With Thanksgiving just two days away, I think it appropriate to take stock of what we, the people of the United States of America, have to give thanks for. I understand that this may be a cliche mechanism that nearly every media outlet uses around the fourth Thursday of November, but it remains important nonetheless. In a bit of a twist, however, I believe understanding what we have to be thankful for is heightened when juxtaposed with what others do not have or have suffered — it removes us from our complacency and admonishes us for anything we have taken for granted.
My alphabetical list is by no means exhaustive, and could go on to include the AIDS epidemic in South Africa or human rights abuses in Burma. How sad is it to think that I hardly had to struggle to find 26 examples of major tragedy throughout the world.
So on Nov. 22, before you start bemoaning the state of the nation and the crumbling walls of our American civilization, take a moment to remember how lucky we are in this world by comparison.
In Afghanistan, the world’s largest exporter of opium, drug production is only surpassed by the addiction. This horror is only topped by the constant wars between tribal warlords, the Taliban and coalition forces — murder, abduction and high-caliber explosives are a daily threat.
A cyclone has just claimed the lives of at least 3,100 people in Bangladesh, and the death toll is expected to rise over the next few days.
The Cote d’Ivoire is still recovering from a bloody ethnic and civil war that has killed hundreds and left hundreds of thousands without homes.
In Djibouti, women and children are trafficked from Ethiopia, Somalia and other surrounding countries for labor or sexual slavery.
Egypt has been under the dictatorial control of ruler Hosni Mubarak since 1981. The country has been in a legislative “state of emergency” for more than 25 years, and there is very little political freedom.
Still sorting out its politics after a military coup d’etat in 2006, Fiji is a tropical paradise but also a political power keg.
The expansive ice sheet of Greenland is melting, threatening to raise sea levels around the world. A constant reminder of the global issues faced with global warming.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, according to the CIA World Factbook. Eighty percent of people live under the poverty line, while the average life expectancy is only 57 years.
Iraq. Enough said.
You’ll find the third-highest murder rate in the world in Jamaica — step outside the sheltered resorts and you’ll understand.
Nursultan Nazarbayev is aiming to become president for life in the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan and allows very little political dissension.
In Lebanon, the constant threat of Hezbollah, Syrian interference, assassination of political leaders and the exchange of missile salvos with Israel has turned this beautiful land into a fearful place.
Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe. Most Moldovans live on about $2 per day.
Still facing the threat of Maoist rebels, Nepal is attempting to reconstruct its government after a vicious civil war.
Oman is yet another country with a prevalence of human trafficking.
Tribal disputes, an iron-fisted dictator and divisions between traditional and western-looking politicians have made Pakistan a volatile area lately.
Qatar. See Oman.
Just because the 1994 genocide is over doesn’t mean ethnic tensions or violence has ceased in Rwanda.
The people of the Sudan have suffered incalculably from civil war and the displacement and murder of hundreds of thousands during the current genocide in the Darfur region.
Thailand is still under martial law in some parts of the country following a 2006 coup. There have been 17 different constitutions since dissolution of the monarchy in 1932 and several subsequent military takeovers.
The Lord’s Resistance Army and other ethnic and military groups in Uganda are well known for recruiting child soldiers, often against their will, to fight in brutal conflicts. Children as young as 8 can be conscripted to the LRA cause.
Political freedoms are becoming more and more restricted in Venezuela as President Hugo Chavez cracks down on the opposition and looks to become an absolute ruler.
Claimed by Morocco, the Western Sahara region has a long-standing sovereignty dispute and is still attempting to settle tensions after a nearly two-decade-long civil war.
The countries that made up the former republic of Yugoslavia (the Balkans) face constant struggles among different ethnicities, and now the threat of Kosovo becoming an independent nation threatens to destabilize the region further.
In Zimbabwe, Robert has destroyed the economy and instated a dictatorship that has crushed opposition voices, kicked all white farmers off their lands and initiated all sorts of other human rights violations.
Now, I don’t intend for my readers to gag on their turkey, but I do hope they will sit and reflect on all that we have in America during this Thanksgiving:
It has been about 140 years since our last civil war; we have never had a military coup; we have a strong and vibrant economy and relatively few domestic human rights abuses. Certainly there are problems to be corrected within our environs, but let us count ourselves lucky that these are so minor as to allow us to sit and enjoy a meal with our family without the fear of murder, rape, abduction or attack. This Thanksgiving, give thanks for America, and for your freedoms, liberties and abilities that might allow you to change the world.