A THOUGHT FOR NOW - BEWARE OF COUNTRIES OFFERING YOU THE GIFT OF 'DEMOCRACY' OR 'FREEDOM'?

It is only natural that us humans, at least, the more aspiring of us, should yearn to continue to improve our condition. 

Our economic, social, spiritual and personal status. That, if we are not happy, we should have the desire to become happy, and, if we are happy, that we might desire to become happier. 

And when we are happy, the we in us, should desire that this happiness, this freedom from poverty and want, should be shared with our fellow citizens; our compatriots.

But how we go about trying to attain this freedom from poverty and want. When the quest for this greater freedom can be a very fraught journey? 

And, if we are not careful, or not sufficiently vigilant, we might actually lose what we already have. 

Here, the analogy of the 'dog with the bone crossing the bridge over the river', comes to mind. 

The dog holds his very real bone in his mouth, but, upon perceiving the bigger bone in the water, which was no more than a shadow of his bone.  He dropped it and dived into the river to retrieve what he really thought was  whopper of a bone. 

But, of course the bone was not real, and so hie lost his real bone, and, with that lost, also risked losing his life from drowning.

And so it is with us humans, when, in our desperation, or because of the eloquence and/or force of  those who seek to manipulate us. What we desire appears and is made to appear so much bigger, so much better than what we have.  

That we risk losing what we have, in our struggle to gain what we desire, but without quite achieving it. 

When we unwittingly sacrifice the little positives we are enjoying, the things we hold dear to us, even our safety, for the proverbial 'American Dream.' The ever receding 'pursuit of life and happiness.'

This tendency to lose out big time, is something which tends to afflict countries where there are groups fighting to overthrow their governments. 

Whether or not such government deserve to be overthrown. But where the promise of a better tomorrow is projected by the interested party/ies, as being bigger and more desirable than anything the people have today.

And this is what gives us the destitution and desolation which is Libya today. It is what has given us the near destruction of the State of Syria. It is also what has given us the murderous scourge that is Daesh/'Islamic State', Boko Haram, Al Shabaab, and Al Queda.

So, as you go about trying to achieve your aspirations, through force of arms and the promises of help from the self-appointed promulgators of 'democracy' , and Islamic theocracy. 

Do be mindful of the probably cost of, not only achieving it, but also of trying to do so. Consider, also, examples of it ever having been achieved, as such examples might be very difficult to find.