Ok my last word on this and if you still disagree, then we'll just have to agree to disagree :)
Every tyrant in the world wants to "good" of the country, if for nothing else but for his own selfish reasons. For example I am pretty sure Saddam would have wanted to rule an Iraq that is the envy of the world rather than one that is below poverty line.
The issue is not "intention" but rather the source of legitimacy. In your example of mandatory education you are somehow distinguishing between fanatical madrassas and your ideal school. But the only real difference is that you are convinced *your* proposed program is good and theirs is bad. You may believe the purpose of education is science and skills that help you in the material life, and someone else may think our time on earth is limited and the important thing is to learn what God wants of us. As an example, consider that Tibet was in many regards an ideal society, yet it emphasized religious teachings and cared little for scientific ones. Shall we then mandate a Tibetan style of education as a way to combat greed, theft, violence, and other social ills?
There is simply no objective way of settling this dispute. The moment you decide that the world should be made to work in the way that confirms your beliefs, you are on the road to tyranny.
On a related note, you say, "left to their own devices, will not create good societies. They will create hierarchical and tyrannical organizations. After all, that is what we have always had" First, what is your solution? Humans are all we have to build societies with. I don't see how we can import angels to set the divine and perfect laws for us (well some people do, but everywhere they have been successful, nothing but misery has come of it). Although humans may not make the most rational decision and get it right away, most humans are capable of judging the outcome of actions and learn from them. Freedom is best.
It is because of this ability to judge and learn from the outcome that human societies, though far from ideal, are better now than they were a 100 years ago and were better a 100 years ago than 200 years ago and so on. This gives me faith that if we manage not to destroy the earth, in another thousand years humanity will almost civilized. |
