roc_abilly
Member
An observation (source) that made an impression on me some years ago was as follows:
"... Our first priority is democracy, but the Arabs’ first priority is “justice.” The oft-warring Arab tribes are all wounded souls, who really have been hurt by colonial powers, by Jewish settlements on Palestinian land, by Arab kings and dictators, and, most of all, by each other in endless tribal wars. For Iraq’s long-abused Shiite majority, democracy is first and foremost a vehicle to get justice. Ditto the Kurds. For the minority Sunnis, democracy in Iraq is a vehicle of injustice. For us, democracy is all about protecting minority rights. For them, democracy is first about consolidating majority rights and getting justice...".
But it's not just the Arabs at it this these days, is it.
And as it strikes me, if the political struggles of our day are really at heart about a battle of moral values - is it not in our conceptions of democracy that we institutionalise our moral values and aspirations in same?
Now personally speaking I have abhorred for example how in this country, many who once used the gun, or supported its use, now hope to turn our democracy into a "weapon" to be wielded to win "justice" and subject the unionist community to their will.
And I abhor the likes of Jambo's fixations on "majorities" as the be all and end all of any type of political process (even discounting all the baloney and spurious assumptions and "theories" that central issue is so wrapped up in).
Another illustration, I also abhor the tactic of the Muslim Arabs and their accomplices of keeping six million Palestinian "refugees" hostage for 80 years in camps again with the intention to turn democracy into a "weapon" to consolidate majority rights, making a Muslim majority state of Israel.
All of these illustrations are to my mind at least, less about taking a position, and more about the means adopted, and how it reflects on moral values.
For democracy is more than just voting to consolidate majority rights isn't it. It is about equality before the law. Even more so it is about a certain disposition or state of mind in the people, one that values personal initiative, social equality (at least in theory), and a commitment to the public sphere.
That is not to dismiss its other problems, such as we are currently seeing in such soviet inspired tendencies as "wokeness", which I would say consists a depraved taste for equality - it impels the weak to attempt to lower everyone to their own level, so that with "wokeness" we end up with "equality" in something almost approaching slavery as opposed to inequality with freedom.
But the main issue I'm after in this thread is the populist, unlearned, wrath of the majority, the tyranny of the majority.
How can we circumvent it? How can we slow down its rise as a political force?
Consisting perhaps the main political force of our times, a quite destructive, stupid, odious force as it seems to me?
Speaking of which, no doubt when Jambo wakes up, this thread will become an exhibit of yet another aspect of negative currents in our democracy.
I.e. He will try to subsume meaningful political discussion in populist memes which encapsulate the most imbecilic of concepts. He will demonstrate for us the pliant minds of let us call it the "arsefields generation", who never gained the ability to reason for themselves and are unmotivated to investigate any facts for themselves, relying instead on their various "alternative" online feeds etc. He will demonstrate their propensity for jumping on to every political band-wagon without a moment’s cogitation etc.
But let that serve as an exhibit, while the rest of us (including the board's regular lurkers who are welcome to join up to contribute) engage in some actual political democratic discussion maybe?
"... Our first priority is democracy, but the Arabs’ first priority is “justice.” The oft-warring Arab tribes are all wounded souls, who really have been hurt by colonial powers, by Jewish settlements on Palestinian land, by Arab kings and dictators, and, most of all, by each other in endless tribal wars. For Iraq’s long-abused Shiite majority, democracy is first and foremost a vehicle to get justice. Ditto the Kurds. For the minority Sunnis, democracy in Iraq is a vehicle of injustice. For us, democracy is all about protecting minority rights. For them, democracy is first about consolidating majority rights and getting justice...".
But it's not just the Arabs at it this these days, is it.
And as it strikes me, if the political struggles of our day are really at heart about a battle of moral values - is it not in our conceptions of democracy that we institutionalise our moral values and aspirations in same?
Now personally speaking I have abhorred for example how in this country, many who once used the gun, or supported its use, now hope to turn our democracy into a "weapon" to be wielded to win "justice" and subject the unionist community to their will.
And I abhor the likes of Jambo's fixations on "majorities" as the be all and end all of any type of political process (even discounting all the baloney and spurious assumptions and "theories" that central issue is so wrapped up in).
Another illustration, I also abhor the tactic of the Muslim Arabs and their accomplices of keeping six million Palestinian "refugees" hostage for 80 years in camps again with the intention to turn democracy into a "weapon" to consolidate majority rights, making a Muslim majority state of Israel.
All of these illustrations are to my mind at least, less about taking a position, and more about the means adopted, and how it reflects on moral values.
For democracy is more than just voting to consolidate majority rights isn't it. It is about equality before the law. Even more so it is about a certain disposition or state of mind in the people, one that values personal initiative, social equality (at least in theory), and a commitment to the public sphere.
That is not to dismiss its other problems, such as we are currently seeing in such soviet inspired tendencies as "wokeness", which I would say consists a depraved taste for equality - it impels the weak to attempt to lower everyone to their own level, so that with "wokeness" we end up with "equality" in something almost approaching slavery as opposed to inequality with freedom.
But the main issue I'm after in this thread is the populist, unlearned, wrath of the majority, the tyranny of the majority.
How can we circumvent it? How can we slow down its rise as a political force?
Consisting perhaps the main political force of our times, a quite destructive, stupid, odious force as it seems to me?
Speaking of which, no doubt when Jambo wakes up, this thread will become an exhibit of yet another aspect of negative currents in our democracy.
I.e. He will try to subsume meaningful political discussion in populist memes which encapsulate the most imbecilic of concepts. He will demonstrate for us the pliant minds of let us call it the "arsefields generation", who never gained the ability to reason for themselves and are unmotivated to investigate any facts for themselves, relying instead on their various "alternative" online feeds etc. He will demonstrate their propensity for jumping on to every political band-wagon without a moment’s cogitation etc.
But let that serve as an exhibit, while the rest of us (including the board's regular lurkers who are welcome to join up to contribute) engage in some actual political democratic discussion maybe?
