Freedom

My post today is about Freedom, freedom to do as we please, when we please, within our financial situation, morals and societal limitations of course. Today, because we, Zoe, Alex and myself (Dave was working) are on holidays, we didn't do much really. I went to bed last night with plans to do some gardening, but on waking up today with a stiff and sore neck probably from sleeping the wrong way, and seeing that it was raining outside, I knew gardening was out of the question, so what did I do? not much really. After breakfast and a shower I watched a movie with Zoe, did some Internet surfing and then watched another movie with Zoe. It was just one of those nothing but relaxing days.I could have gone for a drive, shopping, to the movies, did some cooking, read a book, played some games, visited a friend or a new place of interest, instead I chose to stay home and do nothing much at all. So therefore I really am grateful for my freedom as there are people in countries who wouldn't have such luxuries.

Billions of people live without freedom. In the worst countries, they live in fear and insecurity. They are literally slaves, bought and sold, or the effective slaves of their governments. They are hungry, starving, or diseased. They live in primitive refugee camps; are suffering under torture or the immediate threat of death; are diseased and soon to die without treatment. They are prisoners, concentration camp inmates, or in death camps. They are soldiers subject to the most barbarous treatment or involved in lethal combat. They are children performing dangerous forced labor. They are civilians cowering under bombing and shelling. They are women who are second-class citizens and cannot leave their home without completely covering themselves, the permission of their husband, and the presence of a male relative. They are the aged and infirm that barely subsist under dangerous environmental conditions. Even those who escape all this and manage to feel happy and safe for the moment still live under the realistic threat that war, revolution, disease, famine, extreme poverty and deprivation, or a dictator may destroy their lives, or those of their loved ones. So they live in fear of arrest and prison, of disappearance forever, of forced labor, genocide, mass murder, and an unnatural death.

We take our freedom for granted and most of us wouldn't take the time to think of those who are less fortunate.

 Steph