Ihsan

Egypt referendum and "democracy"

Salaam Alaikum

This started out as a comment to Anna's post on The Egyptian Referendum , but got a bit long, so I made it a blog entry.

These days I am not only "cynical" about politics, but also the very nature of so-called "pro-democracy" movements that are supposedly sweeping the mid-east under tutelage of King George II (aka President of the USA).

But here are some questions regarding not only Egypt but other areas of the world: Even if you had "democracy" in Egypt - what difference would it make?

Who are the "pro-democracy" people?

What are their demands?

Given that "democracy" in this day and age usually means exanding the ability for the United States to exploit even further the labor and resources of other nations - I think it is important to define what "democracy" means... If it means just more of the same, just under a different name and garb - then you can expect "democracy" to go down the drain in the not too distant future...

"Democracy" has to mean a lot more than a ballot box stuffed with massive fundings by the United States to prop up whomever they want --- Haiti has the Brookings Institute collobarating with the kidnappers of Aristide, and elsewhere you have George Soros "open society" engaged in "private funding..." You also have even more notorious US "pro-democracy" groups operating not so behind the scenes in Iraq.

No doubt, this argument about US ballot box funding has been used by people like Mubarakh to prop up their own respective regimes. However, the "other side," the "pro-democracy" folks, have to also clarify what exactly are they aiming for? Does "democracy" mean a transformation that would mean serious anti-poverty work, would it mean having an independent and, in this day and age, anti-imperialist policy? Or, would it be just a case of one group replacing another:

The new boss same (or worse) than the old boss.

posted by redwood at 5/26/2005 09:34:00 AM