Democracy
January 24th, 2003 by HenI try to avoid talking politics on the same forum I talk shop on. But sometimes there’s an important point and you want to make it somewhere:
A quote from BBC:
But US congressman Rob Portman, while ….
He also defended the US’s right to fight for freedom.
“Not just freedom, but democracy. Not just democracy but human rights.”
This is wrong. Democracy is not something to be protected. Governance by a majority preferred entity. Lines like Rob Portman’s above suggest that a nation ruled by a monarchy, in which the people are 51%+ behind that monarchy, is somehow morally wrong. If a nation’s people want a dictator, they should not have democracy forced on them because Rob Portman thinks that it’s the only viable government. If a majority of US citizens became disenfranchised with the US’s brand of democracy, then it would become an immoral form of government for that country.
January 24th, 2003 at 9:35 am
My significant other recently read “How to lose friends and alienate people” [http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0349114854/qid=1043425661/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_3_1/026-3608981-0819624]. While not a desparately great book it precipitated a conversation roughly like: how come the “American Way” or the “English Way” or whatever “Democratic Way” generally goes completely unquestioned? We accept democracy much the same as we accept water or air. There are many places that are quite happy with communism or (as you suggest) fascism.
Just to get all techie for a sec: someone once said that OSS projects are best run by a benevolent dictator. (wonder who that was