Democratic elections are only as good as the people who take part in them. When the people want the Koran or Das Kapital, then they will get it. Such elections measure the character of a people, their commitment to the rights of others and their basic humanity. The Egyptians failed their election test, as the statistics showing the national support for Sharia and the sexual assault rates forecast that they would. As did the Tunisians and the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza.
To the advocates of universal democracy such failures are only a temporary manifestation that can be reversed with enough funding for social NGO’s and political outreach. But the reality is that they represent a deeper moral and spiritual crisis that we ignore at our own risk. Governments reflect the character of the people they rule over and a government whose values and policies have no connection whatsoever with those of the people cannot endure except through the intervention of foreign armies.
Democracy is allowing the Muslim world to express its truest and deepest self. That self is at the heart of this conflict. It is at the heart of the clash of civilizations. By helping to liberate them we have set their worst selves free.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
The problem is not insufficient democracy
The problem is the character of the people, as Daniel Greenfield points out in this somewhat somber look at some of the world's hot spots.
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2 comments:
Just so. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and shouts "Seig Heil!", then's it's a Nazi, and all the social NGOs in the world won't change that.
An artillery barrage, though, might have a positive impact.
Deborah Leigh said... Democratic elections can be a weapon of mass destruction, or a force for good, depending on all parties.
There are many parties at play in domestic and foreign elections, and in some cases, the election results give power to those who don't represent the character, and values of the nation as a whole. Arab women did not want assaults. Coptic Christians did not want to battle for their lives. There are always disenfranchised parties.
Case in point, is right here, and why we fight so ardently to undo what the Left has done. Part of our fight is against many who lack critical thinking skills, and have been brain washed. This battle is not for the moment, but one that will be continually waged. Complacency is another foe to liberty.
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