Quote:
|
Originally Posted by HOZ
Well Lanny obviously my understanding of Democracy is far different than yours. Democracy is when people exercise their rights to vote for their rulers. Period. Democracy does NOT hinge on whether or not people know what they are doing. People vote for the NDP in this country.  |
Yes, and people in this country voted for Bush... TWICE.
It is obvious that your understanding of democracy is on the elementary level. Casting a vote is but a small part of democracy. Democracy requires that a voter understand the ramifications of their vote and assume the responsibility for that vote. Saying otherwise is just plain stupid. Seriously, one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. I'm talking signature file dumb. How can a democracy work if the people do not understand the function, do not comprehend the issues and do not have the ability to provide oversight? How can it work if these are no checks and balances? It can't. Without the understanding of the system the people cannot form the structures to support their actions.
Jesus, do you honestly think that one day someone decided that they needed a new form of government and looked at his compatriots and said "let's vote", and that worked? Sorry bonehead, but before people cast that vote they had to know what they were voting for. They had to know what the division or responsibility was, what the oversight was, and what mechanisms of accountablity there were for those assuming power. THAT is human nature, and you can't fight that. The fact is that Iraqis never had a chance to define these structures. They were rushed to the polls to vote for people they had no information about. That just doesn't work.
BTW... I didn't think you were in Canada. A lot of NDP voters in Japan?
Quote:
|
But then who are you to say they DIDN'T know what they were doing?
|
Common sense. A country that was subject to endless propaganda about the evils of a system are likely not going to be schooled in the functions of that system. Americans all believe that Communism was evil, yet they know nothing of how the system worked, and this is a country that the citiznry are supposedly highly educated and open to ideas (not even close to being true). Iraqis were not going to understand the concepts of democracy and how it functions just because they all of a sudden get to vote. Plus, the country was just coming off the heels of being bombed back to the stone age (in effect) and many of the regions did not have the infrastructure for daily life. You don't think that situation is going to make getting the word out on the issues a little next to impossible? The people are locked in aurvival mode, a political campaign is not going to be front and center. Iraqis are only going to do what they have been doing for generations, and do what they're told.
Nice links, but not a single one of them said a damn thing about Iraqi's know what they were voting on. Every one of these links speaks about voting irrgularities and how they were dismissed (which conflicts greatly with other reports as posted). There has been nothing to indicate that Iraqis had a clue what they were doing when they went to the polls. All the talk has been focused on nothing but sectarian issues that have been amplified by the vote itself. The people voted for who their imam told them to vote for and they did their duty. Iraq went from a secular country where religion played little role in the governance of the country to one where religion will prevent an effective government from being formed. THAT'S democracy to you?
Again, do yourself a favor and learn the meaning of the word illiberal and how it applies to democracy. Everything you have described as great success is a shining example of an illiberal democracy, and as history has shown, illiberal democracies are not democracies at all, and always lead to strife.