The Vision of Absolute Power For The Greater Good
June 17th 2009 10:09
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
~ C.S. Lewis
~ C.S. Lewis
In a week filled with images of an oppressed society finding the courage to rise up against a government that refuses to represent the will of the people…
I am reminded of all the reasons why I’m proud to be an American.
Proud of a heritage built on a system of government that puts its power directly in the hands of the people through an open electoral process.
Proud of a country that may not always get it right but has the ability to adapt with the times when her people are willing to stand up for social change.
Proud of an open system of politics that is built on holding our elected officials accountable for their actions while representing the interests of the American people.
While the media has formulated the conversation of unrest on the streets of Iran into a power play between what is perceived as a younger pro U.S. generation against the power of an older aristocracy it is important to remind ourselves that the prevalence of absolute power extends beyond the nations named in the Axis of Evil.
When a government holds its true power in backroom conversations between Clerics who hold absolute power there can never be any election to inspire the change that is needed to break the system.
While it warms my heart to see the people of an oppressed nation who don’t have the same access to the freedoms we hold dear fight for that right I also have to give myself some room to step back an examine the whole situation.
The situation that displays facts that goes beyond any news block or in depth nightly coverage on the evening news.
While the choice between outspoken Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his opponent Mir Hossein Mousavi may seem like a simple choice between good and evil or right and wrong we have to keep pushing ourselves to see the big picture.
The big picture after the scandals and fraud that leaves us in the same situation of tension that has caused conflicts in foreign relations between the US and Iran for the course of three decades.
The situation that involved the state sponsorship of Iraq in their chemical war against Iran.
The situation that inspired the Iranian people to cheer in the streets and rally behind a group of thugs who kidnapped American citizens.
The situation that has reached critical mass in the stand off over the Iranian procurement of nuclear weapons.
While it is inspiring to watch the Iranian people risk everything they have for the pursuit of change and to also see the outpouring from our own shores we must also remind ourselves of similar stories that aren’t reaching the front pages of democratic struggle.
Stories in Russia, China and other nations our government supports and receives aid from that don’t consider human rights or the voice of the people as a fundamental part of their society.
Atrocities are common place in China as the religious freedom’s we hold close to our hearts in the United States are trampled on by a government who believes that religious belief is a mental disease.
In a technological age the story of the Iranian people is reaching the ears of the world and we are forced to react in support but at some point we need to take this support beyond our social networking bubbles and conversations about nations we deem as “evil” and apply it to an entire world conversation.
A world conversation that goes beyond labeling one nation as “unjust” because of rigged elections and giving another nation a free pass because we’re borrowing trillions of dollars to pay off a fire sale.
A fight for the encouragement of governments around the world to respect their citizens should be just that and not a blanket party for other political agendas.
The thing that worries me about this situation in Iran is what we have to lose if the argument is not framed in the right context.
What we have to lose after the people are appeased with a run off or a recount.
What we have to lose after the fraud is exposed and the “right man” is awarded the term of office that was granted by the people.
That man will kneel down; kiss the hand of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in his authorization ceremony, lead with the same foreign policy agenda and offer the world little hope in regional stabilization.
Any change has to begin at the top by way of reform of Absolute power from the Clerics before we can have any celebrations of elections and the fall of corrupt voting systems.
Without this true change the democratic efforts people are dieing for on the streets Iran are just a shell to appease the masses and another way for the US and other western nations to keep building reasons to call nations “evil” for all the wrong reasons.
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