world news: elections

The world seems to be a very heated place indeed, and the Iran elections has taken to the stage front and center in the political world. Iran just had elections to vote for a new president earlier this month. Ahmadinejad and Mir Hossein Mousavi were the main candidate running against each. Supposedly, with the millions of Iranians that voted, the government was able to declare the winner in a matter of hours. Basically, the gist of what I am getting is that Ahmadinejad won the majority vote, but many of the Iranians in Tehran, especially young Iranian men, felt that the results were wrong and many headed to the streets to protest and demand recounts. The Ayatollah urged the people to accept Ahmadinejad as the winner.

To people everywhere in the world, what implications does this have for you? When I read about all the unfolding events in the news, it actually made me realize the importance of the individual voice. When I say that, I don’t necessarily mean crying when you feel something is unfair and throwing a tantrum. That can be easily by done by anyone. I mean speaking up for your rights. Mir Mousavi urged his supporters to demonstrate non violence in their protests. Don’t accept things just because it is. To not want change is ludicrous. As individuals we grow and develop and so should society in general. What was acceptable yesterday doesn’t have to be today. What was legal then, could be immoral now.

Use your voice. Listen to controversial music and ask why is it so controversial? Look at a piece of art work that was banned in some era of past. Read a book that you may not necessarily agree with and try to look into the mindset of the author.

And always keep learning for knowledge. For when we have knowledge, we no longer fear the unknown and are able to see the humanity of it all.