Housing is a big deal in the United States. Property taxes, real estate markets, and affordable housing are hot-button issues that make candidates for public office jump. The reason is simple: home is precious. In every culture in the world, home is the center that ties together everything we do in life: work, grow, love, learn, and remember.
Iraqi homes are magnificent centers of living. During my 20 months in Iraq, I spent countless hours as a warmly welcomed guest in somebody’s home. Imagine everything you love about home, but experiencing life as part of a large family clan: most of your ex- tended aunts, uncles and cousins live nearby, and they feel as close to you as a brother or sister. You don’t lock your doors, but if you did all your cousins would have keys. There is no need for them to call ahead or glance at appointment books. Visits for dinner or just to chat are as routine as reading the paper or getting ready for bed.
But then imagine the politics in your country (or someone else’s) slowly become more serious and ominously close, and some people begin resorting to violence. Every aspect of your foundation begins to fall apart. Breadwinners lose their jobs. Basic services and supplies become scarce. Some neighbors start acting strangely.
It becomes too dangerous to leave the house after dark.
Millions of Iraqis have been uprooted because of the war. When families leave their homes, they do so at an unimaginable emotional and financial cost. More than just losing the house, displacement severs roots of family and history that have sustained generations of shared life, welcoming new-born babies and saying good-bye to beloved grandparents. Imagine how strongly this issue would dominate political debates if it happened in the United States.
Today, power moves and collides freely across national boundaries, but democratic political systems stop at the border. The decisions of the U.S. government directly impact billions of lives across every continent, but only the people who happen to be Americans have the ability to vote for U.S. leaders. In our inter-connected world, the power to create or destroy is global. Democracy needs to catch up.
John Filson was Program Coordinator for MCC Iraq, based in Erbil, until July 2009.
