By Nelson HerasWhen I think of a revolution, the image that comes to mind is a large crowd of people protesting for a change. Protesting may not be the proper word though because the image I get is more violent, an image of people covering their nose and mouth with a cloth or a gas mask while throwing objects at the police who in many eyes represent the government. Why do people revolutionize? For many reasons. The most common being that they feel disrespected by their government. They feel tightened up with chains and their freedom being stripped from them from those who are supposed to protect them and other citizens, but who are instead fighting against them and committing acts that will hurt the people. I always admired those brave individuals who put their lives on the line to fight for their freedom because it’s hard to go out to the streets and fight for what you believe in against people (the government) with much more power than you. In this piece, I will discuss the situation currently going on in Venezuela as well as the interesting facts of the French Revolution. VENEZUELA Not many of you may be aware of the crisis going on in Venezuela against President Nicolas Maduro and his government. The reason being is that the situation that the people of Venezuela face does not get much news coverage in the United States. Venezuelan citizens are not happy with their government because they are not living free, they do not feel as if they are a democratic nation and have gone to the streets to protest their rights. The protests against the inequality and violence in the country begun peacefully, but President Maduro’s solution (if you can call him a President) has been to send Venezuelan armed forces on the streets to go against its people. The main issue in this country is that Venezuela was once one of the wealthiest nations in the world, being rich in oil, however, it is now extremely poor and getting poorer as time goes by. Although Venezuela may still have a lot of oil, the price of oil has decreased and as a result, so has Venezuela’s income since it was very dependent on the price of oil. The country is going through a severe shortage of food, medicine and daily necessities such as soap and toilet paper and because they have a high demand without much supply the result has been prices skyrocketing to the point where the people cannot afford it. As a solution to this problem Venezuelans would cross the border to Colombia in order to buy toilet paper, but in 2015 Maduro closed the borders to supposedly prevent criminals from selling Colombian goods in the Venezuelan black market. According to money.cnn.com the minimum wage in Venezuela is 200,021 Bolivars a month (Venezuelan currency) which is equivalent to $46.70 U.S dollars. With such a low income it is impossible to purchase the necessities to survive especially with the skyrocketed prices on the market. The government has not been helping its people as a government should, but instead Maduro issued a ruling that allowed him to change the constitution to fit his liking, which in my opinion, takes away the title of President. In its place one can insert the name “Dictator”. In Venezuela, you either have a shortage on an item or an over-the-top price for what is available, imagine yourself living such way. You and I living in the United States take advantage of the little things we may think are no big deal such as toilet paper, a necessity that people in Venezuela have to make lines for and pay top dollar. What’s sad is that there are soldiers who fight against these protesters when they should all be one since they are all suffering from what’s going on in the country. FRENCH REVOLUTION Before I briefly explain what the French Revolution was, I have to say that the reason why I chose this Revolution was because when we got assigned this topic for the month I remembered a bit from middle school where I learned about the three estates and about heads being chopped off. This issue was the perfect time for me to refresh my memory on perhaps the most famous and most spoken about revolution, the French Revolution. The guillotine is what was used during the French revolution to execute thousands, including King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Louis XVI became king in 1774, at the early age of 20 and as a monarch he was very immature, a quality of his character that did not seem to leave him as he aged. Louis XVI continued to govern without caring, not providing solutions to problems and not offering help. This is what eventually ignited the French Revolution. The king called for an assembly, the Estates General representing the three divided estates which were the first estate (clergy), the second estate (nobility) and the third estate (commoners). The assembly was to take place on May 5th, 1789 for the first time since 1614. The problem with this assembly was that the third estate, which represented 98% of the people, could still be outvoted by the other two higher estates. So, that being said, the third estate, being the majority wanted equality. Who wouldn’t right?
Let’s put ourselves in their shoes: - we are the majority, so why not have the majority say what our future will have in store for us. That is exactly what the Third Estate did, they wanted the voting to go by person and not by status so they decided to break away and begin their own assembly where each of their members would get a vote. On June 10, 1789, they started the National Assembly where they promised to create a new constitution for France. This reminds me of our voting procedure, how each of our votes do not count as one, on the contrary our voting system is controlled by the electoral college. I disagree with the electoral college and believe our President should be chosen by popular vote, that would change so many things in our country. Since King Louis XVI was unable to perform his duties from the start of his reign, unable to take France out of its financial problems, unable to lead his country, and failed to treat his people fairly he was sentenced to death by the French National Convention in 1793. Both the Venezuelan and French Revolution amaze me, - in how courageous people are to risk everything for freedom. It’s hard to believe that, back then, if a leader would not respect his people then he would not only be overthrown, but would also get his head chopped off. That’s something we will not likely see today. The reason why I think this is because there are too many laws today that prevent us from violently acting against our government. As unpopular as our current President may be we are too focused on our own lives and if we are not directly affected many of us simply do not care. Venezuela is a country we don’t pay mind to, and we should, because they are a country who is trying to progress but is being held back by their government. Venezuela is a country that was once an amazing place to live and once one of the wealthiest Latin countries, it should hurt us to see how it is now. Writing this piece taught me a lot, I felt more for the Venezuelan revolution because it is something that is occurring at present time so it hurts more to see how as I am writing this paper there are Venezuelan citizens who are suffering. There is more to learn about the Venezuelan Revolution occurring now and the French Revolution than what I mentioned above so please do your research and inform yourselves. I am glad I wrote this paper because through this paper I informed myself of international problems, and not only focus on what is occurring in The United States of America. It is vital for you and I to look further than what the eye can see, to read and learn of things that perhaps may not interest us, but is affecting the world as a whole.
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