In our democratic elections we shoot voters
Follow the link and scroll down and see some amazing pictures of Egyptian men and women going to the extreme to vote.
Via Gateway Pundit who provides a great roundup "Egyptians dying to vote"of stories.
It's ironic to find the US on the same side as the Muslim Brotherhood. Democracy does not always take you in the direction of greater democracy. See Churchill.
Follow the link and scroll down and see some amazing pictures of Egyptian men and women going to the extreme to vote.
Via Gateway Pundit who provides a great roundup "Egyptians dying to vote"of stories.
It's ironic to find the US on the same side as the Muslim Brotherhood. Democracy does not always take you in the direction of greater democracy. See Churchill.
posted by John B. Chilton at 12/08/2005 10:54:00 AM
2 Comments:
The creators of the U.S. constitution were quite wary about democracy. A nice new study of this is Sean Wilentz's new book, The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. Wilentz shows (as has been noted elsewhere, by the way) how the very idea of democracy was held in poor repute by the Founders, mainly because of their concern that militant extremes would hijack the country for their own purposes. Their reading of Roman or Greek history led them to conclude that the mob, if not properly leashed, would inevitably produce a tyrant. And so all the undemocratic elements of the U.S. constitution - the Senate, the Judiciary, the Electoral College. American policymakers might want to be a bit more aware of this analysis (which seems to hold pretty well) rather than rush countries into a rapid democratization. In countries, like Egypt, where free expression has rarely been allowed, extreme and secret groups will have an inordinate power because of the coherence of their message. (I don't mean that their message is necessarily coherent in terms of content, but that it's tightly focussed and seems to offer panaceas.) Moderation is something that takes time and tolerance to build. Ironically, it seems to be the absolute monarchs of the Gulf who are most aware of that, and who seem to be willing to take the time to slowly ease their societies into that crucial atmosphere of civil debate and tolerance.
barfuser:
My views are very close to those you express. Thank you for your eloquent and cogent contribution. I'd say that even if I didn't agree with you.
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