The most perilous menace humanity has ever faced might be happening too slow for a single generation, but it doesn’t give us the luxury of looking the other way.
“It’s The West, you know,” my father said one evening, pausing with the fork halfway to his mouth. The television was flickering behind his back, a Turkish comedian gesturing wildly and making the studio audience laugh. “They are holding us back. All those rules, regulations. They just want to keep our economy down.” My grandmother filled my glass with more tea and then topped my glass off with more water. She was nodding slightly.
It was a typical night at our house, and at houses all over Turkey. At many tables, you would hear similar things. No matter if the people drinking the tea were liberals, conservatives, supporters of the government or if they rolled their eyes when our politicians made another speech on the telly. …
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