Wednesday, January 26, 2005
IT DOESN'T PROMISE PERFECTION
That it first got into someone's head that "democracy = perfection" is one of our bigger problems, because the promise is never quite the reality. That doesn't make the promise less worth struggling to achieve. Far from it. But, at its base, the fundamental precepts of democracy are themselves not "utopian" in the manner of Marxism or other "isms".
In contrast, for democrats, self-government is AN END IN ITSELF -- and good flows from that reality, as well as, unfortunately, some bad. The good is, of course, fine. And we take the bad and try to deal with it. We DON'T scream, "It ain't PERFECTION! Okay, well, forget everything! We need a Fuehrer."
On that line, here's a bit from a sharp post by Murdoc:
That it first got into someone's head that "democracy = perfection" is one of our bigger problems, because the promise is never quite the reality. That doesn't make the promise less worth struggling to achieve. Far from it. But, at its base, the fundamental precepts of democracy are themselves not "utopian" in the manner of Marxism or other "isms".
In contrast, for democrats, self-government is AN END IN ITSELF -- and good flows from that reality, as well as, unfortunately, some bad. The good is, of course, fine. And we take the bad and try to deal with it. We DON'T scream, "It ain't PERFECTION! Okay, well, forget everything! We need a Fuehrer."
On that line, here's a bit from a sharp post by Murdoc:
. . . I don't mean to argue this point or launch a full-scale debate on the subject. What I do mean to do is point out that the Founding Fathers had a vision of near-perfection and they DID THE BEST THEY COULD AT THAT TIME.Probably, of course. Indeed, sadly, such has started already:
And, being Murdoc Online, I'm sort of obligated to turn this into a corollary on World War 4. So I will.
If and when the new Iraqi constitution has a few great compromises will America's Left get all worked up over the injustice of it all and declare the whole thing a crock? Or will they consider waiting a bit to see if maybe staggering in the right general direction is better than wallowing in the same old mud?
The Declaration of Independence said all men were created equal.
11 years later the US Constitution failed to deliver.
80 years after that, a horrific war was fought to try and rectify that shortcoming.
100 years after that, this nation went through a bitter upheaval to make what the Civil War had won a reality.
40 years after that, I'd say we still aren't there yet.
That's 229 years from 1776 to 2005, and we still haven't delivered completely.
Will Bush's critics even give Iraq 229 months? 229 weeks?
And, assuming they give them at least 229 days, will they pester them continuously because the new Iraq's actions don't always match their words and their designs?. . .
Iraqi security forces systematically abuse prisoners, a leading US-based human rights group reports. . .¶ by Robert, Wednesday, January 26, 2005
