Day 186: Freedom

Dinner Menu:

• Araignée au chanterelles
• Polenta à la crème
• Salade verte
• Yaourt de brebis et fraises
• Verre de Ribera del Duero 2014

I have been following the American supreme court nomination and the election of a series of unpleasant nationalist governments in the US, Italy, Austria, Hungary and other countries around the world.  On the one hand it makes me despair for the world, but at the same time we need to put things in a historical context.  In most (if not all) of the world the level of freedom enjoyed by the general population and by minorities within countries is incomparable to what it was 100 years ago or even 50 years ago.  Lets just take a few examples from the 1960s:

• In the Soviet Union you could not leave the country
• Brazil and Argentina where under Military Rule
• Spain and Portugal had fascist regimes
• Discrimination and racism against blacks was still widespread in the US
• Abortion was illegal in most of the World
• Apartheid was still in full effect in South Africa
• Women in France did not have equal rights (only in 1965 were they allowed to have their own bank accounts)
• There were no Arab faces on French television, radio or in Government 
• Homosexuality was a crime in the UK
• In China the "Cultural Revolution" was in full swing

The list could go on and on. The world may be in a slight civil liberties trough but ultimately I trust that younger generations are increasingly liberal and tolerant.  The world will continue to move towards increased personal freedoms despite occasional hiccups.