EDITOR:

My travels started when I was 18, after my graduation from high school, I worked as a salesman-auditor for Northrup – King Inc, leaving Minnesota, my home state, to work in Detroit and then West Virginia. Although Lyndon B. Johnson had passed the 1964 Civil Rights act, Jim Crow laws were alive and well in West Virginia. Coming from a Scandinavian back ground, I quickly learned how cruel people can be to those of a different color. Did the blacks in West Virginia live in fear? More than I could believe. Discrimination and bigotry die slowly. And this was a democracy.

Today, the United States has enjoyed a democracy for 248 years, after the Revolutionary War, we have made some progress on the preamble to our declaration of independence that “All men are created equal”. Seventy-eight years later, in 1865, we fought a Civil War. Blacks were freed from slavery, with the 13th amendment. Then in 1870, men of all races were given the right to vote with the 15th Amendment. In 1920, with the 19th amendment, women got the right to vote. Then, in 1965, with the Voting Rights Act, all African Americans were guaranteed the right to vote. Slowly we have progressed to the ideals of our founding fathers. But again, discrimination and bigotry die slowly.

Later, I would live, work and travel in Asia, Africa, Central and South America, Europe, Australia, China, Russia and the Eastern block countries. Some of these countries were democracies and some were totalitarian dictatorships.

What is it like to live in a totalitarian country were the law bends to the whim of a single man and not the rule of law? Fear is the name of the game. Basically, you do not talk about the regime in power, as I found out in Putin’s Russia. The people can talk about the politics in your country, but do not ask about the politics in theirs. Any descent is eliminated, political opposition is either jailed or assassinated. With the invasion of Ukraine, my correspondence with my Russian friends ended, as any affiliation with a person in the U.S. may be seen as a traitor to Putin’s regime, resulting in a 15 year prison term, The Iron Curtain has come back down. Oh! You can still vote, but you vote for the regime’s choice.

Where do people from around the world want to go? You guessed it, the United States. Why? Because we are the land of opportunity, freedom and we have a rule of law. When Trump said, “He will be a dictator on day one” and if he doesn’t win, ” there will be a blood bath”, we should take him seriously. Now, you have an opportunity to choose between a democracy and a totalitarian dictatorship. Before you vote for a would-be dictator, visit Russia, China, or Iran. Talk to the people there privately. Are you sure you want to live in fear as they do?

Gerry Nelson

Bark River