This week on The State We’re In, we consider the right to independence. Whether it's the dream of political independence or the ability to live on your own, people around the world crave independence. We hear what they are prepared to do to achieve it.
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Kurdish independence
Sidar Bengin Epozdemir is from the Kurdish part of Turkey, or as he describes it “Northern Kurdistan”. He explains how his family has struggled for the kinds of rights that only independence can provide.
Mariwan Hama-Saeed is from the Kurdish part of Iraq. He believes Kurds need to give up their fight for independence.
Disabled and dependent
Nick is a quarterback-sized 18-year-old who can easily overpower his tiny mother. But Nick is not independent in any way: he cannot feed himself, he cannot talk, and he’s not always continent. Nick is severely intellectually disabled and his mother Mary Lou talks about the fear she shares with every parent who has a severely handicapped child; what will happen to their child when they die?
Independent seniors
A new kind of senior’s network in Washington is helping elderly people stay in their homes instead of being forced into care facilities. The system is simple, it’s all about people helping people to live independently.
The Prince of Sealand
Prince Michael rules over one of the world’s smallest independent principalities. He inherited the rule of Sealand from his father. But what does independence mean in a place which is not much more than a small metal perch on the North Sea?
Freedom from slavery
Fanny Clonch fought an extraordinary battle for her own independence. After her grandmother died, she was held as a child slave in Morocco and France until she siezed the opportunity to escape.
All people are equal
Gathering ethnic and racial statistics is forbidden according to the French constitution which declares all people to be equal. But some argue that gathering racial data could help fight discrimination. We find out why.
This week's show in full:
Top photo by Kurdistan, Flickr
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