From: Ramez Naam (mez@apexnano.com)
Date: Thu Feb 20 2003 - 01:21:33 MST
From: Mike Lorrey [mailto:mlorrey@yahoo.com]
> Do muslim people have a greater or lesser desire for
> democracy than those in the west? It seems to me and many
> others that muslim nations can't seem to have democracy
> without going off the deep end into religious fundamentalism
> (which has a tendency to like to attack the West, esp with
> terrorism). Iran is merely one of the longer lasting
> examples. Turkey is living under a fundamentalist
> administration, while Algeria dealt with elections that
> selected fundies as well. Egyptian democrats are also almost
> all radical fundies. What gives?
>
> It seems like the only moderates are benign despots who are
> western educated (Jordan's Hussein, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi,
> etc) and who have to deal with significant fundie threats
> within their countries.
>
> What say you?
Well, while Turkey and Algeria have seen religious conservatives make
headway in recent elections, they've at least *had* meaningful
elections. If Pat Robertson were elected President of the United
States, it would be a very sad day, but the US would still be a
democracy.
(As an aside, the leading Egyptian pro-democracy forces are also
fairly pro-US. Egypt just sent an Egyptian-american democracy
advocate to prison for criticizing the government, then released him
when the US complained.)
More generally, I think fundamentalist religions flourish among poor,
oppressed, uneducated people. The moderates you mention are still
mostly oppressors of their countrymen who sit at the head of corrupt
bureaucracies that steal from the citizenry at every opportunity.
Imagine yourself as a poor laborer in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait. You see
the vast palaces and the rolls royces. You've watched reruns of
"Dallas" and know that all americans live as kings. You have
absolutely 0 hope of elevating yourself in your country or making any
kind of difference through legal means. The only media you can access
are owned by your king. You can't speak out against your government
without being imprisoned or worse. Your children are likely to know
the same poverty and bondage that you know.
In that kind of context, can you see why fundamentalism and terrorism
would both flourish?
That's why I'm a believer in spreading democracy, education, civil
liberties, and capitalism through the world. Ultimately I believe
these forces are more powerful than their adversaries. With a little
assistance they can spread to the remaining dark corners of the world.
That would be a good thing for everyone.
cheers,
mez
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