College of Political Knowledge
Subject: Politics/ Political Theory
I recently wrote a post on the vi0lence and the crack down on intellectuals in Iraq by Pres. Maliki…..after I re-read the post I got to thinking about just what is a despot and if I may have mis-spoken when I called Maliki a despot…..in my usual way I have made more mental torture for myself…..I will try to explain what despotism is and then relate it to Maliki and my post……
A Despot? In today’s terms that would any leader that does not hold with our ideals of democracy and equality and justice….in the classic period a despot rules a country that had no parliament, no opposition, no free press, no protection of private property and a powerless public….today’s despot gives the appearance of a free press, a legislative branch and opposition is allowed but seldom is allowed to be in opposition but with the threat of death or confinement…..we can call it autocratic, authoritarian, totalitarian or even a dictatorship…and finally the whims of the “leader” is paramount and executed with vigor……
With all that said…I need to reexamine my accusation of Maliki as a despot……I do not know for sure about private property in Iraq…..but the arresting of the opposition to his government and policies is despotic….yes Iraq has an elected parliament…but what is their power? Look at Iran…elections and still despotic……
In my mind…the elimination or the attempt to eliminate a vocal opposition makes Mr. Maliki a despot…..if not a total despot…he is working on consolidating power to his whim….all in all…I was correct in my saying that he is a despot…..
Now that I have justified my accusation I would like to give my reader another perspective….it goes along with the whole despot theme……Let us look at religious extremism…..in this case AQ……
Back in my college days I recall a discussion on despotism and some of its results…….under a despot,locals have a tendency to search for personal release through spirituality…..despots can turn the powerless majority to a religious experience that then takes over their lives and they turn to religion as the only thing that makes their existence seem tolerable……with that said…think about AQ…..it originated in the Middle East, Saudi to be exact and their kings have been despots from the beginning……despots made AQ …just look at the countries that it has a presence…..Algeria–despot, Egypt–despot, Afghanistan–despot…..Yemen–despot……no need to continue….you get what I am saying…..is it possible with a little democracy in these countries that AQ could lose its appeal? Powerless people would NOT need such outlets as AQ? Just a thought.
Yes. A good post although I tend to think that AQ itself amounts to a despotic regime along the lines of what I always say about regime change – we simply swap one set of assholes for another!
And there’s the rub – to my mind democracy itself is often despotism disguised to look like something else.
Take, for instance, the US – although the president him or herself may not be a despot, isn’t the whole system basically despotic? Certainly the vast majority of the people have little say in what the elite do (whichever group of them are nominally in power at the time – they are all part of the same crowd without interest in the wants and needs of the many)…
You have free speech – until the CIA or Homeland Security, or whoever, decides that you are a serious threat and then you get silenced – on way or another. You have a free press – but much of the most powerful of it owned by Murdoch (and others of the elite who are like him – and, commercially, I’d say he’s a classic despot, wouldn’t you?
The majority is kept in ignorance (in fact it’s forced, persuaded or made to be ignorant by the media, the poor education and more), so it is basically powerless and often turns to religion.
Then again – isn’t religion itself despotic in nature, since most religions brook no discussion or questioning, but require blind faith?
A despot is (with variations) something we instinctively sort of recognise (up to a point), but I think MANY areas that have a serious effect on the lives of the majority are in fact despotic in nature.
…another post??? :loL:
Great comment! And yes food for thought….a new post? Damn! Probably…..lol
I agree that all this is a bit despotic but convincing people to look at the system objectively would be an almost impossible task….sad….