Re: Re: Democracy or Empire?

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxx>]

Jim Devine wrote:

> Carrol writes:
> >Democracy of one sort or another, limited in one way or another, has
> >always been the most efficient system of imperial rule. Democracy *and* Empire.
>
> so you're saying that we should get rid of democracy?

No. I'm just making an observation. We have no choice but to fight for more
democracy, even if it were (which it is not) a good idea to get rid of democracy.
But we should be aware that the fight for democracy does not automatically (or
even probably) constitute an attack on imperialism.

Scholars debate the nature of the connection, but all agree that in ancient
Athens (which, within its limits, was as 'perfect' a democracy as there has
ever been) democracy was tied in with slavery and imperialism.

> I think that instead
> we need to _perfect_ democracy, among other things by extending it to the
> world, to create _global_ democracy (the opposite of imperialism). That's a
> hard nut to crack, of course, but it tells us the direction which we should
> be trying to go.

I don't disagree -- but there remains the question of how the troops for such
a struggle are mobilized.

Carrol

>
>
> Jim Devine jdevine@xxxxxxx & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~JDevine "Segui il
> tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.)
> -- K. Marx, paraphrasing Dante A.