Bruce Cockburn..”They Call it Democracy”
May 31st, 2010 by Dr. Robert
“Spreading Democracy’ as it is now being done by the United States in the Middle East, means spreading the rules of democracy.It means telling people that whereas formerly they had no choice, now they have a choice.Formerly they had A and nothing but A. Now they have a choice between A and B.
“Spreading freedom” means creating the conditions for people to choose freely between A and B.
The spreading of freedom and the spreading of democracy go hand in hand.The people engaged in spreading freedom and democracy see no irony in the description of the process just given.
During the Cold war, the explanation given by Western democratic states for the banning of their Communist parties was that a party whose stated aim is the destruction of the democratic process should not be allowed to participate in the democratic process, as defined by choosing between A and B.
J.M. Coetzee
“Diary of a Bad Year”
(highly recommended).
June 1st, 2010 at 6:26 am
Yeah……… ‘but if we charge a lot of stuff on our American express we can get a 2% rebate TO CONSUME MORE MASS QUANTITIES of petroleum based products.. That song would make a good music background at the neighborhood bank lobby.
June 2nd, 2010 at 7:09 am
Robert,
It is true that I am so warped that I need no medicine to alter my thoughts. Perhaps you could download some “wow wow wee.com” (from T.F.C. Channel”and consider it for one of your entertainment features. The program is very entertaining on many levels since their elections are often so highly disputed.
( NinoyAquino was killed as a “disputed” leader in the 1990’s). I am just an old dumb cowboy (5′10″) but I married a filipina 24 years ago who is taller that I am,smarter, and better looking.