Sure it's called nation building or the "New World Order" etc and it is one
of the reason a lot of the world hate us. So of course we will do it.
Ralph
At 10:36 PM 11/19/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>"Alex F. Bokov" wrote:
>>
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>>
>> I know there is a previous thread on this, but I can't find it, so if
>> nobody minds, I'd like to revisit the question.
>>
>> What degree of cultural engineering is necessary or desirable in
>> Afghanistan?
>>
>> Should we be satisfied merely with a government that no longer gives
>> safe harbor to Al Quaida? Or should we strive for more, like respect
>> for free speech, privacy, elected and accountable government, equal
>> protection under the law (in particular, equal rights for women)?
>
>As the 20th century shows, any society so virulently violent will strike
>again if it is not significantly altered in its memetic makeup. It
>worked with Germany and Japan, and to a lesser degree, Italy and the
>rest of europe. It took Russia 70 years of stubborn bullheadedness
>before our 'I told you so' started to sink in.
>
>>
>> If we opt for the latter, are we being cultural imperialists, since
>> this is blatantly not consistant with their way of life, particularly
>> the last item? In such cases, is it necessarily wrong to be a cultural
>> imperialist?
>>
>> NOTE: Spike & Mike & Co., please hold your fire. I already know what
>> your take on this is, and it's not without merit, but this question is
>> mainly addressed to the Doves. I still want to know what's more
>> important, human rights or the Prime Directive, and maybe this time
>> I'll get an answer.
>
>Heh. I'll refer instead to the Ecolitan Directive (see L.E. Modesitt's
>"The Ecolitan Enigma") to turn the words of a leftie against the left.
>
>"Your right to swing your fist ends at my nose". This can apply
>collectively to collectivist societies. A country that initiates force
>absent of any pan-cultural standards is asking to be rehabilitated.
>
>The difficulty, of course, is that Afghanistan, for all of its brutality
>toward women, is a very chaotic place. Not very totalitarian in fact,
>merely in fantasy, so holding everyone responsible as individuals is not
>necessarily a good idea. S. Andrew Swann's planet Bakunin reminds me a
>bit of it, if sprinkled with goats milk, Allah, and opium.
>
>Rather, what needs rehabilitating is not the people, but the memes which
>infect them. They can be looked at as innocents in all of this, as much
>as any victim of the plague or smallpox. Treating Afghan society as an
>epidemic, rather, that needs tight quarrantine controls along with
>generous doses of anti-memetic counter-programming in the form of
>information, technology, and development assistance, along with a
>generous dose of education of Enlightenment philosophy and the
>prohibition of Wahhabis from the country.
>
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