Democracy and Hamas
Pre-blog note: At its core, a democracy is a system of government in which “the people” control a government that is accountable to those people. The most common way that democracies occur is through a free voting process. Many argue that the US is not a democracy, in fact it is a republic and over the last six years I think that might be an accurate reflection of our government (but maybe more on that in another blog).
For years now, the Bush administration has been taunting the glory of democracy and the United State’s obligation to spread democracy throughout the world. However, Bush has spun the word “democracy” to mean something that it isn’t. Bush seems to believe the democracy will naturally lead to a government (free elections), economy (capitalism), constitution (individual rights, basic separation of church and state), and society similar to the US, but that simple isn’t true. All a democracy will do is lead to a government that represents the majority of the people (note: I believe that democracy is an excellent system for progress to occur, but it in no way guarantees any). In a democracy, if the people want to have a country governed directly by religious texts, then that is what they will have. If the majority of the people want to limit the rights of the minority then they can do that within the confines of a proper democracy. If the people want to destroy a neighboring country through terrorism then they will elect officials that want that as well. And that is exactly what happened in the most recent democratic elections in the Palestinian Authority. Hamas (an organization that the US specifically names as a terrorist organization; an organization who admitted to using children as suicide bombers against Israeli civilians; an organization that refused to even acknowledge the existence of Israel) has won a majority of seats on the Palestinian Legislative Council. Now does the US continue to blindly support “Democracy”? Does the US continue their plans to give the new Palestinian government money to rebuild their infrastructure? Perhaps instead of promoting democracy as a cause of freedom and peace, we should promote freedom and peace and assume that Democracy will follow. Of course, it is all spin by the Bush administration anyway, they don’t care about democracy or freedom or peace. They use the word democracy because they think it will help them to manipulate the world public into believing that their actions are just. We must see through their words and look at their action and the results of those actions. Bush claims that in Iraq we will be victorious because there will be a democracy, but what if the people decide to elect extremists into power. And if you think it is impossible for the people to “elect” a force of tyranny and deal, just realize that is has been happening for decades. In 1932, the Nazis legally and democratically won 230 out of 608 seats in the Reichstag. More recently, in 2000, Hugo Chavez was re-elected as President of Venezuela although he acts as a socialist military dictator.
For years now, the Bush administration has been taunting the glory of democracy and the United State’s obligation to spread democracy throughout the world. However, Bush has spun the word “democracy” to mean something that it isn’t. Bush seems to believe the democracy will naturally lead to a government (free elections), economy (capitalism), constitution (individual rights, basic separation of church and state), and society similar to the US, but that simple isn’t true. All a democracy will do is lead to a government that represents the majority of the people (note: I believe that democracy is an excellent system for progress to occur, but it in no way guarantees any). In a democracy, if the people want to have a country governed directly by religious texts, then that is what they will have. If the majority of the people want to limit the rights of the minority then they can do that within the confines of a proper democracy. If the people want to destroy a neighboring country through terrorism then they will elect officials that want that as well. And that is exactly what happened in the most recent democratic elections in the Palestinian Authority. Hamas (an organization that the US specifically names as a terrorist organization; an organization who admitted to using children as suicide bombers against Israeli civilians; an organization that refused to even acknowledge the existence of Israel) has won a majority of seats on the Palestinian Legislative Council. Now does the US continue to blindly support “Democracy”? Does the US continue their plans to give the new Palestinian government money to rebuild their infrastructure? Perhaps instead of promoting democracy as a cause of freedom and peace, we should promote freedom and peace and assume that Democracy will follow. Of course, it is all spin by the Bush administration anyway, they don’t care about democracy or freedom or peace. They use the word democracy because they think it will help them to manipulate the world public into believing that their actions are just. We must see through their words and look at their action and the results of those actions. Bush claims that in Iraq we will be victorious because there will be a democracy, but what if the people decide to elect extremists into power. And if you think it is impossible for the people to “elect” a force of tyranny and deal, just realize that is has been happening for decades. In 1932, the Nazis legally and democratically won 230 out of 608 seats in the Reichstag. More recently, in 2000, Hugo Chavez was re-elected as President of Venezuela although he acts as a socialist military dictator.
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