Grant Coursey–Lviv

11/22/23

In late February when I covered a story about the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor, I had no idea it would be the first domino in a long line that led me to hop on a plane in Colorado and follow American aid to Kharkiv. And I certainly didn't expect to experience such a poignant reminder of what democratic values look like in action--a stark contrast to those I see in the U.S.

My trip brought into focus the way America should be framing support for Ukraine. This is not America sending billions of dollars to a nation half a world away. It is an opportunity for America to reassert itself as a leader in the fight for freedom, and especially democratic values, around the world, an act that takes on new importance when America struggles to provide a clear example of these principles in its own government.

For me as an American, visiting Ukraine is like a window into America’s founding. to see people fighting for freedom against tyranny–expressing the same ideas that our founders did. It is a strong reminder of what democratic values are supposed to look like, provided by a people that cherish them most because they are at risk of losing them.

It reminded me of French writer Alexis de Tocqueville’s commentary on early America when he traveled there in search of the secret of democracy.

“The revolution of the United States was the result of a mature and dignified taste for freedom, and not of a vague or ill-defined craving for independence,” he wrote.

I found discussions of politics, democracy, and freedom nearly everywhere I went. From Rivne, to Kharkiv, to Kyiv to Lviv, I witnessed incredibly selfless acts to preserve these ideas and with them, Ukraine’s future.

I met fathers and mothers serving as volunteers and soldiers, driven to continue the struggle against Russia so that their children could grow up in a free nation, tied to the West and flourishing.

When I worked with a volunteer in Kyiv, he spoke excitedly about the future, about what Ukraine will look like when it wins the war and begins rebuilding with Western support. There was no doubt in his mind that it would happen. He was so committed to making this a reality that he was willing to risk his life to continue ferrying supplies to the soldiers who needed them. He simply asked that if he should die, that I would explain to his young children when they grew up what he did during the war, and what it was he fought for.

Again, I am reminded of a quote from early America.

In a letter to his wife, Abigail, in 1780, John Adams said, “I must study politics and war (so) that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelaine.”

These Ukrainian volunteers and soldiers embody the best historical facets of my own country and the foundational values which I, at times, have difficulty seeing in America’s modern politics.

In Ukraine there is an engagement in politics that seems to transcend generational barriers.

While being given a tour of Rivne Oblast by university student Amina Polishchuk I was impressed to learn how engaged she was in both politics and volunteering opportunities despite everything thrown her way as a student.

Polishchuk has been forced to leave the university she attends in Odessa twice since she started college. First, because of a pandemic, then Russia’s invasion. Now she is finishing her degree online from her hometown.

Polishchuk sheepishly admitted that she views herself as a radical. After witnessing what her country has had to overcome internally and due to Russia’s external pressure she said she believes only radical ideas will create the change Ukraine needs to survive the war and rebuild the country better than before.

While in Rivne I also traveled to a small village nestled against the Carpathian ridge where I met an elderly beekeeper. He kept bees in the traditional Ukrainian way and the honey he harvested was some of the best I have ever tasted.

To an American like me, it felt as if he lived in another century. At his home there was no cellphone reception, limited electricity and running water, and a simple radio for entertainment. His home was complete with a large chicken coop, massive pile of firewood for the traditional wood burning stove where he cooked his meals, and a hut which had been built in the early 1910s.

Despite his isolation, age, and circumstances, the first thing he wished to speak with me about, despite the translation barrier, was politics. Specifically, he wished to vocalize his belief that a comedian shouldn't be president and his hope that Poroshenko would come back to power and bring some sense with him.

On the drive back from seeing the beekeeper, Yuri Shadyi, co-founder of Sunflower Seeds Ukraine, asked through Google Translate for my perspective as an American on why America was having so many difficulties with its democratic systems right now.

The best answer I could come up with was that America’s democracy, as with many democracies, only worked as long as the people involved in it chose not to take advantage of the system but instead work within it. There were always ways for politicians to take advantage of the system in America, but for hundreds of years, they had chosen to honor the spirit of democracy. Now, they seem to care less for the spirit of democracy and instead choose to take advantage of flaws in the system.

This was sadly predicted by De Tocqueville nearly two hundred years ago.

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money,” he wrote.

Shadyi said that this scared him. If America’s system, the example for all other democracies, was to be so short-lived on the scale of history, it feels like it must be inevitable that democracy will eventually lose to totalitarian governance.

That perspective terrified me. As an American, it shamed me. It also strengthened my already growing certainty that America cannot ignore Ukraine’s plight. While we attempt to regain the spirit of democracy in our own country, the least we can do is continue to support it when we see it in another country. One fighting for its very existence.