u235

Certainly not all the time. Certainly not for everyone. And imho, especially not for certain countries in the middle east and Africa. I will admit that this will come across as ethnophobic, but I am gradually coming to the conclusion that for whatever reason, historical, genetic, environmental, certain cultures can't handle democracy in the European sense.

I'm not going to waste time here trying to list my qualifications as a liberal thinker suddenly turned psychotic. Further, I'm not going to try and make whimsical analogies between the genetic behavior in breeds of dogs and races in humans. The fact is that we can accept that breed has influence on behavior in animals and the same subject is taboo in humans. But that's not my point, or not all of it anyway. Let's move on.

I hypothesize, as I started off with saying, that some cultures can't handle democracy. When democracy is "imposed" the result is negative for both that culture and the world. Lets take the cartoon that's riling the muslim world as case in point. A paper in Denmark published an inflammatory picture of mu hammed with a bomb for a turban. This cartoon has caused riots in several countries, and broad calls for death and destruction. For those of us who have an understanding of what democracy means, we know that if something bothers us we have the freedom to look away. We have the freedom to complain. We even have the freedom to bring frivolous lawsuits in the name of defamation. What we do NOT have is the liberty to call for the murder of someone who offends us. We do NOT have the inclination to commit genocide based on someone disparaging a popular religion.

I'm going to be blunt, because this isn't the place for long diatribes. I am beginning to believe that cultures that base themselves on a religion cannot succeed with democracy. They need a highly structured society that is best exemplified by either a simple dictatorship or caste system. I would point out that many of the "democracies" in the middle east already fit this pattern, and while they may pretend to follow tenants (such as calling elections), that in reality they're just a pretense.

I think America is wrong in thinking that our way of government is right for the rest of the world. I think we've done a dangerous disservice in upsetting the middle eastern apple cart. Not only doesn't it work, I would say that it has negative implications for the average man/woman on the street. I read quotes all the time about women's suffrage where both genders agree that women should NOT have the same rights and liberties as men. That alone makes it pretty apparent that our model doesn't, can't work. The idea that a legislator would stand up and declare that the minority they represent should NOT have the same rights and liberties? Can you imagine the analogy here in the US?

Back to the cartoon however, it seems that muslims cannot grasp the essential democratic facts to come to grips with their role in international society. Freedom of expression -is- a pillar of democracy. It comes as part and parcel of the whole package. I don't have any suggestion for how to solve the friction that exists between cultures, however I have a suggestion for America: We must stop trying to impose our values. We can't be the "guardian of freedom" for the whole world. It makes us a target for their problems, and places a burden of responsibility for their success on us. It's actually better we all live in peace, than trying to improve the life of the man in the street in the middle east.

(props to Abba for the blatant lifting of his category title)