Back in the 1930’s the people of Germany did not speak out when the Nazi Party started to gain power. Soon enough Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, after winning the election in 1933 and established a totalitarian regime known as the Third Reich. Totalitarianism is a political system in which the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible. In 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland and war broke out in Europe, soon extending globally. It involved the vast majority of the world’s countries and directly involved more than 100 million people, marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, resulting in an estimated 50 million to 85 million fatalities. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history.

70 odd years later, and the world once again is facing a totalitarian leader, Donald Trump, who’s aiming to lead the free world and the most powerful country (for now), the United States of America, as if he is still running his own TV reality show, using his well-known “You’re Fired” slogan all over the place within his own government agencies. Is anyone going to stop this incompetent president from leading the world into World War III ? is Democracy strong enough to ensure history will not repeat itself ? is Humankind smart enough to work together, embrace diversity and bring peace to the world rather than expanding nationalism and engaging us all in an inevitable conflict?

Our biggest fear should be the “Silence of the Majority”. Most of us pretty much share the same opinions, but we’re standing on the sidelines, observing the events around us as if we are watching a movie, as if we do not participate, cannot get involved. We sit back and see what happens, hope for a happy ending, and if we don’t like what we see, we can simply switch to a different channel. A civil war has been going on in Syria since 2011 with a few hundred thousands casualties so far. Several wars are ravaging Africa and we hardly ever hear about it on the news. We are killing each other for race, religion and territory conflicts, while most of the world population is spending time in front of reality television and extensive commercial breaks.

We all need to wake up, take responsibility, get involved, speak out – within our communities, our cities, our workplaces, our schools, our countries, our planet. Before it’s too late. There is too much to lose. It is our obligation to keep our world safe, for a better tomorrow, for our children, for the next generations.

So what are you going to do next time you hear about injustice, racism, genocide, poverty, hatred, evil and greed ?

You’re the voice, try and understand it
Make a noise and make it clear
We’re not gonna sit in silence
We’re not gonna live with fear

JOHN FARNHAM