39 years from now, the world experienced the change noone expected. Hundreds have given their lives to bring about the notion of open democracy that we now cherish. Tunisia brought the French Revolution to the Middle East not only to liberate and raise awareness for the Arabs and Muslims but also to challenge the democratic principles that prevailed in what was considered as the flourishing democracies of the West.
Today, we proudly accept diversity as the main tenet of our open democratic principles; we regretfully remember the islamophobic democracy of France, the racist democracy of US, the overrated democracy of UK and most importantly the assimilatory 'democratic principles' of the EU and USA's violent spread of democracy around the globe; we are reminded of the great debt we owe those that the world's democracies considered as backward, second-hand and rebel, those that changed the shameful use of a democratic mask to pursue undemocratic and colonizing aims. Those who brought back to the world's stage the truly democratic, open and pluralist, principles that once inspired humanity in France and that the USA proudly represented.
We stand today, in 2050, 39 years away from the most remarkable shift that modernity has experienced, praying that we won't repeat history and await yet another France or Tunisia to emerge in order to remind us that once open democracy is corrupted with nationalist, xenophobic and hateful aims, the world falls into the unsafe hands of those who are good at political manipulation...
Author: Orhan Ceka
