BradfordToday received the following Letter to the Editor from reader Walter Prokopchuk in regards to recent events:
Back in my day, a schoolyard bully's offensive actions could be curtailed by the teacher's intervention, strengthened by the disclosure of the unacceptable behaviour to the parents, and even - but rarely - involvement by the local police.
Oftentimes this is the bully's way of seeking attention to his/her self to reinforce their ego, due to their lack of self-esteem, because of the absence of recognition of their achievements by a parent(s).
Fast forward to the 2020s where our news media platform delivers current events at a moment's notice, and the worldwide web/social media platforms have become a tool for the bullies that spread outright lies and misinformation. Big bullies that I have labelled anarchists that cower in the safety within their gangs.
I recall my uncle's story of witnessing the carnage as he fought in the First Great War. I remember my mom's account of losing two cousins that defended us abroad in the Second World War.
I wonder, how many of them are wondering (in their afterlives) if their efforts were in vain?
Can we feel the fear of the young men that filled the battlefield trenches, awaiting their fate in these wars? Can we hear the wailing of the suffering mothers after they were informed their sons had perished in another senseless conflict? Can we taste the hunger in the mouths of the starving innocents during the deliberately inflicted Holodomor (Great Famine), and can we see the terror in the eyes of those being murdered during the Holocaust?
As I bask in the sunshine of our great country's civil liberties gifted to us by everyone's sacrifice for the benevolence of all - I wonder if I've contributed sufficiently to enjoy the numerous, freedoms afforded to us.
Should I worry that a few are ramping up their cyberattacks on our institutions and infrastructure to exploit our weaknesses, as perhaps one so-called parasite is currently doing in Eastern Europe?
Need I be grateful to our past great statesmen that led to protect our country: John Diefenbaker, Lester Pearson, Pierre Trudeau, Brian Mulroney?
As well as those in our neighbouring nation: Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy?
Should I ask myself if society has fooled humankind by slowly, unknowingly, dragging us into another global calamity by a few corrupt that are guilty of satisfying their greed for monetary gain - and its associated lust for power - at the resultant expense of the many innocents?
Well - admittedly - I too have fallen victim to past conspiracy theories and succumbed to the untruths perpetuated by supposedly evil individuals.
And so, perhaps the onus falls upon us to re-educate ourselves in our places of worship to quash hate, and in our homes to eradicate envy, and in our children's classrooms to inform - and remind - all of the evil of war.
Yes, the bully seems to prevail - as he has throughout history.
Will we choose to enjoy the earned privileges of our favoured democracy, or shall we prepare ourselves for the change to sufferance via oppression by a bullying autocrat?
I have hereby gratefully exercised one of my many freedoms as a proud Canadian - by breaking my silence about the current events that have gripped the attention of this great nation of ours.
Will others rise to the occasion to help preserve our democracy from the bully? Will we finally become the genuine stewards that we were initially, graciously awarded and intended to govern our planet? And respect - and - save it?
Will you?
Walter Prokopchuk,
Bradford, Ont.
