and my point is that even at the high points of greek democracy, they limited the vote to certain segments of society. and kept slaves. and regarded all other societies as, literally, barbarians (the word comes from how the greeks thought non-greeks sounded like).
see the other thread about my comments regarding politics in islam.
and how can the arabs catch up? i don't know. i'm not one of those people that say, "oh, you can't force democracy on people that aren't ready for it." i mean, the statement is true, but i think the arabs are ready for democracy. the problem is, what's the west going to do if they end up voting for a non-secular society? A society based on islamic laws? are they going to respect that country and its laws? or call it backward and ignorant, and try for a regime change?
nothing is going to change as long as the west is interfering in a haphazard, hypocritical manner. how can you claim to be all about democracy, to the extent of starting a war, when all the key allies in the region are monarchies or dictatorships, propped up with western muscle or money?
because that's what the average arab person sees. a two-faced display of hypocrisy and greed, politics at its worst. and somehow they're supposed to think that the democratic system that allows such bs is what's best for them?
|