Democracy

I'm sure my conservative and liberal friends alike will weep and gnash their teeth, but i've had an epiphany. Or, at least, anti-epiphany. I've lost my conviction that democracy and liberalism are the panacea for every ill in the world.

I read a short, interesting book this summer on a plane: Silence. The surface story is about apostasy and the suffering of Catholic believers in post-feudal Japan; the underlying issue is about the ultimate suitability of Western modes of thought and so-called Western religion. In particular, thanks to the prologue and epilogue, i definitely was drawn into this notion that not only do people perceive cultural context differently than we do in America... but they might very well think differently. They might be fundamentally different in ways that are not conducive to a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage solving every problem under the sun.

That hasn't done a great job of solving our problems here in the States, for that matter.

I think the real underlying truth that i'm dancing around here is that there may be some merit to complaints that globalization, Americanization, and democratization don't address the fundamental needs of the cultural contexts in Indonesia, Iraq, or Rwanda. And i might need to be okay with that, and support American leadership that can cope with that reality.

Don't get me wrong. I'm still an eye-rolling conservative. I believe in small government that is involved, even aggressive, in the international community. Self-centered, belly-button staring leftist policies focused on isolationism and social services haven't served anyone well.

And i love that the President is a professing Christian. (so was Clinton, and every President before him, for the record) But i am coming around to the notion of decoupling Christianity from a gospel of democracy and free markets. Is it worth overthrowing dictators by use of force? For what reasons? Our security? The security of our allies? To bring freedom to the oppressed? To prevent genocide? To protect our oil interests?

Perhaps the problem is the enshrinement of the sovereignty of the nation-state. (the screams of a thou-- a hu-- one or two exasperated Model UN nerds overwhelm my keyboard at this point.) To throw fuel on the fire, protecting our oil interests is one of the few legitimate reasons i could see the US going to war. If that's what we were doing, we should have just come out and said it, though. Personally, i think Bush had this right in the State of the Union: the US needs to end its addiction to fossil fuels.

How many of those goals could be achieved in a more effective (cost- and otherwise) method than the application of military power? If we reorganized our economy based on a smaller military, we might not be watching our media companies gobbled up by the French, our operating systems and encryption technology being developed by the Finns, solar panels coming from the Japanese, and our call centers being staffed by the South Asians. I guess, for once, i'd like to see us put our values where our machismo has always resided. Instead of sending in armed soldiers, are we willing to send in ambassadors of peace? Instead of imposing sanctions, are we willing to send in development aid committed to community development instead of throwing dollars (with strings attached!) at the problem?

What about bringing about democracy?

Democracy is a fine thing. (It generates enormous cashflow benefits in Civilization, along with an unbeatable reduction in corruption.) However, does it govern people in a way that is fair? Sustainable? Honoring their spiritual and emotional needs?

I guess i used to defend democracy and liberalism as the best alternative in a world without any viable choices. For all of its faults, no other system has produced as much prosperity and freedom of expression as democracy. Having seen first-hand what the nascent market economy is doing in China and elsewhere... i guess i'm not so convinced that prosperity is a value we should be pursuing with so much... uhm... zeal?

I still have a deep-seated love of markets. I'm not sure if this is good, or idolatrous. It's certainly not explicitly Biblical, as Dr. Sperlich repeatedly pointed out to me in our clashes in Religion and Politics. (He's emeritus now. A pity; professing Christians with an interest in politics should have to go through his millstone for at least 164A, if not both of his courses.)

Although Taco Lita has the most generically American tacos of all the local taco joints, it also has the best taco sauce on the planet. I've gotten in the habit of saving any extra packets after a visit there in the webbing of backpack so i can bust it out at the drop of a hat.

The best taco joints: Los Chiles Locos, King Taco (Pasadena), and the Green Chile (i think Upland). But Lita's sauce puts them in the shade.