The Middle East and Democracy

George Bush supposedly wanted to build democracies all over the Middle East and that's something that Americans love to hear. I suppose that we love to hear the people's cry for democracy because we assume, naively, that they will turn into something very much like us. That, of course, is never obvious. Consider, for example, the Palestinian elections in which people freely chose to be represented by the extreme --- Hamas. Also, consider where democracy in Iraq is likely to go. "Oh, no, that's not what we had in mind!"

The most recent event, of course, is the 18-day victory of Egyptians in removing Mubarak from office. But are they on their way to democracy or what else? And, after all, is it really democracy that people are after or something else?

If you mean by "democracy" that people make all the decisions with regard to their collective problems, then America is no democracy and never has been. What we have is a so-called "representative democracy" or "democratic republic." We follow a general rule of majority decision in choosing those who will represent us, and they follow a general rule of majority decision in acting and making law. But the great stabilizing feature of our government is its anchorage in a constitution, held as "fundamental law" and protected by a system of "checks and balances." If that is what Egyptians aspire to, more power to them, and good luck. Even in America, it is not at all clear that the system works well.

Why is America not exactly a great example? Mainly because wealth always seems to come to the forefront and take command. It has an ingenious way of using the law to advance its own interests. So America is actually more like an "oligarchic republic" --- that is, a constitutionally sanctioned rule of wealth. Consider the great difficulty that we have had in providing health care to Americans. We have been trying for decades without any success whatsoever. Now, for the first time, the Obama administration has succeeded in providing something. But, wait. The first business of the new Republican House is to vote to demolish it. Why? In whose interest is our government working? In the interests of wealthy insurance companies and over-priced physicians and hospitals, of course. Health care is BIG business. We can't let the government interfere in that. Of course, that's not the end of it. Republicans also want to demolish National Public Radio, the National Foundation for the Arts and Humanities, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Oh, and by the way, isn't it obvious that "global warming" is just a fraud concocted by money-hungry scientists? Do Republicans ever look outside their little world of profit and greed to see what the rest of the world is thinking and doing?

Well, back to the Middle East. Like others, I am thrilled by their desire to free themselves from the rule of dictators. But they will need more than 18 days and crowds of young people to turn their governments into systems that work for freedom and justice and that avoid immediate collapse into corruption.