Why is Tunisia important?

The question has been asked again and again - why should Americans care about Tunisia? After all, their main contribution to our culture was to serve as the shooting location for Tatooine in the Star Wars movies. The so-called Jasmine Revolution has been going on for days now, but still is not garnering much attention in the US press.

CNN has up a good explanation of why this is important, and why a revolution in this tiny nation could have far-reaching implications for the world.

It might be too soon to predict a populist revolution erupting throughout North Africa anytime soon following the example of Tunisia. But these recent social uprisings in a region of the world important to Europe and the United States should serve as a warning call that state stability achieved through intensified political oppression, economic marginalization and social injustice are certain guaranties of the kind of societal uncertainty from which future instability occurs without any guarantee of a democratic outcome.

Would Universal Health Care threaten personal freedom?

There are many reasons to be suspicious of President-elect Barack Obama's plan to introduce Universal Health Care: fears about corruption, lowest-common-denominator treatment, limitation of options, etc. But perhaps the most deep-seated is the fear that it may the first step toward legislating the behavior of citizens. After all, if I am paying for your health care, don't I have a say in how you live? This is not merely a "what if?" scenario, but a situation that many European and Asian democracies are dealing with today.

Government is always a balance between protecting freedoms and limiting freedoms in order to allow human being to live together peacefully and productively. As the debate over Universal Health Care begins in the next few weeks, we must remember the potential for evil in a system which is intended to do good.

Iranian Students Demonstrate for Democracy

I am not a believer in George W. Bush's contention that it is America's duty to "export Democracy" around the world, the most visible expression of which is the War in Iraq. But I am a believer that people in all nations thirst for liberty and freedom. It is reassuring that at the same time Iran is flirting with nuclear oblivion to see students demonstrating against the dictatorship and for democracy. It is a reminder that even in nations held in bondage by a strong hand and a philosophy that supports tyranny, the light of freedom burns still.

Hundreds of students from different colleges gathered Sunday at Tehran University to protest against injustice and the dictatorship which runs their country and their lives.

The gathering marked "Students' Day," a commemoration of the day about 50 years ago when the Shah's police attacked students.

Iranian students inside the Islamic Republic and abroad have long used the occasion to call for political freedom and voice their struggle against dictators - first the Western-backed Shah, and now the hard-line Islamic regime led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

I pray that in time these students can bring about transformation in their country. I am not naive enough to think it will be soon or easy, but I am hopeful that it may come in time.