by Laura Lai/ Essay
‘Be Best’
is First strong Lady’s international awareness campaign to educate both
children and parents about issues they face in the internet era and under the
opioid wide spread threat. It is a 3 – pillar campaign focusing on children’s
well being (meaning healthy living, encouragement, respect and showing
kindness); social media; and opioid abuse.
On May 7th, 2019 the ‘Be
Best’ international campaign turned 1 year old. It is a baby itself. It most
probably has just learned to talk and to walk. Therefore the campaign will
extend its program and include children of all ages and tackle more the
negative social media interaction and the importance of avoiding opioids. The
social media pillar will broaden its program by adding online safety with a
particular emphasis on bullying.
The campaign was
already promoted in 15 American States and internationally in several countries
(Please click here for my previous blog article on the international
promotion of the ‘Be Best’ campaign.) And in 2019 it includes another
international tour, to promote principles of physical, emotional and spiritual
well being of all children and teens, in America and in the world, in order for
them to be healthy and to be able to positively contribute to the well being of America
and of the world.
At
the 1st year anniversary of the ‘Be Best’ campaign, the First Lady
Melania Trump said: ‘I’m here with one
goal, which is to help children reach their full potential so that they can
grow up happy, healthy and contribute positively to society and the world.’
She also said: ‘I’m ready for the work
that is still to be done.’
But after the 2016 US
Presidential elections, I am one of those, who heard Melania saying: ‘I’m probably the most
bullied person on earth.’ According to the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘to
bully’ means ‘to seek to harm, intimidate, or coerce (someone perceived as
vulnerable).’ The same dictionary considers this word as synonym to persecute,
to oppress, torment, intimidate, etc.
In
general, women and children are considered a vulnerable category. But some
women and some children can also be the persons who bully other persons. From
my personal experience I am convinced that a beautiful and elegant woman in
clothing, in behavior and in the way she speaks can be very bullied by other
women – probably frustrated ones, but this only a psychologist can tell; as a
political scientist I can only assume – and harassed by men. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines the verb 'to harass' as 'to continue to annoy or upset someone over a period of time - Causing feelings of anger and of displeasure.' The situation can
get annoying when the women have a certain public platform to publicly bully;
it can turn more annoying when the men who harass have the connections or the
power to follow and harass his vulnerable pray all over – here again a psychologist
can well depict the mental disorder of those who harass, as I can only
speculate that some really weak men need a vulnerable woman or child to oppress
in order for them to feel powerful. The situation can get very annoying for the
bullied and harassed woman, when the women who bully are friends and/or lovers of the
men who harass.
I
had never had doubts that Melania is bullied because she is a beautiful and
elegant woman. She could not be harassed, because – lucky her! – she’s married to
the President of the United States of America. Due to the fact that she ‘committed
this sin’ of being married to a successful American businessman who became
president, the exposure was international and the bullying must have been very
hard on her as a woman. Nowadays she is still bullied being mocked on her foreign
American accent, when she speaks English. She is a naturalized American
citizen. I wonder how many of those who bully someone for an accent, and in this
case Melania Trump, would speak Slovenian with no accent, if they were naturalized
Slovenians. When citizenship is awarded through naturalization, the knowledge
of language is relevant, but the accent is completely irrelevant, unless
someone needs a reason to bully because mocking makes him/her a great pleasure –
which to me it means a bad quality person, who is not even worth paying attention
to.
Donald Trump defines the American
spirit as ‘pushing boundaries, defying limits, and always striving for
greatness.’ This is the framework of the ‘Be Best’ campaign under the First Lady’s
Signature.
Philosophers
said that we should look for happiness inside ourselves, but that passions push
us to look for happiness outside ourselves. I kind of partially agree with this
mindset, as I tend to believe that not only passions, but also human weaknesses
can be responsible for some people looking for happiness outside themselves, in
bullying and/or harassing others, for examples.
Melania
Trump gave herself time to search into her heart for that thing that would make
her happy work for for her adoptive country and that will make a world joining
her. And that thing is Life. The First Lady’s ‘Be Best’ campaign is about
improving life in America and in the world and saving it, as a speaker
to the 1st anniversary of the ‘Be Best’ was keen to underline. It is
a campaign about making life happy, healthy and safe for both children and
parents.
The ‘Be Best’ campaign is a bully
campaign! And I subscribe to those wishing it many years ahead. If I had to
write a birthday card, I would definitely have written the following:
‘Bully
for you, Melania Trump! Your strength is admirable.
Be
Best!’
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