Is it possibe...
Wed, 2008-06-18 12:33
#1
Is it possibe...
Wed, 2008-06-18 12:33
#2
... To be a democratically minded socialist and live quite happily in a dictatorship like Jordan? At one point, I had a discussion with a family friend about Cuba, and he told me that I wouldn't like living there. I am wondering whether that is correct, and if I would stagnate in a society governed by a totalitarian government.
[ 18 June 2008: Message edited by: CMOT Dibbler ]
Wed, 2008-06-18 13:01
#3
There are many countries in which citizens are not allowed to know what is happening inside of the government. OF COURSE you cannot reach your full potential as a human being when you live in a dictatorship; the more totalitarian it is, the worse for its citizens.
In those countries, citizens are not challenged to think about policies, or how the country might become better. It is not their business, it is the business of the Central Committee, the Great Leader, or the Interpreter of Gods Word.
While there are many theorists who have discussed the potential for growth by individuals who are permitted to think about questions of government, education, health care and the like, my personal favorite in Habermas. In wiki, his theory is described as follows:
quote:
He carries forward the traditions of Kant and the Enlightenment and of democratic socialism through his emphasis on the potential for transforming the world and arriving at a more humane, just, and egalitarian society through the realization of the human potential for reason, in part through discourse ethics. While Habermas concedes that the Enlightenment is an "unfinished project," he argues it should be corrected and complemented, not discarded.
Wed, 2008-06-18 13:10
#4
NAFTA
Security and Prosperity
So do you really believe citizens have any say in those issues? We have had a succesion of governments that ignored the majority views of Canadians how is that a functioning democracy.
Yeah I can post on babble without getting shot. We are better than Columbia with its death squads taking care of lefties. Did anyone notice the ground swell of grassroots support the Columbia Free Trade agreement has aroused.
Wed, 2008-06-18 13:46
#5
quote:
There are many countries in which citizens are not allowed to know what is happening inside of the government. OF COURSE you cannot reach your full potential as a human being when you live in a dictatorship; the more totalitarian it is, the worse for its citizens.
But there are dictatorships that allow more political action then others, right?
Thu, 2008-06-19 00:15
#6
Why on earth is this topic on "out and about"?
Thu, 2008-06-19 03:11
#7
Good question.
Moving to international news and politics, I guess.