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from HumanProgress.org
Education Website
Mediocre development gains do not excuse human rights abuses in Cuba.
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RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, MIXED
Democracy's Road to Tyranny
Plato, in his Republic, tells us that tyranny arises, as a rule, from democracy. Historically, this process has occurred in three quite different ways. Before describing these several patterns of social change, let us state precisely what we mean by “democracy.” Pondering the question of “Who should rule,” the democrat gives his answer: “the majority of politically equal citizens, either in person or through their representatives.” In other words, equality and majority rule are the two fundamental principles of democracy. A democracy may be either liberal or illiberal. Genuine liberalism is the answer to an entirely different question: How should government be exercised? The answer it provides is: regardless of who rules, government must be carried out in such a way that each person enjoys the greatest amount of freedom, compatible with the common good. This means that an absolute monarchy could be liberal (but hardly democratic) and a democracy could be totalitarian, illiberal, and tyrannical, with a majority brutally persecuting minorities. (We are, of course, using the term “liberal” in the globally accepted version and not in the American sense, which since the New Deal has been totally perverted.)
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from Spokane Daily Chronicle
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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
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Ask any working mom, retiree or college student what’s wrong with today’s politics and there’s a good chance you’ll get the same answer: “My elected representative doesn’t listen to me or care about my opinion” or “My elected official routinely ignores the public will.” We’ve seen it here in Spokane, where city leaders have been reluctant to act on a requirement that collective bargaining talks between the city and union leaders, involving millions in public spending, be open and transparent. The voter-approved law wasn’t a suggestion – Spokane voters passed it with nearly 80% support. Yet city officials have been uneasy about following through, at one time saying they didn’t want to disrupt the “city-worker relationship.”
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