Evan Solomon, host of CBC Radio's The House, reflects on the freedoms we so often take for granted and remembers the service men and women who fought to protect their countries and preserve the democracy we have come to enjoy, in his weekly radio essay as heard on The House on Nov.10, 2012.
It was a rare, historic week.
The two most powerful and influential countries in the world, the United States and China, selected their new leaders this week — and doing it in two dramatically different fashions.
In the U.S., despite a democractic process bloated by money it gorges from Super PACs which is a financial larding that the U.S. Supreme Court calls free expression, despite the fact that voting patterns in the country exposed disturbing racial divisions.
I mean 90 per cent of black voters going for U.S President Barack Obama, as did just over 70 per cent of hispanic voters, while the majority of whites going for Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
Nonetheless, it is still thrilling, inspiring even, to see democracy exercized so openly, so peacefully on such a massive scale in the United States.
Meantime in China, despite being in midst a secretive process where only hints of the profound challenge facing a communist plutocracy rife with corruption are revealed, despite a process that is far from democratic, offers citizens no choices, and condones forms of repression in places like Tibet — a leader there will be peacefully chosen.
Now it's easy to be critical of these systems, necessary even. Both face profound, unique problems as we do in our own system.
But it's even easier to take for granted how lucky we are to live through a time of history where there are peaceful transition of power.
In a rare English speaking interview this week, the President of Syria Bashar al-Assad reminded all of us how grisly and tragic the alternative can be — and he's probably going to kill tens of thousands of people in the process.
On Remembrance Day, we are all going to stop for two minutes to think about those who gave their lives or their health fighting to protect our freedoms.
We'll think about their battles, their loss, their sacrifice. But, sometimes, what they fought for should be remembered.
You could say Remembrance Day began a little earlier this week, when Mitt Romney gave his elegant concession speech and then Obama gave his remarkable victory speech.
So much division in that country, yet such a peaceful transition of power.
That's something people fought for, people died for.
It's a gift given by so few to so many.
And maybe that's the kind of thing that's also worth two minutes of silence, reflection and thanks... every single day.
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