Typh0n
clever fool
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2013
- Messages
- 3,497
- Instinctual Variant
- sx/sp
I figured this was the best place to put this.
I was thinking earlier on today, about how European democracy and American democracy seem to differ, that one doesnt mean the same thing in one geo-poltical region as in the other. It seems the word "democracy" is used today by both politicians and non politicians alike as a synonym of good government, though I've already, in the past, posited that this is questioneable. Anyways, as I said, in America, Democracy seems to mean something different than in Europe, in that in the American system it has become synonymous with the defending the rights of citizens via the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution, wheareas in Europe thats not what democracy means at all, it is more a synonymn of freedom or should I say, too much freedom. This is even more true of the term "democracy" in the Middle East. The whole Arab Spring thing is a disaster, wars, chaos, Islamists and terrorist organizations taking over. Is this what democracy looks like? Perhaps, when too much freedom reigns, anything becomes possible. Even totalitarianism.
Plato had some interesting insights regarding democracy, or the rule of the many, in The Republic. He said that democracy and Tyranny(the word "Totalitarianism" didnt exist until the 20th century, when it became a sad reality) where two opposite swings of a pendulum, one being the time of freedom and the other being the time when the people are improsined under the rule of a tyrant. However, one easily leads to the other, as in having total freedom inevitably means someone will take abuse of power to its extreme and total form. Having total freedom means anyone can abuse and suppress that freedom. This is and had has been the case throughout thousands of years of European history, though America seems to have avoided this problem.
I think Democracy is bad for Europe and even worse for the Middle East. In America, poltical parties that are hateful, extremist, or terrorists are outlawed. However in most European countries, part of the freedom is having NAZI, Islamist, and white supremacist parties(just to name a few) be allowed to participate in elections! Recently the Dutch government wants to- wants to - permit a hateful Islamist party to join their elections. This disgusts me. If you compare Europe's laxist mentality to the no Bullshit attitude of American law in this regard, you can see that, why I, as a European do not promote democracy as a form of government. If I lived in the Middle East, which thank God I dont, I would hate it even ten times more.
I feel that everyone has to stop using the word "deocracy" as a synonym of good government for non-American countries. Until developing countries produce great minds such as Jefferson and Washington to write their constitutions for them, based on social contract, human rights for all and on outlawing political parties which promote an idealogy which has been known to lead to suppession of individual freedoms(such as Islamist parties) they shouldnt idealize the right to vote. Voting, in the Middle East, always means Islamists get the vote, since appearantly many want them to be in power. There are also many who dont, but I suspect elections in countries like Egypt were rigged anyways.
Anyways, what are your thoughts?
I was thinking earlier on today, about how European democracy and American democracy seem to differ, that one doesnt mean the same thing in one geo-poltical region as in the other. It seems the word "democracy" is used today by both politicians and non politicians alike as a synonym of good government, though I've already, in the past, posited that this is questioneable. Anyways, as I said, in America, Democracy seems to mean something different than in Europe, in that in the American system it has become synonymous with the defending the rights of citizens via the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution, wheareas in Europe thats not what democracy means at all, it is more a synonymn of freedom or should I say, too much freedom. This is even more true of the term "democracy" in the Middle East. The whole Arab Spring thing is a disaster, wars, chaos, Islamists and terrorist organizations taking over. Is this what democracy looks like? Perhaps, when too much freedom reigns, anything becomes possible. Even totalitarianism.
Plato had some interesting insights regarding democracy, or the rule of the many, in The Republic. He said that democracy and Tyranny(the word "Totalitarianism" didnt exist until the 20th century, when it became a sad reality) where two opposite swings of a pendulum, one being the time of freedom and the other being the time when the people are improsined under the rule of a tyrant. However, one easily leads to the other, as in having total freedom inevitably means someone will take abuse of power to its extreme and total form. Having total freedom means anyone can abuse and suppress that freedom. This is and had has been the case throughout thousands of years of European history, though America seems to have avoided this problem.
I think Democracy is bad for Europe and even worse for the Middle East. In America, poltical parties that are hateful, extremist, or terrorists are outlawed. However in most European countries, part of the freedom is having NAZI, Islamist, and white supremacist parties(just to name a few) be allowed to participate in elections! Recently the Dutch government wants to- wants to - permit a hateful Islamist party to join their elections. This disgusts me. If you compare Europe's laxist mentality to the no Bullshit attitude of American law in this regard, you can see that, why I, as a European do not promote democracy as a form of government. If I lived in the Middle East, which thank God I dont, I would hate it even ten times more.
I feel that everyone has to stop using the word "deocracy" as a synonym of good government for non-American countries. Until developing countries produce great minds such as Jefferson and Washington to write their constitutions for them, based on social contract, human rights for all and on outlawing political parties which promote an idealogy which has been known to lead to suppession of individual freedoms(such as Islamist parties) they shouldnt idealize the right to vote. Voting, in the Middle East, always means Islamists get the vote, since appearantly many want them to be in power. There are also many who dont, but I suspect elections in countries like Egypt were rigged anyways.
Anyways, what are your thoughts?