Re: Eliot Spitzer, antismoking leader, self-destructs

"Judson McClendon" <judmc@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:hPRDj.21794$r76.7423@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> "Howard Brazee" <howard@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>
>> Point taken - Let me re-phrase:   "Money spent on trying to convert
>> Iraqis to Democracy does not help the domestic economy nearly as much
>> as if the people had spent that money on consumer items".
>
> On the other hand, how much wealth was destroyed on 9/11? There is
> no way to know for sure how valuable dealing with terrorism will be,
> but one thing is clear: not dealing with it will be an unmitigated 
> disaster.
>
> Working to build a successful democracy in Iraq seems a better use of
> wealth than simply bombing the terrorists and potential terrorists out
of
> existence, no?

Not necessarily.

IMPOSING Democracy on anyone is simply...undemocratic.

Some countries may not work well under Democracy. It is not a perfect form

of Government, simply better than the alternatives. For Democracy to work 
you need responsible, thinking citizens who can separate Church and State.

If a country is living in the Middle Ages, riddled with superstition and 
fanatical religious zeal, it may well be simply UNABLE to adopt a workable

democracy. Religious states are not Democracies; they are subject to the 
dictates of God, as perceived by the population at large. The more extreme

that perception, the less room for Democracy. The God of most major 
religions is not known for being democratic; one reason people adopt 
religion in the first place is because they want leader****p.

You don't think for one minute that, if everyone in the USA (or even the 
vast majority) held the beliefs you do, it would be a Democracy, do you?
:-)

(Me, and people like me would be first against the wall...hardly a 
democratic process...)

The answer is education, not coercion.

And some respect for the rights of others to be what they want to be 
(provided they do no harm) would not be out of place, either.

But, until then, "simply bombing the terrorists" may be a good course of 
action... (provided you can definitively identify "the terrorists" of 
course...)

Pete.
--
"I used to write COBOL...now I can do anything."