracy and democracy; the hero is not the United States as we Americans might expect, but a smaller central European country standing up to a great bully: the Ukraine.
It takes bravery to uphold our values and ideals. Volodymyr Zelensky is reminding the world that we must not take our freedoms for granted.
--
additional sources:
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/01/1083686062/russias-invasion-of-ukrainian-has-already-changed-the-world-as-we-know-it
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1083686062
How would you describe each individual's expression?
What do you think Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, is thinking?
--
There is a clear distance and dissonance between the two men.
One is expressionless, emotionless and seemingly disengaged, sitting forward and looking at nothing in particular: the former president of the United States Donald J Trump.
In contrast, the other is slumped in his chair as if puzzled or confused, looking over at his "companion" intensely, a worried and thoughtful side gaze across his face: president Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
Both men share a common background in the entertainment industry: Trump was a reality TV star and business "mogul" on The Apprentice and Zelensky was a popular television actor, where he played a school teacher who accidentally becomes president.
As the children of the Baby Boomer generation, whose parents (our grandparents) fought in and won World War II we learned in school that our great nation the United States of America was a great defender of freedom and democracy at home and around the world who saved Europe from the evils of Nazi Fascism and won the day, heroic until the end of days. Perhaps we too, like Putin, have come to believe our own propaganda a little too much.
Knowing that Trump had openly professed admiration for Putin and Russia, I believe that Zelensky is foreseeing the war in Ukraine at this very moment. Perhaps he is wondering, Who is this usurper in the presidential seat? How will Ukraine remain independent if the powerful USA does not stand up to Russia? Who are our allies? Who fights for democracy? What is democracy? Why does it matter?
Democracy is government of the people, for the people, by the people.
This image embodies the fight between autocracy and democracy; the hero is not the United States as we Americans might expect, but a smaller central European country standing up to a great bully: the Ukraine.
It takes bravery to uphold our values and ideals. Volodymyr Zelensky is reminding the world that we must not take our freedoms for granted.
--
additional sources:
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/01/1083686062/russias-invasion-of-ukrainian-has-already-changed-the-world-as-we-know-it
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1083686062
Terry Gross interviews Anne Applebaum on NPR Fresh Air - March 1, 2022 / image from The Independent
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