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Freedom is contagious, if we let it be

Events seem to be bearing this out, but history also shows that some are always ready to exploit power vacuums for their own nefarious purposes. So, a benevolent force may be needed for a time until internal checks and balances can be generated and established to work toward stability.

Witness the postwar occupations of Germany, Japan, and now Iraq. The USA has demonstrated its benevolence aplenty and thus is eminently qualified.

Who will do that for other countries--the U.N.? Hah!

Three years ago, I looked at the phenomenon of "preference cascades" -- in which people who have been obliged to conceal their true beliefs by social pressure or sheer force suddenly discover that a lot of other people feel the same way -- and wrote:

We can only hope this will happen to American Universities - heck - even people in the middle east are getting it!

Such regimes have little legitimacy, but they spend a lot of effort making sure that citizens don't realize the extent to which their fellow-citizens dislike the regime. If the secret police and the censors are doing their job, 99% of the populace can hate the regime and be ready to revolt against it - but no revolt will occur because no one realizes that everyone else feels the same way

Yup. That sounds like Canada right now.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds:

...Another lesson is that we need to provide leadership. People listen to what America says, and they watch what we do. If we're consistent in our defense of freedom, people will notice, and even our enemies will play into our hands. This happened in Iraq, where the hostile satellite networks Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya never missed a chance to show an anti-American protest. But what their audiences in Iran and the Arab world saw was something more -- not just anti-American protest, but anti-American protest that was allowed by the Americans. (The boomerang effect was something like what happened to the Soviet Union when it broadcast reports of Americans protesting the Vietnam War, only to have Soviet audiences notice that the Americans were not only free to protest, but also had new shoes!) Freedom is contagious, if we let it be, and open media are the most potent vector by which it spreads. That should drive our strategy, and our tactics, most of the time.

Nailed It !

This ping list is not author-specific for articles I'd like to share. Some for perfect moral clarity, some for provocative thoughts; or simply interesting articles I'd hate to miss myself. (I don't have to agree with the author 100% to feel the need to share an article.) I will try not to abuse the ping list and not to annoy you too much, but on some days there is more of good stuff that is worthy attention. I keep separate PING lists for my favorite authors Victor Davis Hanson, Lee Harris, David Warren, Orson Scott Card. You are welcome in or out, just freepmail me (and note which PING list you are talking about).

This idea of preference falsification and cascades is AFAIK generally attributed to Timur Kuran at USC. If anyone is interested, he has a very accessible book about the phenomenon called Private Truths, Public Lies . While most applicable to dictatorial societies, you could also apply the theory to stifling political correctness of the sort that exists in many spheres of Western society.

I just heard this term used in a radio interview with [I think] John Hayward of HumanEvents.

I’m so proud of FReepers who are *way* ahead of the curve on stuff like this.

**The “preference cascade” is not limited to despotic regimes in the Middle East. It can happen anywhere where people suddenly find out that they’re not alone. Once people can talk amongst themselves they find that the people who are in control of the news - the narrative - have been lying to them all their lives. That their views have been overlooked and their concerns have been belittled by people whose claim to the media megaphone is a degree in English from CCBSU (Close Cover Before Striking University) and a moral certainty that their Liberalism is the only acceptable viewpoint.**

Hayward’s premise is that Hussein is in BIG-BIG trouble. He just doesn’t know it yet. :)