Democracy; the Communist nation's greatest fear
They have been sold a bill of goods; that Democracy is subversive;
It holds sexual and other evils. They are correct!
History of the Problem
Whether we who live under the political system of Democracy like to believe it or not, Democracy was not born in the USA. It was born in Greece thousands of years ago. Demosthenes, a philosopher, offered ideas on what democracy could be like; voting, equality, fairness and courts to protect the weak.
The Hebrew, Jesus, also shared some similar ideas with the people of his generation
but again, removing power from the Caesar was scary-and mutinous.
Inevitably, victims of authoritarian leaderships around the world continued to demand rights that only the dictator's hand picked people could get. Intermittently, the bottom class of citizens went on work strikes to demand equal rights. Only rarely did the dictators care about the benefits to society inherent in equality.
Problem
With universities, and with world wide communications, the few remaining pure Communist nations are finding that listeners to public opinion about the benefits to Democracy are asking
age old questions, such as “how will we preserve our culture? How will we insure equality? How will we insure our leaders keep their dignity and safety in society?
Like battered women the world over, sociologists find that often, a women accepts a battering
as a price to pay for having the rent /mortgage paid, other bills paid and that she is safe if she submits to intermittent beatings. Some women are conditioned that men are the leader and if he chooses to lay an angry hand on his wife, that is his legal right. This is carried over to the political system in the country; who has what rights? If we must change these rights, how do we do so smoothly so that we don't have a civil war or a break-down of the “ways things are?”
Perhaps more important, is the political power that specific comrades have been granted; how can new laws guaranteeing equality and recourse for victims also protect the village chiefs and other politicians? This is being debated in Socialist nations around the world daily-no one wants to give up power, no matter how they came to have it.
As this paper had in its title, there is a age old philosophy that sometimes, it is necessary to kill the germ or virus to stop its spread and sometimes, that virus is recognized in the form of freedoms that people want-demand!
The churches in the US have debated this problem for hundreds of years and it is still not settled to everyone's satisfaction; thus, we have several levels of law; federal, state, county and city/village. Sometimes, it is better to leave some laws to the local people until they diverge from the state or federal law[s].
For example, what is pornography? A judge said ages ago “I know it when I see it.” When is it legal and when is it illegal, etc. The church wants it banned, the purveyor wants “hands off.”
The purists in the church want a heavy hand made legal against women as the right of the man. To solve these kinds of problems, we have “separation of church and state.” This of course, stops dead in its tracks in Iraq and Afghanistan which have religious components in their constitution. And in Communist nations, there is a vacuum of religious rights.
Significance of the Problem
What is the big deal, through, if China, N. Korea, Russia [yes, Russia] and Cuba plus other nations] keep Communism and Socialism and non-equality of the sexes and no tort law?
Let's go back to the Greeks philosophers and university research on the difference between
how people grow and [become productive and keep mental health] under democratic political systems. There is no doubt about the benefits to one's society when that society changes to Democracy from other political forms. If “fairness” is a problem, the government can give fat pension checks to the old guardians of oppression and ask that they quietly disappear into the wood work. A nations definition of respect for the elderly is interesting if it can crush spirit with Communism but demand respect for one's elders.
China, as of now, has “favorite nations” status. That is like giving a hero's medal to the neighborhood bullies for not beating everyone every day.
While the US Government has granted said rights to the Chinese, it seems to be without
requirements or qualifications. China has, thus, demonstrated superb negotiation skills to require the right to be socially subversive and not have to give up anything. China has also used its temporary economic might to play the biggest game of cards in history; buying 100 billion worth of US securities that it can threaten to cash in at any time it is unhappy with American political pressure on its human rights violations.
