I read Polimom’s blog every day thanks to the miracle of RSS. Yesterday she wrote a bit of a rant against the so-called NeoCons’ vision of “democracy in unlikely places” that bothers me.
After years of being angry at the neocons, I finally understand them. I’m still afraid of their hands in our government (and want them out and away), but I no longer think they’re deliberately evil. Instead, I see that they are idealists — zealots — with a terribly (and lethally) flawed philosophy that was exposed when they attempted to execute… and their supporters simply bought into the utopian dream.
I hop that’s overstatement for effect. Bush and crew are arrogant and not very bright. But for an intelligent person to actually believe that they are evil, a designation that should be reserved for the Hitlers and Stalins of the world, is inane.
I’d say that the vision of seeding democracies in Iraq and other places is a wonderfully idealistic vision. Can anyone deny that the world would be a better place if Iraq and Afghanistan were independent, stable democracies? I don’t think so.
One of many problems with countries like Iraq is that many, many people there have a strong preference for our type of democracy and are denied their right to representative government by oppressive military or theological dictatorships.
Polimon says, “societies everywhere reflect the individuals within them, and each is utterly unique. One cannot externally impose a value system or way of life that works in one society upon another… and certainly one cannot ‘force’ freedom.”
She’s right, but not for the reasons she thinks.
Indeed, freedom cannot be forced – it has to be universally desired. The fact is that democracy was and would continue to be welcomed by the vast majority of Iraqis if not for the murderous actions of the Islamic terrorists who are destroying that country from the inside out.
But does that mean that Bush’s idea was wrong? Or is it our execution that is the problem?
Both, probably. But the latter carries the most weight with me. IMO, Bush and crew lied to America about the imminent danger Iraq supposedly presented, thumbed their noses at the rest of the civilized world, then bungled the job by not having enough troops to do the job.
Three strikes, we’re out.
are birds free from the chains of the skyway? fish are not free in the vastness of the sea, but rather confined by endless global shorelines. freedom exists only in the mind, and democracy is but a weak human attempt to create equality of the masses. it has never really quite “worked” effectively in the past, and never will in the future.
Why, you ask? because a house divided cannot stand. enough of this Democratic and Republican BS, let us be pro-American or let us be removed from America. The fundamental ideals of a democracy seem to be “right”, but ignore the fact that man’s heart is only evil constantly, setting up a power struggle between the haves and have-nots and inviting corruption to the party.
without Divine intervention any and every democracy is doomed to destruction. This battle we are fighting goes far beyond our powers to comprehend because it is a supernatural battle raging in another realm with repercussions in our own. There is a paradigm shift taking place that will forever change this earth and its survivors. The Kingdom of this World is being transformed into the Kingdom of our God.
So, thank God in Heaven we have a president that understands the eternal and the invisible — one who is willing to stand in the gap and fight the good fight of faith.
two-thirds of the world could give a rats a– about democracy — all they want is to scrape together enough beans and rice to fend off starvation one more week. Americans are so blessed, and yet so totally blind and ignorant to the plight of humanity. America needs a reality check.
Re “the fundamental ideals of a democracy seem to be “right”, but ignore the fact that man’s heart is only evil constantly”, I’m going to have to take issue with you.
First, a man’s heart is not “constantly evil”. It’s impossible for me to be more direct than that. It’s simply not true. Some men’s are, yes. More than either of us would like. But constantly? No.
Second, as I’ve said often of late, there is a problem with this country’s election process and looking at it as a battle of the haves vs. the have-nots is one fairly accurate way to look at it.
Another, perhaps better way is to acknowledge the corrosive, corrupting influence of money on the electing and governing mechanisms. It’s nearly impossible for a candidate to take a reasonable posture on today’s big issues – Iraq, stem cell research, domestic security, abortion, welfare, etc. – because of party platforms and the need for candidates to heel to the call of money.
Perhaps the Dems will summon the moral fiber required to deal with this issue for what it is – the primary problem in this country today.
You say, “thank God in Heaven we have a president that understands the eternal and the invisible — one who is willing to stand in the gap and fight the good fight of faith”. I’m not sure I know what that means.
It doesn’t mean to strip civil liberties from Americans while allowing our borders to be sieves for illegal aliens to come and go as they please.
It certainly doesn’t mean borrowing trillions of dollars and mortgaging my kids’ futures to fight a war that Americans don’t want to fight.
And it doesn’t mean that the 3,000 Americans murdered on 9/11 need to be offset by 50,000 Iraqi civilian deaths and climbing because we don’t know what the hell we’re doing over there.
I admire Bush for being willing to stand out there alone and take it in the face – I do. But it would certainly help to be right when he’s doing that.
About “two-thirds of the world could give a rats a– about democracy — all they want is to scrape together enough beans and rice to fend off starvation one more week. Americans are so blessed, and yet so totally blind and ignorant to the plight of humanity. America needs a reality check.”, I almost agree.
It’s not America that needs a reality check, it’s Americans who need to understand reality. In particular, the leeches and clingers-on, the takers of handouts, the pushers of drugs, the gamers of the system, all of the fetid underbelly of this country need to understand that the worst place in America is better than the best place in Iraq or Egypt or any number of other places right now.
Don’t like it here? Feel free to emigrate! By all means, try a little dirt farming in Ethiopia. I hear land is cheap there! No cash? Try the Sudan. It’s a little down-scale compared to its neighbors but the price is right. Don’t count on getting any welfare checks there, tho. It’s a tough place to be a liberal.