Yesterday, we voted in the Prague 1 municipal district, Prague City Assembly, and Senate elections.

Along with political views, the candidates’ age played an important role in our decision. Given what we have seen happening around the world when political leadership becomes dominated by people far removed from the realities and challenges facing younger generations, we believe that generational renewal matters.

What concerns us even more is the growing normalization of extremist and authoritarian tendencies in many democratic countries. We see increasing hostility toward minority groups, including LGBT people, the resurgence of racial prejudice, and a growing culture of blame where complex problems are reduced to simplistic slogans and easy scapegoats. Populism often offers simple answers to difficult questions and convenient enemies to explain our own failures. History teaches us that this is a dangerous path.

Earlier this year, during a visit to Berlin, we stopped at the memorial marking the site where the Nazis burned thousands of books in 1933. Standing there was a powerful reminder that intolerance rarely arrives all at once. It advances gradually, normalizing hatred step by step until the unthinkable becomes possible.

As the German writer Heinrich Heine warned nearly two centuries ago:

“Where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people as well.”

History proved how tragically true those words were.

That is why we would encourage everyone to vote whenever they have the opportunity. Elections are not only about your own future, but also about the future your children and grandchildren will inherit. Every vote helps shape the society they will live in.

We should never take free and democratic elections for granted. The right to choose our representatives is still a privilege that millions of people around the world do not enjoy. If we have that right, we should use it.

Democracy survives only when citizens participate, stay informed, and refuse to become indifferent. 🇨🇿🗳️

Michaela & Vlasta