How to Celebrate World Freedom Day
The day is celebrated in different ways, depending on who's celebrating. Conservative groups such as the College Republicans and Young America Foundation encourage students to celebrate the day through activism projects and flyer campaigns, while on the other hand, political activists and commentators see the day as an occasion to recognise President Ronald Reagan as one of the most instrumental personalities in the collapse of the Soviet Union. If you are not living in the United States and therefore cannot be politically active in the ways described, don't worry! There are still plenty of ways you can celebrate this day. Doing some reading about Ronald Reagan is a good start, regardless of your nationality, but there are other figures that played large parts in the fall of Communism as well. Among them are for example Margaret Thatcher, often called the "Iron Lady due to her determination and resolve, who personally worked with Reagan to undermine the Communist regime. Yet another example of a person who was instrumental was a Pole named Karol Wojtya, more commonly known as Pope John Paul II. The pope helped ordinary Poles and East Europeans banish their fear of Soviet Communism, convincing them that liberation was possible. The prime minister restored her country's failing economy by reviving the "vigorous virtues of the British people. The president rebuilt America's military power, its national morale, and its position as leader of the free world. All three of these figures, working together, brought down an evil empire and changed the world for the better, and these are the people that deserve remembrance on World Freedom Day. The Cold War was a time of tension and uncertainty for the West and misery and destruction for the East, so taking the time to find out a bit more about the people that helped put an end to all of this is the perfect way to celebrate this day.
