The point the great Greek historian Taki is trying to make is that empires fall into place not by design, but by accident. The Athenian empire began with alliances against Persia--the Confederacy of Delos--which eventually Athens transformed into an empire. At first Spartan admirals were in command, but the Ionians disliked Dorian discipline and decided on the Athenian Kimon, the rich son of Miltiades, the victor of Marathon. So what about democracy, then? The Spartans took care of that little bother. There are those who believe the ruinous Peloponnesian War took place in order to brake the power and influence of the Alcibiades class, i.e., rich aristocrats. The latter refused to enter chariot teams at Olympia and thought the rest of the Greeks rather unsophisticated. Once Athens went down Swanee, aristocrats refused to splash out on civic expenditures, and in came the professional classes. Does this remind any of you of home, home being the British Empire and modern Britain? Once the
Greeks went pro, it was curtains, until Alexander saved it for us Hellenes, but no one did it for you Brits.
But back to democracy in modern times. Elections in Gaza have led to the creation of a terrorist mini-state ruled by Hamas, according to Bush and his gang, but to some of us all it means is be careful what you wish for. Answered prayers, and all that. If I were a Palestinian I'd be voting for Hamas in Gaza and for Hezbollah in Lebanon. The gang that can't shoot straight in D.C. doesn't seem to get the message. Palestinians are not Virginians living in an utopian rural environment, but fourth generation refugees from their lands and homes, and being treated almost as subhumans by the Israelis. Punto basta. What else can one say?
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Autocracy, a word invented by you know who, is making a comeback. Russia and China are not obsessed with democracy, nor constitutional government, certainly not with ochlocracy. Sovereign democracy is the operative word out there, a governing system that has little tolerance for dissent. And it's working. Given the choice between freedom and democracy on one hand, and power, order and stability on the other, it takes a very rich, spoilt fool to prefer the former. In China, a higher standard of living is what 1.2 billion people think about, and to hell with what a man who has suffered from arrested development these last 60 years has to say back in Crawford, Texas.
Take it from Taki. Autocrats will always protect their fellow autocrats. Moscow and Beijing will never side with term limit American officials against Tehran, Khartoum and Pyongyang. Why should they?
Tell me of an American ally who ended up sitting pretty? The South Vietnamese? The Greek colonels? The Lebanese Christians? The Shah? Don't make me laugh.
~ Source: Democracies, Ancient and Modern by Taki Theodoracopulos ~
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