Friday, August 03, 2007

My Political Philosophy - Part II - Guarding the Gains

8. Democracies have the right to defend themselves against militant threats such as Fascism, Communism, Islamism, Anarchism etc. During the course of this defense civil liberties may be threatened. It is the duty of the government to limit these restrictions on civil liberties but not to the extent that it places in jeopardy the well being of the populace.

9. Freedom of the Press is a vital aspect of the proper functioning of society but when the press becomes active as an agent that undermines national security (such as the NY Times revealing secrets about Federal monitoring of Islamist cash flow methodologies) reasonable limitations may be required.

10. Nobody in a democracy must be above the law. This includes the leadership who must still remain accountable for their actions.

11. A strong military is part of the infrastructure that guards the democracy. It is illogical to assume that the natural role of a democracy is that of pacifism. Perhaps this would be the case if all the nations in the world were democratic but the presence of renergade regimes with imperialist ambitions nullifies this pacifist approach. The failure of western peace movements as a viable entity resides in its inability to grasp this phenomenon.

12. Healthy patriotism is a necessity for a society to survive in the long run. The fact that it has been eroded in the West by unhealthy cynacism will prove to be one of the weak points in the fight by the democracies against the autocracies.

13. The US as it stands currently represents the best hope for the survival of the democratic model in the future. Other than Israel, Britain (to some extent) and Australia it appears to be the only nation capable of confronting the Islamist threat.

14. The EU has set off into the sun and has embarked on a pathway that if not abated will lead to its own demise. This is illustrated by the low birth rate of its member nations, the collapse of Judeo-Christian values in its general population, the rise of Islam within its borders and its dovish approach to international terrorism. The growing influence of socialism - the dominant political philosophy on the continent since World War II - has further transformed the EU into a byzantine culture driven by red tape bureaucracies. While European countries no longer fight wars amongst each other (a positive aspect of the outcome of democracy) by the same token the continent seems petrified to deal with the Islamist threat. In both Afghanistan and Iraq European acquiescience to terrorism reflect this truism.

15. Further attempts at an anti-Islamist foreign policy in France for example has been undermined by the Gallic strain of Greed Capitalism that sees nothing wrong with selling weaponary to ones enemy if a profit can be generated. Unfortunately the Greed Capitalism construct manifests itself in American politics and other Western Nations as well. This is another problem that needs to be looked at with more earnest. For this reason I have listed it as one of the most prominent threats to Western Civilization.

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