>From: Bradford DeLong <jbdelong at uclink.berkeley.edu>
>Reply-To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
>To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
>Subject: Re: Anti-Imperialism 101 Re: Hitchens quits Nation
>Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2002 17:49:38 -0700
>
>>There's no relativism about democracy from me. I regard it as the besty
>>form of government, and I hope everybody chooses it. I just don't think
>>that having it gives you the right in any sense of the term to impose it
>>on others--supposedly.
>>
>>
>>jks
>
>Instead, whatever bunch of thugs has the guns has the right to continue to
>rule. Seems to me that there is a very crabbed and silly notion of "right"
>here...
>
>
>Brad DeLong
I guess I'm partly a believer inthe old Westaphalian system of international respect for sovereignty and the quaint international law idea, technically part of the lw of the land in the US, since it is party of the UN Charter, that no nation may use force except in self-defense if actually attacked, and not even then if you can go to the UN first. But I am not in tune with new thinking that allows civilized nations to impose theie ways on those sitting in darkness, or did Maek Twain say that about our attempt to liberate the Philippines from Spain domination? Maybe it is not such new thinking after all. There was a name for it once, started with an "I," but it escapes me just now. Fortunately, our elections are marvelously democratic; our Chief Executive was not appointed by an unelected body of unaccountable nature, our elections are actually free and fair and not dominated by a small body of wealthy and powerful people, our polity provides fair equal representation to all regardness of sex, race, or former imprisonment, and ins ort we are just in hunky dory shape to carry the light to the benighted at the point of the sword.
Jesus Christ, Brad, are you trying to give liberals a bad name?
jks
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