It looks obvious

“Things should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” — Albert Einstein

Bringing sanity back to the discussion

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In a response to an earlier post Ingrid wrote:

I sympathize with your fears, but I fear the US’ intentions a whole lot more than Iran’s, inspite of all the rhetoric and propaganda that wants everyone to believe otherwise. As a parent, I truly feel very heavy at times wondering when all this madness is going to end. When people will get an inkling (speaking solely of the situation here in the US) that they are being manipulated and losing one liberty after another. Plus all the intolerance that is getting greater from the fundamentalists. I tell you, you’re ‘lucky’ in a way that they are all gung ho zionists, because otherwise they’d be just as intolerant of the Jewish faith! I have learned plenty of things in history (europe) to know that the fundamentalists are the most intolerant of any other faith, including other Christian faiths. Fundamentalism the world over (meaning different religions) are a danger, and they have so much in common too!

I wonder what is the reason many good intention people loose the perspective and the magnitude of human rights violations, oppression and tyranny. After all, and with all the problems the US is a strong liberal democracy - much more than Iran. The US policy, including its foreign policy, is being criticized publicly without the fear of ant secret police. And most importantly in US the regime changes periodically, through elections and not revolutions.

Fundamentalism and extremism are usually bad traits and have devastating effect on every society. In the US a president might be a fundamentalist, much like in Iran. In the US, however, its power is limited by many restraints such as  constitution , political system and most importantly - length of term.

I can only hope that the left will hurry to adopt the Euston Manifesto. It is a demonstration to the left that they can be loyal to its ideals without committing suicide.Moreover, and although I don’t agree with big portions of the left’s social agenda, I can see much more sense in left’s logic when in the context of the Euston Manifesto.

I think that paragraphs two and six in the manifesto makes perfect sense discussing the US "danger":

2) No apology for tyranny.
We decline to make excuses for, to indulgently "understand", reactionary regimes and movements for which democracy is a hated enemy — regimes that oppress their own peoples and movements that aspire to do so. We draw a firm line between ourselves and those left-liberal voices today quick to offer an apologetic explanation for such political forces.

6) Opposing anti-Americanism.
We reject without qualification the anti-Americanism now infecting so much left-liberal (and some conservative) thinking. This is not a case of seeing the US as a model society. We are aware of its problems and failings. But these are shared in some degree with all of the developed world. The United States of America is a great country and nation. It is the home of a strong democracy with a noble tradition behind it and lasting constitutional and social achievements to its name. Its peoples have produced a vibrant culture that is the pleasure, the source-book and the envy of millions. That US foreign policy has often opposed progressive movements and governments and supported regressive and authoritarian ones does not justify generalized prejudice against either the country or its people.

Written by Rogel

September 25th, 2006 at 10:22 am

Posted in Liberal Democracy

« Closing ranks
Defying Tyranny »

Viewing 3 Comments

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    Rogel, I posted on the Euston Manifest and so far I've had a few responses. It's the weekend, my 'regular's have lives and not all of them have checked the site (it's quiet on their own blogs as well) so tomorrow I will give you my two cents. As for the comments, I think they are very much in keeping with what I think and pls, check out Heathlander's link. I like and agree with his analysis very much..there is a theme I'm detecting so I will include that in my answer to you.
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    Ingrid,
    I wouldn't claim that the US is perfect. However people like Howard Zinn can work, write and published in the US - I don't think they could in Iran.
    I also don't buy the free media argument. The government doesn't control the media and its efficient is a meter of culture. By the way I think Nixon and even Clinton would have liked much calmer media than it is actually. The problem with the media is that it follows the sound bit instead of understanding the meaning of what the reporting about, but again this is not due to government control.
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    Hey, that's pretty interesting Rogel. Although the more I read history and not just the whitewashed version, I am afraid that number 6 doesn't sit well with me. It's not about being anti-American as it is being against imperial practices. Also, when you read books such as Howard Zinn's 'a people's history of the United States 1492-present' you can see that this country was never the great country the people tout it to be. Yes, you can critize the gov't but make no mistake, there is a limit. It's relative. How much independent media outlets are there? Rogel, I get the impression (from reading of course) that even in Israel the press is a whole lot more critical and a 'fifth estate' kind than the one here. Anti-americanism is a term I believe that is used to diminish and demonize people who are critical of US policies, especially foreign policies. I do agree with you (or I guess, the euston manifesto) that you cannot just defend other nat'l leaders as a reaction against your own. I also agree that some of the left are reactionary just like some of the right, that will always be the case. Still, it's food for thought that I will have to digest when I'm not so tired (I figured I'd drop by before going to bed but now you got me thinking!)..anyhow..I'll have to get my husband to connect the printer to the computer I'm using now (his) as I'd rather print things out and read than just read something online. Thanks for putting this out there though,
    all the best
    Ingrid

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