Sharansky, Bush and Freedom

[August1991]

I think that President Bush found in my book a theoretical background - not just a slogan or instinct — which says that it is good to deal with democracies. I have said for years that it is much more important for us to deal with a democracy which hates you than with a dictator who loves you.

A Gandhi could not appear in Nazi Germany or in the Arab world since he would be imprisoned before he had two or three followers.

Totalitarian regimes have three groups of people: true believers, dissidents and double thinkers. Iran is a good example of how in one generation a country with practically all true believers turned into a country of double thinkers...

President Bush is a leader who believes in these concepts and will go ahead with them even though there are very few leaders who share these views.

Australian-Israel council

I agree with Sharansky but without having read his book, it seems to me he is applying his experience in the Soviet Union to the situation in the Middle East. While the Soviets and the Saudis share totalitarianism, the theology of Marxism lacks the superstition of Islam. IOW, the two situations are different.

I like Sharansky's term "double-thinkers". These are people who secretly think one thing but publicly say something else. These people are very common in non-democratic regimes of fear.

[Black Dog]

I guess I can understand why people would choose to believe Bush's pronouncements on freedom and democracy, even in light of the decidely anti-liberty and anti-democratic policies of his government: to contemplate such hypocrisy would cause even the most ardent true believers' heads to explode from a surge of cognitive dissonance.

[August1991]

even in light of the decidely anti-liberty and anti-democratic policies of his government:

In what sense is the Bush Administration anti-liberty or anti-democratic? Or, do you have a secret, personal definition of liberty and democracy?

to contemplate such hypocrisy would cause even the most ardent true believers' heads to explode from a surge of cognitive dissonance.

Is that your attitude to everyone who disagrees with you? Do you believe that they are avoiding a "surge of cognitive dissonance"? IOW, you have an accurate assessment of the facts and anyone who disagrees must be delusional.

I suspect we part ways on our definitions of fascism and democracy.

[Black Dog]

In what sense is the Bush Administration anti-liberty or anti-democratic? Or, do you have a secret, personal definition of liberty and democracy?

By actively pursuing policies that expand state power, limit personal freedoms (ie. Patriot Act), and forter a climate of fear which allows them to do so.

I suspect we part ways on our definitions of fascism and democracy.

Indeed. I'd like to hear yours.

[Black Dog]

I suspect we part ways on our definitions of fascism and democracy.

When it comes to fascism, I'll tender the definition most often attributed to Mussolini, which is, if nothing else, concise:

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power."

As for democracy, I think the late Johnny Carson best summed it up back in 1991:

To me, democracy means placing trust in the little guy, giving the fruits of nationhood to those who built the nation...Democracy is people of all races, colors, and creeds united by a single dream: to get rich and move to the suburbs away from people of all races, colors, and creeds.

Democracy is buying a big house you can't afford with money you don't have to impress people you wish were dead. And, unlike Communism, democracy does not mean having just one ineffective political party; it means having two ineffective political parties. Democracy means freedom of sexual choice between any two consenting adults; Utopia means freedom of choice between three or more consenting adults. But I digress.

Democracy is welcoming people from other lands, and giving them something to hold onto -- usually a mop or a leaf blower. It means that with proper timing and scrupulous bookkeeping, anyone can die owing the government a huge amount of money.

Yes, democracy means fighting every day for what you deserve, and fighting even harder to keep other, weaker people from getting what they deserve. Democracy means never having the Secret Police show up at your door. Of course, it also means never having the cable guy show up at your door. It's a tradeoff. Democracy means free television. Not good television, but free.

And finally, democracy is the eagle on the back of a dollar bill, with 13 arrows in one claw, 13 leaves on a branch, 13 tail feathers, and 13 stars over its head--this signifies that when the white man came to this country, it was bad luck for the Indians, bad luck for the trees, bad luck for the wildlife, and lights out for the American eagle.