This news brief popped up on my gmail today, and I found it worth sharing
Malala galvanizes Pakistan, world to fight for education for girls
Efforts to improve education for girls throughout the developing world now have "an icon for a global movement" in Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani girl seriously wounded last week by Taliban gunmen who viewed her advocacy for girls' education as "promoting Western culture." Yousafzai "is being adopted as every child's sister and every parent's daughter," writes Gordon Brown, former prime minister of Britain, where she was flown over the weekend for medical treatment. Tens of thousands of people rallied in her support Sunday in the Pakistani capital, Karachi.
Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have
the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one
that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a
right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.
-Abraham Lincoln
I
am a huge fan of Abraham Lincoln as a man, a president, and an emancipator. I
believe his quote above represents the foundation upon which the United States
of America was founded, as well as the sense of duty we have felt to liberate struggling countries. I must
say that I agree with Lincoln’s quote, as I believe each individual has a right
to life, including the right to choose how he/she should be governed. I
understand the reasons for which rules and government were founded, but
sometimes it seems power and government do more bad than good in the world.
It
is a globally known fact that Americans have very low voter turnout. Americans
have the “the power, the right to . . . shake off the existing government” by
voting for the candidate they like the most. Yet it seems as if our right to
vote is something we take for granted. Or perhaps the majority of Americans
just don’t care enough. Another question Lincoln’s quote raises during this
election time is, what if neither candidate represents fully enough a new
government that suits us better?
In
my Environment and Development class, we frequently discuss the idea of the U.S.
contributing to foreign aid – what are the benefits, and why do Americans
generally not support it? Personally I am pro-U.S. foreign aid, especially
because today, many international organizations are requiring governments to
create and enforce laws for gender equality and water sanitation before
receiving aid. So by voting for an American president that suits the Free
World, should we also consider the significance of voting for a president that supports
foreign aid that can ultimately “liberate the world”?
