Recent examples of removal of democratic rights:
- Governmental eavesdropping of all Internet traffic, telephone conversations, etc. etc.
- The police has right to shoot first then ask questions
- "Terrorists", according to the leader's definitions, whichever they happen to be, can be interrogated and sentenced without public court procedures. That includes SENTENCING THEM TO DEATH!
- UN and others have now agreed that agitation in favor of "terrorism" is to be considered a crime and should be punished. The definition of "terrorism" is getting closer and closer to "enemy of the current sitting government", and the definition of "agitation" seems to get closer and closer to "protesting against the current government".
- Books and CDs of authors and musicians critical to the regime have been burned in the USA on various occasions. Not by officials, but the lack of punishment for the guilty of the deeds cleary says something
- Almost impossible to start new political parties. The USA, for example, can never hope to get anything else than Democrats or Republicans as presidents.
- After Bush's speeches about a terrorism threat that is less than ten times as big as the threat of committing suicide because of tristesse and pain caused by society, and almost a hundred times smaller than the risk of being shot by a patriotic, friendly American, several countries who were formerly known as democracies have followed the example of Bush and are removing the people's rights in several areas, including what you say, what you print and what you think.
- The Berlusconi disguised dictatorship regime of Italy controls both Mass media, much of the economical market of Italy, AND the political power. Similar systems are actually existing also in the USA (Bush has close contacts to various oil companies etc.), and might soon start to exist in other countries as well.
- The false propaganda of calling it a war on terrorism or fighting of foreign dictators is quite transparent, if the way this is done is by making your own countries dictatorship regimes. This is in the same class as the communist and nazi propaganda of ww2. However, the modern skills in propaganda are more advanced. Now both sides, also the dissenters, get to say what they think in mass media, but through insinuation and small hints they are ridiculed and presented as cruel.
After all, the "democracy" of ancient Greece, which is said to be the starting point behind the modern democracy, ended pretty quickly when the oppressed/poor were no longer as much needed by the rich/the oppressors, and it degraded into a standard dictatorship regime. Is the same thing happening with the western world too?
This will certainly in the long term put the western countries at a disadvantage compared to other countries, especially the rising economical powers of southeast Asia. Furthermore, the countries struck by the colonialism and imperialism will probably use this weakening to strike the western world, which will harm the innocent countries too. Strictly speaking, all who live today are innocent of the crimes committed back then, but formerly oppressed nations never look at it that way. In fact, it's very likely this removal of democracy in western world will result in the most extremistic muslim groups, such as Al quaeda, will end up ruling western world as well. This is not desirable. It's best for both Muslims and Christians if Christians leave Muslims alone and have their own territory to live by their own laws, while Muslims leave Christians alone and have their own territoriy to live by their own laws. However, this move caused by naive Christian leaders fearing Islamic faith and having a fascistic view on it, may cause exactly what they fear most - muslim control over Europe and the USA. This will of course result in Israel losing it's important ally the USA, and it's likely it'll end up being conquered.
So the possible results of this removal of democracy in the western world will result in 1. foreign military threats that weren't threats before will grow into real threats, 2. economy of the western world will decline, 3. Judeo-Christian-atheistic culture, law and lifestyle might be replaced by sharia and muslim lifestyle. I personally don't mind the Islamic lifestyle or religion, and like several aspects of Islam more than Judeo-Christian-atheistic values, but I personally dislike the Islamic law, which, as I've understood it, is in favor of harsh punishments. Christian extremist leaders who don't tolerate that muslims live their way in their home countries are no better than Muslim terrorists (Al qaeda) who don't tolerate Christian lifestyle in Christian home countries.
Of course, removing democracy in order to "fight terrorism" is exactly what the terrorists want, and the more democratic rights that are removed, the more the terrorists will keep bombing and killing, because removal of democracy serves their purposes. Not the purposes of the entire muslim world, which is a lot more cultivated than the few actual terrorists, but the purposes of the less than one percent extremists.
Finally, will George Bush end up in the history books as "the man who took the initiative towards destruction of democracy?" After all, his speeches as actions is what has caused several other western governments to abandon democracy in several fields.
Bookmarks