Granny Rant
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Granny Holding Forth ::: on Freedom
Got a bit fired up while reading article Neocons on the Line
It was the "democracy imposed by force" statment that got to me ...
"Hovering over all this is a more philosophical question: can democracy really be imposed by force, or even outside pressure? And is it such a panacea?"
Democracy is one thing, and I suppose everyone's democracy is different. But freedom, now that is another animal altogether. It will probably sound completely obvious (I hope) but I was sure most everyone knew you could not just suddenly bestow freedom on a people whose lives have been thus far controlled by tyrants and dictators.
Tyrants and dictators create a society of slaves who rely on the government for their very existence, and their people become accustomed to at least the expectancy of minimal care being provided by the friendly tyrant.
Talk about Shock and Awe, freedom is the most profound weapon of mass destruction imaginable. To inflict freedom on a people with no thought to providing care, basic necessities and guidance in the aftermath is unconscionable. Freedom requires its people to take responsibility. It requires its people to make decisions about what path they will follow. It requires them to make a plan to provide for themselves and their families.
Freedom does not mean anarchy, and that is what you get when people are suddenly freed from the yoke of totalitarianism. What you do get is insecurity, confusion and a total lack of understanding or direction. What we did in Iraq was the most cruel act I have witnessed in many years.
A liberation ... no! To remove a controlling power from even as educated a population as the Iraqis ... and just expect they will know instinctively how to creat a new, better and free society is preposterous.
We cheated the Iraqi people by not having the intelligence to realize the enormous stone we dropped on their heads. We should now have the integrity to get serious about our responsibility as liberators/conquerers and guide them forward to create the society of their democratic choice.
Freedom means choice! Decision making is frightening! Wake up America ... we cannot hope to spread this wonderful idea of democracy and freedom in such a thoughtless, arrogant fashion.
Holding Forth is Done :::
