IMPOSING DEMOCRACY
Hal Pepinsky, pepinsky@indiana.edu, pepinsky.blogspot.com
February 9, 2011
Imposing democracy is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. It is a shame that our president and state department see fit to weigh in on how Egyptians ought to govern themselves, implying that what is good for the US is good for Egyptians, and more importantly, for the good of Middle Easterners regionally and global security. How’s that for chutzbah?
A presumption that a savvy US president lays down the terms of others’ best interests is the global political apex of the presumption, as Alice Miller put it in a book title, that from adult control over children on, we who wield power over others, ultimately, lay down the law to our subjects For Your Own Good. That form of control is patriarchy, a belief that father knows best, the archetypal justification for power over others. To me, democracy literally implies sharing power instead, as Egyptians are now openly negotiating among themselves. I invite my government to butt out and leave it to Egyptians to make their own peace. Love and peace--hal
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GREAT POST!
ReplyDeleteI would also point out that what the government thinks is good for the US, may not be what is best for the US. If it may not be best for us, it makes it even worse when we try to push it on other countries and cultures.