Democracy is for the Mature
I believe that President Bush has the right idea of spreading democracy, but there are societies that are not ready for it. They are filled with anger and destruction and that flows into the ballot box.
The violence of the Palestinians, both the winners and the losers, as well as the destructive nature of the winners, shows that many in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are not ready to rule themselves. Is this an insult to their culture? No! It is simply an observation; they are insulting themselves with their behavior and the world is seeing it. I half-expect some of the Palestinians to invite the Israelis back; many decent Palestinians will not wished to be ruled by what amounts to a mob controlled by a crime family. It looks like everyone is threatening everyone. And they want to rule their own country.
Some societies need to mature a bit before they are ready for self-rule. It may be jingoistic to say so but it also appears to be true. A teenager is often asked to demonstrate maturity before being given adult responsibilities and rights and a nation needs to demonstrate maturity before it is ready for self-rule.
The troubling question is "What do we do about societies that are not ready?" The only answers I see are to put the under the guidance of a mature nation or allow them to have a (carefully watched) benevolent dictator until the people are ready for self-rule. To be honest, I don't like either of those answers, but I can't think of any others.
The violence of the Palestinians, both the winners and the losers, as well as the destructive nature of the winners, shows that many in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are not ready to rule themselves. Is this an insult to their culture? No! It is simply an observation; they are insulting themselves with their behavior and the world is seeing it. I half-expect some of the Palestinians to invite the Israelis back; many decent Palestinians will not wished to be ruled by what amounts to a mob controlled by a crime family. It looks like everyone is threatening everyone. And they want to rule their own country.
Some societies need to mature a bit before they are ready for self-rule. It may be jingoistic to say so but it also appears to be true. A teenager is often asked to demonstrate maturity before being given adult responsibilities and rights and a nation needs to demonstrate maturity before it is ready for self-rule.
The troubling question is "What do we do about societies that are not ready?" The only answers I see are to put the under the guidance of a mature nation or allow them to have a (carefully watched) benevolent dictator until the people are ready for self-rule. To be honest, I don't like either of those answers, but I can't think of any others.
posted by shoprat at 4:55 PM
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