VIOLENT DEMOCRATIC REFORMISTS and other detours on the Road Map to Peace
Published 1 year, 8 months ago in My life.Democracy is a choice, and a difficult one at that. It is not a product for export.
Democracy is as imperfect and prone to abuse as any other political system.
Our democracy – as bourgeois and vulnerable to the tyranny of capitalism as it is (there aren’t too many poor and homeless amidst our law making fraternity) - is in pretty good shape.
But we inherited the necessary political, legal and social structures from our British forebears, who had spent the previous 700 years or so developing and fine-tuning those structures from the time of the Magna Carta, the demise of feudalism and the formation of the British Parliament.
Even here, in colonial Australia, with virtually no social, political or religious opposition to the idea of democracy, women had to fight tooth and nail for the right to vote. Indigenous Australians have shared that right for less than four decades. There are many democracies around the world where speech is far from free - if we’re not careful we may trade our own for a sense of security.
Democracy is not a guarantee of fairness, equality or freedom.
I know little of the Middle East but I’m pretty sure the people of the region haven’t been sitting on their hands for a thousand years waiting for the good old boys from the civilized west to introduce their own special brand of democracy. I don’t recall Iraq posting a WANTED: VIOLENT DEMOCRATIC REFORMISTS poster.
There are, by the way, already democratic nations in the Middle East. In January last year Palestinians elected the radical Islamic group Hamas to power and threw up another detour on the Road Map to Peace. Immediately Israel and US imposed sanctions and withheld aid in a bid to force Hamas to renounce its long-held and distinctly unfriendly aim of driving Israel into the sea.
A democratic Middle East is not necessarily a west-friendly Middle East.
If every nation in the region was able to hold free and fair democratic elections tomorrow the vast majority of governments elected as a result would be unacceptable to the US, its allies and their (our) interests. It is far better for the US, and us, to have dictators running the show to our advantage. That’s why the US, and us, install them. That’s why we’re not fussed by the lack of democracy in Saudi Arabia – the home of more Bin Ladens than you can shake a stick at. It is part of the reason why the US, and us, are so thoroughly disliked.
No civilization has come close to establishing a true democracy – that is “rule by the people’’. Its creators, the Greeks of 600BC or there abouts, probably came closest - with every man in small city-states of roughly 10,000 “citizens’’ having a direct role in every political decision. But even they screwed things up because women and slaves (a touch over 50 per cent of the population) were not considered citizens and were not allowed to vote.
Australia is a wonderful place to live - we truly do have an armchair ride through life. Our political and legal systems, our “way of life'’ are second to none.
But we should not be quick to foist them on others.
5 Responses to “VIOLENT DEMOCRATIC REFORMISTS and other detours on the Road Map to Peace”
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You have put foward a great argument fossil. There is no true democracy and even though we are very fortunate in Australia our democratic process is still flawed. You are also correct in saying that we do risk trading what we already have for a “sense of security”.
It’s true also that a democratic Midle East is not neccesarily a west friendly Middle East and why should it be.
If Western coutries, in paricular the U.S. would stop interfering in the political affairs of other nations, if they could put aside their hypocrisies, self interests and paranoia there might just be a glimmer of hope on the road to peace.
Yeah, we should have totally left them alone and done nothing; ignore the genocide, rape of the Iraq people and allowed that Dictator to go on unchecked. The Terrorists are still using the Crusades to justify the death & destruction they are unleashing, I bet they miss the good old days too… back when a woman stayed in the home and did not get any education, or a thief lost his hands.
Hi Steve, thanks for your post. Sorry about the lengthy reply but I’m afraid you’ve made me a bit cross.
I’m not sure what your point is Steve. Is it that we were morally obliged to invade Iraq? That we could not have slept at night in the knowledge that the monster Saddam continued to breath and persecute?
There are plenty of genocidal dictators around. Should the US/us wage war against them all? Or only those sitting on large deposits of oil?
The US/us “allow the dictator to go unchecked’’ every day because it suits US/us. And “That Dictator’’ was installed by the US. The US knew the Monster Saddam had weapons of mass destruction at some point in his despotic career because the US gave them to him.
When you say “the terrorists'’ do you lump all Arabs into that group? Or just American-hating Arabs? Either way, there’s an awful lot of them and the vast majority are not in the least bit interested in flying planes into buildings or splattering themselves against the walls of the London underground. Many just want to be free. Free from the US and us.
Terrorists are driven by hatred. Suicide bombers and the like – the tools of terrorists – are mostly driven by poverty and hunger and indoctrinated with hatred.
If terrorists are, as you suggest, driven by continuing bitterness over the eight Christian wars waged between 1096 and 1271 how do you think they’ll respond to the modern-day crusade of a Christian fundamentalist and son of an oil-baron?
And how do the US/us “justify the death and destruction (we) are unleashing'’? – Not very convincingly. This I’ve discussed in a previous post.
I’m inclined to ignore your jibes re “the good old days'’. You seem to be under the misapprehension that the oppression of woman and the brutal punishment of perceived criminals are the sole province of ancient Middle Eastern culture. Or, worse, that Middle Eastern culture can be defined by these things.
But I’m afraid I can’t let it pass.
Firstly women are oppressed everywhere, by everybody.
Secondly cutting the hands off a thief who has actually been caught thieving sounds downright civilized compared to the “interrogation technique’’ of water-boarding or electrocuting “suspected’’ terrorists/ insurgents/ people-who-might-or-might-not-know-where-to-find-terrorists/ insurgents.
Holding someone in virtual isolation for five years without charge while you subvert your own precious democracy with unconstitutional, unfair, un-anything-that-has-to-do-with-decency, is no way of occupying the moral high-ground.
Saddam was not a nice guy. I’ve no doubt he ruthlessly persecuted those he did not like or threatened his stranglehold on power. Many in Iraq were doubtless pleased to see him hang. But Iraq is not a better or safer place since the US/us invaded. Even the US/ us have given up on anything like “victory’’. The country is as likely as not to descend into civil war, destabilize the region and cause US/us more headaches than the Monster Saddam ever did.
The invasion of Iraq had little to do with foisting democracy upon the locals, getting rid of Saddam, or even securing oil rights. Well, alright, maybe a little. Ok, a lot, but the over-riding reason was to send a message. A message to reassure the people in the USA, and a very clear message to the rest of world: ” Don’t Tread on Me ” .
The American government feels the need to remind the world of this every now and then. It aint a pretty message, or an equitable one, but it is clear, and it has worked (just look at Gaddaffi’s reaction), albeit at great cost.
Fossil you make a good point, why is our democracy or the yanks the right way to go. I think we have traded for security and there‘s going to be more tradeoffs.
We could start a new party called the “Democracy by Referendum Party“. The government has x amount of dollars in the kitty to spend. There are x amount of things to spend it on. Make a list of all the things to spend it on grouping as many as possible under main headings such as welfare, defense, medical, transport, government, law etc. this would be long and painful but necessary. Ever body votes on where they think the most amount should be spent and we divide up the kitty accordingly. The ministers job is simply to administer it appropriately. We could do away with most of the government. Have a new referendum each year until the will of the people (true democracy) becomes clear then extend it to 2 or 3. Do away with party elections, just elect a figurehead leader and a few other positions like foreign minister so we can deal with other countries. How many votes do I get? If I start this party do I get a fabulous superannuating deal?