Ends Can Justify the Means

Interestingly enough, there has been many thoughts and writings about democracies needing to be created peacefully from within. A form of peaceful revolution, where men and women revolt against their government through slipping a piece of paper into the ballot box. however, that is not always the case!

I was listening to the BBC on my XM Radio and they were discussing about the government of Mauritania. Now, there was a military coup that ousted the corrupt government and then began forcing democracy. On the Freedom House rankings, Mauritania is listed as partly free. Turkey is another example that an iron fisted ruler modernized the nation, effectively bringing secularism to the former Ottoman Empire.

The point I wish to make is the fact that nations sometimes need to be crushed in orde4r to have democracy reign. Post-WWII Germany was more susceptible to democracy because the Allies beat it into submission, similar to Japan. Sometimes, in the geopolitical world of Realpolitik, the ends justify the means.

Confront Culture

Changing culture is very important for a nation in order to progress. I am reading a book right now entitled The Central Liberal Truth and within the pages lies the belief that some cultures are more suited for prosperity than others. This is utterly blesphemous within some anthropology and social science circles. But I think that the case studies he gives help prove his point.

Lawrence Harrison believes that some nations need to reject certain aspects in order to succeed. Catholic cultures need to reject the authoritarianism, and once they do they succeed. As seen within Italy, Ireland and Quebec. Protestant cultures, on the other hand, teach people to think for themselves and become literate. A lot of the prosperous nations in the world, according to the World Bank and UN charts are in fact Protestant. Confucian/Far East nations also have an inclination towards progress, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea are well adapted for success. Some nations have a hard time adapting to democracy, and needless to say places like Iraq really do not have a hope!

Turkey is Islamic, yet through strong leadership it was made better and more free. Afghanistan now has a strong leader who is pushing for democracy, and according to Freedom House, it is listed as Partially Free in 2006. Leadership and politics can reform a society. Using education and confrontation of the weak things within the nation can propel a society into international prominence.