SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group

 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  
To: bentway who wrote (160943)4/28/2005 2:41:28 PM
From: Hawkmoon  Read Replies (1) of 281500
 
What's the OBJECTIVE advantage? Forget the emotional appeals.

I can't believe anyone would ask such a question with regard to the value of defending fellow democracies..

IT'S A DEMOCRACY!!! That's an "objective" enough reason in itself!!!

The fact that it possesses a government that is accountable to its people via an electoral and legal process is reason enough to defend its right to exist. Especially when it is surrounded by totalitarian dictatorships and Monarchies.

And it's the very reason that I'm over here in Iraq trying to do what I can to help these people (ALL OF THEM) get along and have an accountable government attentive to their needs.

But in defending democratic states, that does not mean that I have to defend all, or any, of their policies.

If you can't find any objective reason to defend democracy as a principle, then you're truly someone who's morally deficient.

But if you're confusing objective advantage with Machiavellian power politics, then you're on quite a different level than the one I'm referring to.

In those terms, defending democratic states is in a state's self(ish)-interest. The fewer states and allies in existence that share a common political and social ideology, the more likely our own systems will be eroded in favor of "detente" and cross-border compatibility.

Hawk
Report TOU ViolationShare This Post
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext