Posted on 01/10/2006 3:54:52 PM PST by Pharmboy
"I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death."
THE American revolutionary Patrick Henry uttered those famous words in 1775 in defiance of what he and others considered British tyranny. The words have come to define what it means to be American and the idea of liberty is one of the most enduring and important myths in U.S. culture.
(I once told an American lawyer who had worked for Robert F. Kennedy that I thought Canadians made too much of the question of national identity. What, for example, was an American? I asked.
"Liberty," he answered immediately, surprised that I did not know what an American was. Canada's national myths -- pluralism, bilingualism, multiculturalism and tolerance -- are admirable, but just not as sexy as liberty and the American frontier.)
Henry himself never had to make the choice between liberty or death; he didn't bear arms in the revolution and he died a natural and peaceful death in 1799 after serving three terms as governor of Virginia. But many brave men did die in the American Revolution, apparently convinced that freedom and democracy were more important than life itself.
Flash forward to present-day Russia, where the story is entirely different.
Some 15 years after tossing aside the tyranny of communism, the Russians appear to have grown weary of democracy and the obstacles it presents to fast, efficient growth.
According to a recent poll by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, the Russian people would choose a strong economy over a good democracy by a margin of nearly six-to-one. For them, prosperity is more important than liberty and the right to bear a megaphone.
The survey found that 81 per cent of those polled believed that a strong economy is more important than a good democracy, and 66 per cent said a strong leader was more important than democratic government.
The results are a startling turnaround from the revolutionary days in 1991 when a similar poll found that 51 per cent of Russians favoured democratic government over a strong leader. (A high percentage of American colonists also preferred British rule to liberty -- the so-called loyalists who moved to Canada or toughed it out on the beaches of Florida).
Liberty without food is, of course, meaningless and impossible, but the last time I checked there was no famine in Russia, a member of the Group of 8 industrial nations.
"Russian disillusionment with democracy may be tied to the country's inability to meet high expectations created in the wake of the Soviet regime's collapse," the study said. "Although the economy has grown impressively since the economic downturn of the late 1990s, many Russians are frustrated by a lack of progress (today only 23 per cent are satisfied with the way things are going in their country) and by what they perceive as growing economic inequality."
In the 2002 Pew Global Attitudes survey, more than 92 per cent of Russians said the gap between rich and poor had widened over the preceding five years. The researchers at Pew, a respected international think-tank, said they were concerned about the drift away from democracy and they urged the world to sit up and take notice.
"These findings can only add to Western concerns that democracy is in retreat in Russia," the study said, noting that a top adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin resigned recently after complaining his homeland "is no longer a democratic country."
There was a time in another powerful nation when a weak democratic tradition combined with economic chaos, social discord and a sense of unfulfilled national purpose opened the door to rule by a strong leader. The result was the Holocaust and the Second World War.
The parallel between Weimar Germany and present-day Russia is flawed and nothing in history is inevitable.
On the other hand, just to be sure, someone should give the Russian people the text of Churchill's comments about democracy: "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried."
dave.o'brien@freepress.mb.ca
"Liberty," he answered immediately, surprised that I did not know what an American was. Canada's national myths -- pluralism, bilingualism, multiculturalism and tolerance -- are admirable, but just not as sexy as liberty and the American frontier.)
I thought this was worth the post.
They are everywhere here in Kalifornia. They must be leaving in droves.
They need to have it first, before they say they have experienced it. IMHO.
Please freepmail me to get ON or get OFF this moderate volume ping list.
I'm glad that Kalifornia is so famous...help keep them out of Kolorado
Excellent point.
The Russians have never really had liberty. And they lack the basic necessities of a free market economy--rule of law, absence of stifling regulations, freedom from fear of criminal extortion.
The best economies are built on the rule of law, sacredness of contracts, lack of stifling regulation, and the freedom to do whatever you choose. Those conditions were never present under the Tsars, never present under the Communists, and not present now. The present Russian economy is run by the KGB and the Mob.
Unfortunately the Harvard economists gave people the idea that Russia tried privatization and it failed. It was never really tried.
Yep--I agree...and do not forget...PRIVATE PROPERTY!
Russia has never had a Republic, or democracy either, so can not actually comment on it. They are just as much a slave as they were under communism, it is still tyranny under a different name. Let them adopt our constitution and follow it to the letter and see how the people react in a year from now. Capitilism is what makes the difference, regardless of what lefties say.
Men had Liberty and States had Freedom, not the reverse.
Democracy, as an abstract, is what the twentieth century has sold these formerly subjugated peoples when the Republic structures of mixed governments were what put the West on the high ground.
Self-Government is more important than Democracy. Participatory Representation is more important the tally of the plebiscite.
They are all over houston. My buddy came back from Washington...all kinds of Russians, but it's not just Russians, it's Georgians, Ukrainians, etc. Lots of slavs are immigrating our way.
Democracy is not made by leaders, whatever their surnames and proclivities for the bottle or the paranoia, but by the mass of the population. When a population has over the centuries produced and reproduced a way of life best characterized by a Russian proverb "Ty nachal'nik - ya der'mo, ya nachal'nik -ty der'mo" [If you're the boss, then I'm a POS, but if I'm the boss then you're a POS] - pretty similar to a very bad western workplace with a petty boss whose authority has gone to his/her head, but writ large over all society - what democracy would be possible with such a population? They would need to be transculturated first.
As someone who spent half of 2004 and most of 2005 living in Russia...I would say that, if Putin wants to be known as really great and go down in history...he will try to be more like George Washington than Peter the Great.
But he has been acting like Peter the Great lately. I would really like to see what happens with Iran before I judge Putin more. Iran in 2006 - that is where we need to watch Russia.
Great comment...if only all the world leaders would be more like George Washington!
I'm losing faith in democracy as well. A large part of the problem is that we have a lot of people who don't believe in it at all, and don't want it.
"According to a recent poll by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, the Russian people would choose a strong economy over a good democracy by a margin of nearly six-to-one. For them, prosperity is more important than liberty and the right to bear a megaphone."
This sure looks a lot like the Democrat's campaign Mantra: "Its the economy stupid."
Some 15 years after tossing aside the tyranny of communism, the Russians appear to have grown weary of democracy and the obstacles it presents to fast, efficient growth.To answer the author of the piece, What democratic obstacles to growth? All we've seen is Putin trying to reimplement the USSR, in all but name, cracking down on the most prosperous, and trying to reimpose state control of everything.
Russians haven't paid the price yet for Democracy. Gotta have some deaths and violent overturning of the old first, otherwise the old stay entrenched. So how can they be tired of it?
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