BF2S Forums Egypt Unrest.

Reciprocity wrote:

"woo-hoo, let's burn down the pyramids!"

Reciprocity wrote:

rioting and civil unrest is never funny.

'cept for when that dude was swinging the cactus.

Of course? Whoever has the military usually is in power.

11 Bravo wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

And your plan is?

Option A? Continue to not give a fuck about what's going on on the other side of the world because it has zero impact on my own life?

aye.  give the people what they want.

American Isolationism didn't work in 70 years ago.  It won't work today.

11 Bravo wrote:

DBBrinson1 wrote:

11 Bravo wrote:

aye.  give the people what they want.

American Isolationism didn't work in 70 years ago.  It won't work today.

well besides giving all of our money to these countries while we are in serious debt...what do you suggest?

diplomacy? heh, never mind.

11 Bravo wrote:

burnzz wrote:

11 Bravo wrote:

well besides giving all of our money to these countries while we are in serious debt...what do you suggest?

diplomacy? heh, never mind.

what does that even mean?  by giving them money and guns?

Isolationism is having no contact with other countries.

fuck giving them money, fuck giving them guns.

i simply thought by having diplomatic ties with other countries, instead of policing them and being their personal bank and arms dealer, we would have a better chance of being involved in world affairs.

but that would mean the end of empire building, it's why i said "never mind". Americans won't even admit to empire building, let alone a course of action that would end it.

ok well i guess i mean non-interventionism.  anyway DB that is what i meant.

yes i know

JohnG@lt wrote:

“Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.”

Oscar Wilde

“The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.”

Winston Churchill

“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.”

Thomas Jefferson



and this:
“In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.”

Aristotle

coupled with this:

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

Thomas Jefferson

I cannot but agree with Oscar and Winston. But at the same time I'm sure that their criticism doesn't mean that they favoured another system instead.
And if it's freedom and fairness you seek, the uninformed opinion of the average voter can only be remedied through better education. Taking away his right to decide his fate will only make matters worse. Unfortunatelly the easy way is also the wrong way...
Jefferson I take it was reffering to the situation as it was in his time. The answer is still the same. Better education is the only thing that can prevent the people from behaving like a mob and minimize the loss of rights of those who will disagree with the majority.

As for Aristotle, I think if you study his quote in context you'll see that the problem the Athenians were faced with at the time was how to make sure that the rich wouldn't take advantage of the poor within a democracy, and not the other way around. The will of the majority being supreme is the ideal, and mechanisms were in place to ensure that those individuals with greater influence and economic affluence would not be able to benefit on the back of others.
The final Jefferson quote seems largely irrelevant. I don't see why you chose to put it in there. It has nothing to do with democracy alledgedly being a dictatorship...

JohnG@lt wrote:

Uzique wrote:

i remember reading a really good expose on mubarak and the history of egypt's so called 'democratic' politics in the economist about 6 months ago... basically they have a party-based system that is so stacked in favour of mubarak's party every time that it is effectively a dictatorship. the vote and the ability for the individual people of the country to make a difference is basically nil/worthless. he's a real crook and the only reason he has managed to keep his hold on power for so long is because he's pro-west and a puppet rather than anti-west and a pain in the ass.

more power to the egyptian people, i say... it would be hypocritical of us in the west to express displeasure at a TRUE act of democratic action/revolution. lets see how you americans handle a real act of self-determination from an important middle-eastern 'ally'.

Yeah, because the outcome won't look something like Iran... I believe they have the most madrasas per capita in the world.

I wouldn't hold up the amount of Madrasahs they have as proof of how religious their country is. The vast majority of those were built a very long time ago for reasons that had little to do with religion.

Last edited by Macbeth (2011-01-29 10:53:57)

Kmar wrote:

Don't sweat it. Half of those visionaries couldn't dream up indoor plumbing or electricity.

LOL... 

Good luck with that, We couldn't be bothered When they protested in Iran. I hope the we have seen the last of the Blood.