What values and freedoms would would we loose if we stand up and fight against tyranical regimes and terrorists? Peace and Harmony, acceptance and tollerance of other peoples beliefs and cultures even if they include murdering me, the High Moral Ground of standing by while other people are murdered all the while insisting that international law is on our side, appeasment of evil regimes to prevent attacks against the west. Excuse me if it offends but these are not the things that made the west great, we built and conquered, explored and created and in the end created the greatest civilization in the history of mankind, defending that civilization is not wrong and sacrifice is something that is done in every war and to suggest that by sacrificing anything that we have lost the values we are fighting for is in my opinion flat wrong.
I see nothing wrong with enforcing global peace through force (where neccissary) and defending those values to the death, I say that if we yield and fall back and don't have the will to fight against tyranny and evil then those values are lost and there is nothing worth fighting for. We are facing up to a truly evil enemy, Osama Bin Laden and his cadre of fanatics wan't each and every person who will not subscribe to their fundamentalist doctrine dead, simple as that. If those fanatics get their hands of weapons of tremendous destructive power then they will have the means to achieve that end and Western Society will be doomed. This is an ever growing threat in the world, from small movements great things come - this loose coalition of Islamist movements around the world could grow just like the Russian Revolution and when push comes to shove there may be a grave threat to the world and facing it now is saving more lives in the future.
When I look at the western world I see the greatness that it has given and the things that we must protect with our lives.
- Liberty
- Mathematics
- Electricity
- Modern Medicine
- Secularism
- Transportation
- Code of Law
- Philosophy
- Space Travel
- Democracy
I have absolutely no problem with fighting against those that would treaten my way of life and my values, when we lay down our arms and decide that it isn't worth fighting then we are doomed. Protection of liberty and the cause of freedom throughout the globe is what I see as the only way to save ourselves and make the world tollerable, this must be pursued and sometimes war is the only way to achieve it. Fascism, Communism, Islamism - these are the three foes that the liberal democratic tradion has faced and must face up to if it is to survive. The simple fact is that in order to survive the latest threat sacrifices must be made in terms of our liberties, this is a war that will not end until the Middle East is free and the fanatics are eliminated and until that day comes we must sacrifice or expect there to be concequinces.
I just must know what fundamental values are lost when trying to defend and spread liberal democratic values?
For the record I am not advocating creating a police state and I think that my previous posts make it very clear that I value the rights of the indivdual above the goals of the state, I firmly believe that we must guard agaisnt unwarrented influence from the millitary industrial complex (name the speech where thats from) and that we can maintain a relatively open society despite the treat from terrorism. I also think that fighting against terrorism and despotism should be a principle goal of the free world, we cannot stand by and let people die because we are so insistent that it is not our problem, I have a big problem standing by and ignoring, every person is a human being and they all deserve an oppertunity, this can be delivered by force and I think that it must be done, remake the world for the better because as it stands it is not a good place.
I would say that I most admire leaders such as Woodrow Wilson, JFK (his speeches are good but his short term doesn't leave much in terms of results), Truman, FDR, Eisenhower and Winston Churchill - all great men who stood up to the plate and either defended and sought to spread freedom. They stood against the real evils in this world and todays iteration of authoritarianism is Islamism, defeating this Ideology by discrediting and fighting it is no different in principle to fighting Nazism or Communism however in terms of how we fight those behind it is different. We are not becomming a police state, more freedoms have been sacrificed in past wars and we came out of it allright the only difference is that today we are so used to "peace" that people are unable to comprehend what sacrifice is.
One question, Do you believe that the western world is at war? Answer that one and I suspect that we will find out why you may not see the world in quite the same light as I.