Democracy and Freedom is not the solution for Iraq
I would like to challenge the very initiative that most Americans vouch for when it comes to supporting the Iraq war. Although many of us know that the Bush administration’s real reason for starting the war was the gas, and it was also initiated to assert more influence in the Middle East (because Israel was not enough) with military presence.
Let’s backtrack a little bit, and let’s assume for a while that the war actually was initiated in order to establish democracy and freedom in Iraq. I’ll tell you why that is a wrong approach. War is not a solution to establish democracy and freedom in Iraq. Democracy and freedom is not the solution for Iraq. And here is why :
- Democracy is NOT the ultimate right (or wrong). Many people seem to hail democracy is the ultimate right, and think that any other nations or people who do not have it are missing out in some way - NO. A lot of these people do not even have the concept of what democracy is and it simply cannot be installed. Democracy and freedom is merely one of the many forms of governments and politics in this world. There’s no written rule that says it is the right way to go, just the same as human rights. It’s one of the manu rules out there, and it’s not universally enforceable. It actually blows my mind how brainwashed a lot of people in America are - they think that if another country is not democratic, the people are suffering and they long for the Americans to come liberate them. WRONG. That’s a very small portion. Many governments have regimes that some people support and some don’t. And that is the same way with the USA. Some support Bush, many others do not, and they desert the army and such. No society is perfect - even the “democratic” one.
- Different demographics of people need different ways of ruling themselves. Iraq has many different factions in terms of religion, and many local warlords from all over the country. This is not a good recipe for a Western-style democracy. Look at how many civilians die because of these militias fighting each other and blowing up things. To rule a country like this you need an iron grip in a Spartan sense - Saddam was doing an excellent job of it. You need a scary dictator to prevent massive amounts of killings among civlians, and to prevent a civil war. Saddam was from the minorities - the Sunnis, and still managed to hold it so tight and so well.
- Any foreign-injected democracy will have problems - severe problems, and often fail. When the people of a country want a reform in the way their government runs, they will do it themselves. After all, civilians outnumber the government. France established its own democracy, and so did Britain. They built it up well. South Korea, however, was a democracy injected as part of the Cold War, and shows a prime example of why democracy fails in these situations. South Korea, although displayed in North American media as the foothold to stop the advancement of communism and a symbol of freedom and liberty at the gates of Asia (against North Korea and China and Russia), has not been democratic for a very long time. On the surface they may be, but deep inside they are not. For at least 30 years or more, Korea was under more or less a military dictatorship that appeared to be democratic. But I mean, come on - if the same party held the presidency for 50 years since the inception of the country, there’s something off about it. And if an estimated 3,000~5,000 civilians were massacred by the paratroopers and tanks under Ronald Reagan’s approval, there’s something wrong about it. But because the government was pro-American for the trades and what not, those facts are never broadcasted on CNN. Of course, when some shit goes down in North Korea it’s all over your TV set. Propaganda. Also, think Vietnam. The real reason why the war was lost was because the people of Vietnam did NOT support the South Vietnamese government. The South was the “democratic and capitalist” one but they were also corrupt, and the Vietnamese public mostly gravitated towards the Guerillas of the North. This is an example of the people rejecting Western democracy to start with - not because it’s Western or whatever, but simply because they wanted something else. Not everybody wants your democracy, George.
- A lot of people out there don’t even know what democracy is and do not want it. Call this the same concept of “ignorance is bliss” if you may. This world has so many people in so many parts of the world that live different lives. We drive cars, watch TV, play sports, and eat greasy food occasionally. They don’t. Just because they do not have the same as us does not mean they want it badly. They do not know any better. We often say “oh my god how did our ancestors live like that? They didn’t have washers or dryers, cars, or electric heating!” Well they did because they’re used to it and that’s all they know, so they did not complain. If we had some of our gadgets taken away, we feel it. But if we never had it, it wouldn’t make any difference. Do you feel that your life is shit because you don’t have some fancy gadget that would be available in 30 years? No, because you don’t know any better. That’s the same thing with democracy or whatever the hell they call it. I also apply the same principle to international charities that just overkill - there are so many charities filled with upper-class white people who try to give what they have in order to feel self-righteous. They don’t want or need what we have. It’s just another parallel of lifestyles and standards, and is not to be taken vertically. Unless those people are starving to death, they do not need Western-style schools or be liberated from underage-prostitution - that’s the way it is in some countries and we cannot apply our standards to them. Our standards are not right or wrong - they’re just different, and so are theirs.
So there. Democracy and Freedom is NOT the answer for Iraq. Democracy is just one of the many concepts. It is not better or worse than any other form of government simply because these concepts are a result of organic formation of systems with each group of people or country. There is no absolute answer. And besides - I don’t think the rest of the world wants to succumb to the greed and capitalism of USA and end up with 60% of their population obese.
I don’t condone our actions in Iraq…. I don’t believe we ever had any business there, let alone the fact that we’re still there. I just wanted to state that fact before I begin.
That being said, I have to disagree with your theory. Democracy is the best type of government in the world. That is why the most successful nations in the world have a democratic government, and why the problem-riddled nations employ some lesser form of government. Just take a look at the Middle East as a whole. Democracy is a foreign concept there, and just look at them. They’ve done a great job of killing each other and making no progress in the world for thousands of years. Couldn’t hurt to go down a different road and see what happens, eh?
In anthropology they say there is no such thing as a superior or an inferior civilization.
We often seem to think that the Middle Easterners are “less advanced” or “less civilized” but that’s never the case. Nobody can truly say that about any other culture. Even Cannibals in Africa - that’s how they live, and what they are used to. I don’t see it any superior or inferior to North American culture.
The North American democracy, in essence, is a different economical format basically that opens competition to everyone (more or less) and if you flip this around and think about it, the people from Africa and the Middle East could laugh at how materialistic we are, how complicated we’ve made life, and how we’re destroying our own climate.
In a philosophical sense, there is no “advancement” in civilization. A civilization with more money and more technology may seem flashy and people greedily want it, but it is no better or worse than another civilization that has no medicinal knowledge and still worships alligators.
I’m used to this world so I couldn’t live anywhere else but the same applies to those people. They cannot be forced into a different form of society that others feel is better.
It’s a change that each country or region has to make on their own. The line between domestic influence and foreign influence can be shady, however. Iran and Syria influencing Iraq would be justified, but USA influencing Iraq is NOT justified though. That should be a standard.
simply put, no one has the right to change the beliefs and ways of other cultures, even if their own demise may be irrevocable. War is never the aswer yet a country may fight for its own protection at all cost. this whole war in Iraq is nothing else but an economic conquest and its just very unfortunate how much disinformation there is concenring the motives behing this brutal act. what can u really say without getting down on the subject hey?
Daniel,
You’re right - no one has the right to force their beliefs / form of government on another nation. We never should have gone to war there - it was a war for the sake of war.
Jeff, re:
In a philosophical sense, there is no “advancement†in civilization. A civilization with more money and more technology may seem flashy and people greedily want it, but it is no better or worse than another civilization that has no medicinal knowledge and still worships alligators.
Depending on one’s point of view, maybe. In my eyes, we absolutely have a better civilization that the alligator worshippers, and certainly better than that of the Middle East. We value human life on a level that those people do not, and we always strive to be better, and improve ourselves. Whether we do or not, that’s subjective of course. But the desire is there, and it’s apparent.
With cultures like those in the Middle East, all that’s apparent is that they hate everyone who is not *exactly* like they are. They hate Americans, Jews, even people of the other Muslim sub-religion ( no idea what to call it - Shi’a vs Sunni ).
They regularly take out their aggression and anger by killing those they don’t like. Innocent bystanders be damned, they’re going to kill who they want. And they have shown no little signs of progressing past this archaic mentality, and it’s doubtful that they ever will.
Do my opinions contradict each other? Maybe. I think the Middle East culture is backwards and convoluted. But I don’t think we have any business forcing change on them, except as it pertains to them hurting us directly. In the case of Iraq, they have not.
I would hate to live in the Middle East, because I know it’s not my culture..
But i see similar trends of hatred in North American with the ethnic issues. Only difference is that by law, in an artificial sense, the discrimination is discouraged, but it’s always inside people to a certain degree.. It’s a very tough line to draw between our culture and Middle Eastern culture.
This side of the world has obviously developed technology, and made lots of advancements in that avenue, and we have the largest stock exchange system, as well as a well-greased corporate environment, and the thing is, although we think this is a great advancement, many others around the world do not see it that way. In a different perspective, people are happier with simpler desires in life and simpler things to wish for in their lives, without the superficiality of North America. I want a nice car, I want a nice apartment with water views to Vancouver’s rivers mountains. But to those who have never developed that sense of desire - to those Chileans, for example, who are content being farmers who own goats, and value family and their land, all the stuff we have is not desirable. From our perspective we think that they would be so miserable living in a hut all their lives farming and milking their goats, but the truth is, because their lives are simpler and they have less things to want and desire, they are happier.
Have you ever heard of a psychological research that 100% of human beings who live in this “civilized” world have some sort of mental disability, whether it be mild or severe? It’s probably true. I have my issues with money, women etc. and you do too. And it’s not even our fault - it’s just that we live here.
Do the people who worship anacondas and alligators look at us and go “wow how come we can’t live like them?” No they don’t. I guess this also could be explained by the phrase “ignorance is bliss”.
On a closing note - a constructive counter-opinion is MUCH welcomed here. A lack of opinion is the worst thing in our side of the world. Thank you VERY VERY much for thsi great debate, I really appreciate it a lot!
The greatest thing, LeRoy, about intelligent people is that we admire the intellectual traits in others, not the opinions. I have several friends that I clash with ideologically, yet I am still very good friends with them because we appreciate the constructiveness and philosophy embedded in our chats, and that is a gift for us all. A person gets to a level where they admire the personality traits rather than the biases and the opinions, and that is a step above for sure!!!!
Cheers mate!