The protests in Turkey have been leading the news for a while now. What’s happening there right now has taken unprecedented dimensions.  Presumably, it all started from the decision of the government to demolish a public park. But things are, as usual, much more complicated than that.

The park that triggered these violent protests is just a pretext for much bigger issues.  It was only recently that their government gave the Bosphorus canal a go; this project will link the Black Sea with the Marmara Sea and in the process, transform part of Istanbul into an island, build a heavily polluting airport and fill in part of the sea. This gives you an impression of the kind of greedy, megalomaniac government these people are up against. And if this wasn’t enough, here comes a new law proposal that will ban alcohol within 100m of every mosque in Istanbul. That is a huge step back for the times we’re living; it’s a direct prejudice to the small touristic businesses in the city center.

But the saddest thing in all this mess is the fact that regardless of how things will turn out, the Turkish people are stuck now in a lose-lose situation. The current government is bad, but the alternative is to hand the state back to the military elite, who is fueling the violence. Both of these options are bad, both of them infringe upon human rights.

In the meantime, honest, decent people like you and me are fighting in the streets against the police while the big boys are making the cards.

You may think that this will never happen in America, but that’s just wishful thinking. Anything can happen in America. The Turkish government was democratically elected too.

The moral of the story is that safety is an illusion and the government doesn’t have your back. A more important lesson is that channeling your energy against it will not bring you peace of mind.  The best thing we can all do is learn how to stand on our own two feet, so that the decisions of a greedy government affect us less and less. Perhaps it’s a gloomy vision, but think about it. The more independent you are, the more in control you are and the less likely is that the irresponsible decisions of the government change your life from one minute to the other.

In the meantime, let’s hope for the least bad outcome for the Turkish people.