A TURBULENT DECADE IS ENDING

Once again we are approaching the end of the year, but this time it will match with the end of the decade as well.(the new decade will start on 1 January 2011).
This is another special occasion to make the point of the current sociopolitical situation.
We all know that throughout the history, the path of humanity towards civilization, democracy and freedom have been irregular with several ups and downs.
In the post World War II, the biggest change was in late 80s and early 90s when the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of Communism in its satellites eastern European countries, have changed the equilibrium of the world politics.
However, after a big step ahead towards democracy in the 90s, the first decade of the first century of the new millennium has seen a stagnation in this path and even several backlashes, with new virtual cold (economical and political) wars between giants like United States, Russia and China.
The increasing conflict in the Middle East, the surge of Al Qaeda and the western military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan have further complicated the whole picture.
The hunger for natural resources has also caused that democracy and human rights have been put behind economic goals, with the
de facto a new consolidation of strong dictatorships allied with big superpowers hungry for raw materials.
The worst economic crisis in 80 years has shown us all the limits our modern society in protecting the population, with the increasing perception amongst the population of many "shadowy economic powers" behind the politics: this is leading to an increasing apathy towards politics and the electoral system even in the most democratic countries.
As said above and as history teaches us, the path towards civilization is hard and frequently full of obstacles and kickbacks.
After a fruitful "up" in the decade of the 1990s and a disappointing "down" in the decade of the 200s, we hope the upcoming decade will follow a new "up" towards democracy and freedom.
The most important thing, in my opinion, is that people should never fall into apathy, because the true essence of democracy means we are in charge and politicians are due to represent and serve us and not the opposite.
We must feel that and fight for our rights, otherwise we will give the green light for a bunch of corrupt bureaucrats to serve their own interests and play their own games which are often incompatible with the interests of the people.
We are in charge, we must not forget it!

Maximiliano Herrera