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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FJB who wrote (406248)	1/23/2011 9:27:16 PM
From: Tom Clarke	2 Recommendations Respond to of 794349

The new Left and the siren call of authoritarianism / fascism Jeff Goldstein Here in the States, Thomas Friedman mused on the Chinese government’s idyllic governing arrangement with its subjects people — one in which the relative non-messiness of competing ideas and dissident expression allows the ChiComs to get things done. Cleanly. Efficiently. Progressively! And now, not to be outdone, we have Stephen Kinzer agitating in the Guardian for an end to “human rights imperialism” — which is essentially a kind of updated riff on the postmodern revelation that turned an intellectually lazy embrace of relativism into a kind of sophisticate’s pose, with the prominent skill being the adept’s ability to deploy scare quotes around such words as “universal” and “standards” while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. The result? Behold! By my standards, this authoritarian regime is the best thing that has happened to Rwanda since colonialists arrived a century ago. My own experience tells me that people in Rwanda are happy with it, thrilled at their future prospects, and not angry that there is not a wide enough range of newspapers or political parties. Human Rights Watch, however, portrays the Rwandan regime as brutally oppressive. Giving people jobs, electricity, and above all security is not considered a human rights achievement; limiting political speech and arresting violators is considered unpardonable. Sure, it’s an authoritarian regime. But the trains run on time, and the subjects people are all provided for — which is a kind of economic freedom, and as freedoms go is one far more valuable than speech and assembly and self-determination. In fact, it is the very embrace of compassion: an authoritarian regime, free from the messiness of dissent or opposition — that is, free of the idea humans have some sort of unalienable rights not granted them by government and consent of those in power — can get things done. Progress. – Of course, when we here in the US last embraced such an idea, lots of folks eventually got angry about a so-called “chattel slavery” culture and they went and ruined everything, the stupid Christians and Constitutionalists. Before that, the same kind of idiots had a revolution. But one day we’ll get the magic back. Let’s hope. Only this time, there’ll be no division along racial lines. Because that is unacceptable. Instead, we’ll separate along the lines of ruling class and subjects the happy, cared-for, and kinda-free-if-you-squint-but-besides-it’s-for-their-own-good people, who rejoice in the fact that the ruling class allows them electricity and jobs, and protects them against poachers enemies. At which point we’ll have reached the Left’s Utopian state. Progress! proteinwisdom.com