Homespun Symposium XIII

This week, the HomeSpun Bloggers will answer the following questions...

• Do you believe there is a downside to encouraging nations to move toward being free societies?
  
  
• Can all nations benefit from the move from dicatorship to freedom, or are some cultures simply incapable of it and why?
  
  
• Might they end up worse off?
  
  
• Also, do you believe these shifts are always in America and the West's interests, or will we simply create democratic enemies that are worse for us than the dictators they replace?

Find my pithy response inside...

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Do you believe there is a downside to encouraging nations to move toward being free societies?

Just like you can't make an alcoholic go to the Betty Ford Clinic until they're ready to go...and want to go on their own, you probably can't force democracy on people until they're ready for it. I believe that the people of Iraq and Afghanistan are at the points in their development as nations where they're ready to give it a try. Both nations have known a long history of rule by colonial powers and military/religious strongmen. Maybe this is the time both nations have been waiting for. Through their successful adoption of a more civilized, humane and democratic approach they might be able to serve as examples of how former Islamic republics can maintain their faith to Allah AND provide for the most basic of human rights.

Can all nations benefit from the move from dicatorship to freedom, or are some cultures simply incapable of it and why?

I have to believe that all humans deserve to live in a world where everyone enjoys the same freedoms we've almost come to take for granted here in the United States and much of the civilized world.

I'd say that there are certain points where the basic freedoms can be granted and the iron grip of a dictatorship can be released. I think we're much closer to that in Afghanistan in comparison to Iraq, but I'd also say freedoms as we know them here are still years off.

I would say that some cultures may never be able to enjoy the freedoms that we do...for a number of reasons. Even when religion doesn't come into play, I believe that there are some cultures that have become so used to dictatorships, that they actually prefer them. If you ask some older Russians whether they would like to return to the days of Stalin, I'm sure you'd be met with a resounding, "Da!" (That's Russian for "yes" for you folks reading in Rio Linda."

Might they end up worse off?

It's possible...Russia has been in a better state before. The new freedoms their people enjoy are also being enjoyed by a very hardcore criminal element. It's hard to believe that a little more than 20 years ago at the height of the Cold War I walked the streets of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg again) and Moscow at all hours of the day and night without any concern for my well being. I wouldn't do that today!

Also, do you believe these shifts are always in America and the West's interests, or will we simply create democratic enemies that are worse for us than the dictators they replace?

Only time can tell here. I would maintain that if a nation truly believes that men and women should live in freedom, I can't imagine a situation where democracies cannot peacefully resolve the differences between them. Even though America and Great Britain have distanced themselves from other Western powers, they would quickly forget the troubles of the past if they were faced by a threat to all.