2004: One Year Closer to Nineteen Eighty-four

All this 50 page pontification and the answer is altruism? Might appeal to 7-14 year olds.As for the responses,this is what you get when you try to solve all the problems of the world in one article.

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Nima:

I don`t know to what extent of the truth to your observation that the elitist and oppressive West causes folks of the under-developed countries to support `strong` dictators. In fact, aside from maybe a couple of instance (themselves dubious), this line of logic is faulty.

Agreed that there is a corporate link that can be seen. Corporate interests, it seems, more than `national` will eventually guide policies (more determinantly so than today).

It`s a matter of how resources are distributed. And how we see people - as mere consumers or someone to invest in. For multi-nationals, it is mostly the former.

However, there are always examples of hope scattered around the globe where resources are distributed along non-elistist lines. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is perhaps the most brilliant one. Latin America has been an area most invovled with the capitalist - lefitst struggles. Despite being in America`s backyard (or maybe because of this), the people of that region are far more active in arguing for their rights than say the folks of the middle east.

I0 amir
//...any surprise that Pakistanis, who have very little interest in liberal causes given their government structure and institutions, have suddenly become Jeffersonian democrats..//

Exactly. Pakis` crocodile tears for liberal causes has come a little to late.

Uncle sam has suffered (like rest of us) and has wisened up. Europeans are still fooling around because they haven`t seen the real face Islamic Fundamentalism.

I0 amir
//...any surprise that Pakistanis, who have very little interest in liberal causes given their government structure and institutions, have suddenly become Jeffersonian democrats..//

Exactly. Pakis` crocodile tears for liberal causes has come a little too late.

Uncle sam has suffered (like rest of us) and has wisened up. Europeans are still fooling around because they haven`t seen the real face Islamic Fundamentalism.

#1 by arjun_m on September 7, 2004 9:41am PT
``I think we can all vividly recollect the Madrid train bombings, which were undoubtedly in response to Spanish participation in the war.


And 9/11 was undoubtedly in response to some other wrong? I can see where this is going...``

Undoubtedly YES! 9/11 is doing of the Americans themselves. If they don`t change their foreign policies then this is just the beginning.

Brilliant article and very well put. This rant about democracy from the US is just becoming unbearable. I don`t even know if Al Gore should have been governing America instead of Bush. When there is a major flaw in the elections of the World`s most popular democracy, then a rant from them deosn`t make sense.
Also, what happens to the Palestinians every day, when they get brutally murdered by the Israeli forces, supported by India and America with new and modern weapon systems and money? They get killed. So when they kill their enemy then why is that a problem? It is a war. Americans have destroyed their homeland, taken over their homes, killed and massacred their children, and then have the guts to preach democracy? The doings of the Palestinias are justified. You kill them they kill you. Simple. The only problem is that they are Muslims otherwise they would have been termed Freedom-Fighters.

``The American people DO have a choice. They`ll exercise that choice come Nov 2nd. ``
and choose the lesser evil? I really don`t see a ``good`` choice coming out of this election. Both are bad for Muslims and will make the Palestinians suffer.

To The Author: But please don`t be dis-heartened by what people have written. I have read alot on this website and most of these people, have very set and clumsy ideas. What they have written is their trade mark. Don`t even be bothered. They do it to put their two cents in there too so they can feel special. Their ability to think and make coherent judgement has been clouded with the greed to make more money and ``fit in`` in a land whihc is not their own. They are very few here at Chowk who give constructive criticism and whose feedback makes sense. America is one country who if will not change their ideology and policies will bite the dust. The Holy Roman Empire was broken by the Muslims, the Byzantinians were defeated by Napolean, and the Nazis were defeated by the Allies. As Toynbee said, ``Every nation is like a dot on a car`s wheel``. So if it is in charge right now it will be in our shoes pretty soon.

Re:#6

The problem is that a lot of people with Islamist agendas are becoming allies with the liberal causes and using the cover of liberalism to protect and further their pan-Islamic agenda. The attacks on Bush, capitalism etc. are just on the surface. Their real objective is to slow down and stop the war on terrorism, which is hurting Islamic fundamentalism all over. The world ignored Islamic fundamentalism for the past 20-30 years and we are paying the price for that. The Islamists have noticed that the weakness of the west and for that matter India, is our attraction to liberalism and its egalitarian ways. Hence they try to exploit that weakness and use the cover of human rights and democracy, to further their pan-Islamic agenda.

Is it any surprise that Pakistanis, who have very little interest in liberal causes given their government structure and institutions, have suddenly become Jeffersonian democrats? After the Taliban got the boot and the entire jihad express has been derailed, they have no other option but to find any way possible to halt the juggernaut. The Europeans have bought into this BS but thankfully, the US is not so naive and is not getting fooled.

Bush is worse than Hitler and the Madrid bombings are somehow justified because of spain`s alliance with the US…..This is the kind of left wing propoganda that pushes moderates to the right. Bush`s lead over Kerry is already in the double digits and it looks like more moderates are moving to the Bush side.

NFP:

Talking oif Brazil, Lula certainly turned around on his anti market rhetoric didn`t he? Sensible chap. :)

Baaghiraaja:

But the market constitutes of who? Us!

The market is ultimately democratic because of choices. The state exists to regulate markets to some extent (law and order) but it is ultimately more democratic that leftist elitism.

#2 Stuka,
It`s not about left-wing or right-wing anymore. It`s about being wingless but pretending to be in glorious flight. It`s quite a different world now. And that is why I would shove a Nokia Phone up Orwell`s butt today instead of one of Stalin`s favourite pair of army boots, dig?

And amit,
BJP lost the elections, or haven`t you noticed? And Gujrat was quite a scene a few months ago, or have you forgotten? And anyways, stop confusing the issue. It`s not about religion. Religion usually sucks (as your response to this article has proven). It`s about the agenda of neoliberal economics, or didn`t you get it?

-NfP

Ms. Shirali,
It is really painful to hear muslim intellectuals like yourself continously rant and rave against the US, while you do not devote even 1% attention to the absolute breakdown of humanitarian values in the Islamic world. The world just witnessed 100 plus kids being slaughtered in cold blood by Chechen rebels in Russia in the name of Islamic jihad, yet you have the nerve to lecture the west about its slipping commitment to democracy? Do you even realize the depth of double standards that you have?

Every day you hear about bomb blasts somewhere, suicide bombings, brutal and graphic beheadings and all kinds of barbarism from the Islamic world or its interface points with the rest of the world. Yes, there are just causes and freedom is indeed a just cause to fight for. But the means adopted by the terrorists all over the globe, is simply beyond the pale of human decency. By their repeated actions, they are creating a wrong image of muslims as bloodthirsty killers. Yet there is hardly a voice raised against this kind of outrage. What is the rest of the world supposed to do? Just swallow this nonsense and follow democratic norms to the letter? The US was attacked on 9/11 without any provocation at all. After that they have got rid of the Taliban which was long overdue due to the monstrous nature of that regime. The attack on Saddam was not necessary but at the end of the day it is good riddance of an absolute brute. So please look into your side of the equation which is totally rotten, before pointing fingers at the US.

“The “concentration of power” means that the elites are progressively accumulating more and more authority and control over the majority of the human race. Elites exist in both the private and public spheres and they share the common interest of violently preserving their position of dominance by suppressing any threat which may jeopardize their power.”

I will have more on this later but may I ask the author:
When was the last time in human history when elites were not in control of all the resources?
Even the communist Party, its surrogates, and bureaucrats became the elite in the only state, where some claimed to have reached the pinnacle of power with the help of non-elite.
Then isn’t the non elite only party that pays for the misdeeds or misadventures of the elite.

What was the last time a war was fought exclusively(physically) by elite?

Being poor means working for the owners- you like it or not. Orwell and his books are for poor to know exactly how they are going to be treated because it is their fault to be poor.

…And please don’t call me insensitive… I am a good paymaster.

I have already maintained that if the state is/was the Big Brother in ``communist`` societies, than the ``market`` is a bigger brother in capitalist setups. Do watch 1985`s `Brazil` for a stark, Kafka-meets-Monty-Python version of the said observation. Made me want to dig out Orwell from his grave and stick a Nokia Mobile Phone up his arse!

rgds,
NfP

Another leftist rant. Roght wing Think tanks are NOT funded by the government. No think tanks are funded by the government in a literal sense. Governments, depending on thier political orientation, may use or sponsor some activites.

Please do not make an attempt to come across as objective in your article. Also, it is rather ironic that a leftist alludes to 1984 whereas Orwell`s Animal Farm as well as 1984 were scathing crtiques of Communism and not ``right wing`` Petit Bergouise sponsored democracies.

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