cordycord

I've been called a Polly Anna more than once on this forum, but I'm wondering if anyone else is seeing the changes that are taking place in the world:

--democracy in Afghanistan
--voting in Iraq
--Israel and PA seemingly on "the roadmap to peace"
--Lebanon demonstrations pushing for Syria to get out
--The first elections ever to take place in Saudi Arabia, with more planned
--The "orange revolution" that overturned a stolen election peacefully


And now today we've learned that not only has Condi Rice temporarily cancelled a trip to Egypt to protest the detention of an opposition candidate to Mubarak, but Pres. Mubarak (who has been in power since 1981) has ordered the parliament to change the constitution to allow for multi-party Presidential elections by secret ballot.

Sure, there's trouble in every single place mentioned above, but there is also a democratic movement that is happening that has NEVER happened before. Anyone else agree? Disagree?

Warren J. Dew

Er, I thought a Pollyanna was supposed to warn of bad things? Or am I confused?

I was one of those who was in favor of the second Iraq war partly because I thought it would result in a better government for most of the people - that is, better than what resulted from our own mishandling of the first Iraq war. So of course I was pleased when the elections in Iraq seemed to come off fairly well.

However, I think we have to avoid becoming overly enthusiastic for a couple of reasons.

- First, there's a lot of follow through that still needs to be done. For example, Iraq doesn't have a constitution yet, and Israel and the Palestinian Arabs have been where they are before, with things falling apart before.

- It remains to be seen whether democracy is actually the best form of government for these areas. I'm quite concerned that pure democracy could turn into the worst form of "dictatorship of the majority" in some of these areas, which can be far more repressive than the better nondemocratic forms of government.

The latter concern is one of the reasons I'm watching to see what kind of constitution emerges in Iraq, and whether they can adopt some of the associated traditions, like judicial independence. I think the success of the U.S. government is less due to its being a democracy than due to the checks and balances enshrined in our constitution.

cordycord

Warren,

You're confusing PollyAnna with Chicken Little.

I agree with you, and think that there's a lot of truth to your last paragraph. However, I also believe in the "law of rising expectations", which when applied to people who have never known anything but oppression, may have a profoundly positive effect.

ralper

Polly, I mean Cordy,

Yes, I do think you are a PollyAnna when it comes to Afganistan, Iraq, the Middle East and etc. And while I admire your optimism, I think that there is a little bit of naivete thrown in there too. An election does not make a free society nor does an agreement to talk make peace. There is a long way to go in Iraq and Afganistan, and, Israel and the PLO have had agreements before. I think you are jumping the gun, so to speak, or celebrating victory before the first shot is fired.

Time will tell.

Warren J. Dew

Not being up on my English lit, I was assuming the character was based on Cassandra ... goes to show how one ought not make assumptions.

cordycord

Rob,

I base my opinion not only on the fact that these things are happening, but in many cases they have never happened before.

--Let's not forget also Libya giving up its wmd aspirations.

ralper

Cordy,

Thomas Freidman has an Op-Ed piece in today's NY Times about just this sort of thing. It is called "The Tipping Points".

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/op...iedman.html?hp

cordycord

Dammit Rob,

I had to sign up for the NYT online (free) in order to read the Thomas Freidman story--I feel like I just signed up for the democratic party.

I read the story, and feel that it is entirely accurate. The balance in the Middle East could "tip" either way. Fortunately, there is not one person in the world who is uncertain where America stands on the subject.

And again today, the SYRIANS--who have got to be scared out of their wits--have turned over Husein's half-brother to the Iraqis in a goodwill gesture. Anyone here who thinks they haven't been protecting him all this time gets the Jessica Simpson award for deep thought.

If anything, I like the way that things seem to be tipping at the moment.

fltsfshr

No Cordy I think your a man of vision. I think the real problem lies with people who refuse to see the change because it doesn't agree with their agenda.

The pendulum has obviously swung in the right direction. Bush was right and Rob can't admt it (only kidding)

I've been tired of supporting tyranny for a long time. It's about time we walked higher ground.


fltsfshr

ralper

[QUOTE=fltsfshr,Feb 27 2005, 03:07 PM]

The pendulum has obviously swung in the right direction. Bush was right and Rob can't admt it