Better than a Moonshot or Landing on Mars: The Spread of Democracy

 

“We must be staunch in our conviction that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a lucky few, but the inalienable and universal right of all human beings.”

—Ronald Reagan, Address to the British Parliament, June 8, 1982

By JM Hamilton 7-14-2019

 

Not exactly sure where I encountered the above Reagan quote.  But the words quickly brought to mind the following: 1) how far off the rails has the GOP gone, under POTUS Trump, in upholding America’s values (Trump, a great friend to authoritarians & totalitarians around the globe, while often showing near absolute contempt for our longtime democratic allies); 2) perhaps no establishment Dem or GOP POTUS has spoken as passionately about democracy & freedom, and the spread of same– globally, as Ronald Reagan since his time in office (and why is that?); and 3) what does it say that America, & Americans, appear to care so little about their fellow man that democracy appears to be in retreat around the globe, and threatened – here in the US - not only by outside forces, but equally insidious, from w/in?

Some may recall that Trump’s incoming Secretary of State, Mr. Rex Tillerson (of nefarious Exxon Mobil fame), said right out of the gate: “Our values around freedom, human dignity, the way people are treated – those are our values. Those are not our policies.”  Instead of an America First policy, it appears Mr. Tillerson laid down the marker, the Trump administration would be adopting a Profits First policy, or a Plutocrats First policy.  Hence, Mr. Trump’s first official foreign visit was to the terror state, Saudi Arabia (CEOs and C-Suite sycophants in tow), to ink hundreds of billions in contracts and MOAs.  Mr. Tillerson’s words, and Mr. Trump’s actions, are a far cry from POTUS Reagan’s comments, and an even greater distance from Mr. Kennedy’s inaugural remarks:

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.

Mr. Tillerson, instead, seemed to say America would oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of multinational profits.

So, I had to find Reagan’s 1982 London speech, before a full house of parliament, and read it in full.  Here are some of the highlights, w/ JMH annotations.

Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root. 

(Authoritarian and totalitarian dictatorships are inherently unstable.)

Now I am aware that among us here and throughout Europe there is legitimate disagreement over the extent to which the public sector should play a role in a nation's economy and life. But on one point all of us are united: our abhorrence of dictatorship in all its forms but most particularly totalitarianism and the terrible inhumanities it has caused in our time: the great purge, Auschwitz and Dachau, the Gulag and Cambodia.

(Some of the most repugnant atrocities of the 20^th Century were committed by authoritarian & totalitarian dictatorships, w/ body counts numbering in the tens of millions.)

And one of the simple but overwhelming facts of our time is this: of all the millions of refugees we have seen in the modern world, their flight is always away from, not toward, the Communist world. 

(Reagan could have included authoritarian – right wing regimes, along w/ totalitarian – left wing regimes, just as easily.  Reagan’s truism, however, stands to this very day.  See the mass migration of immigrants attempting to pour into Western Europe and North America for decades, fleeing dictatorships and failed states for warmer democratic climes.)

No, democracy is not a fragile flower; still it needs cultivating. If the rest of this century is to witness the gradual growth of freedom and democratic ideals, we must take actions to assist the campaign for democracy. 

(Mr. Reagan, possibly/probably, knew that a failure to spread democracy, freedom, and liberty – the rights of man – would lead to great global instability, wars, famine, and highly precarious dictatorships, if we failed in our endeavor.  Mr. Reagan was prescient, and his sense of secular morality – in this regard – was iconic.)

We cannot ignore the fact that even without our encouragement, there have been and will continue to be repeated explosions against repression in dictatorships. The Soviet Union itself is not immune to this reality. Any system is inherently unstable that has no peaceful means to legitimize its leaders. In such cases, the very repressiveness of the state ultimately drives people to resist it - if necessary, by force. 

(Humans, inherently, seek civil-liberties, democracy, freedom; anything less, ultimately, leads to rebellion and revolution.  History demonstrates this to be true, repeatedly.)

While we must be cautious about forcing the pace of change, we must not hesitate to clear our ultimate objectives and to take concrete actions to move towards them. We must be staunch in our conviction that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a lucky few but the inalienable and universal right of all human beings. So states the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights -which, among other things, guarantees free elections.

(Hmmm.  Profits aren’t an inalienable and universal right of monopolists and robber barons, but freedom is an inalienable and universal right of all human beings.)

The objective I propose is quite simple to state: To foster the infrastructure of democracy - the system of a free press, unions, political parties, universities - which allows a people to choose their own way, to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means. Who Will Welcome It? 

(The West and the US, together, should seek to foster the infrastructure for the spread of democracy throughout the world, not the other way around, where dictatorships buy their way into US universities.  Note: Nothing here about overthrowing democracies to better ensure multinational profits – an act the US government is all too well practiced in - nor that a neoliberal economy must accompany democracy, in order for democracy to be successful).

None of this can be taken out of context, and here, history is very important.  POTUS Reagan’s words, before parliament, came at the height of the Cold War, when the threat of nuclear Armageddon hung over the West’s collective head like the sword of Damocles. And this is instructional, there appears to be nothing like an existential threat to quicken and sharpen the mind, and make a leader call out to, and for, the very ideals that make democracy great: freedom, human rights, and liberty.  Post–collapse of the Berlin Wall & the Soviet Union, it seems like all the guardrails of good democratic government, and a semi-moral capitalist economy have been removed.  Decay, incompetent governance (from both establishment political parties), and the rejection of the West’s values – all for the sake of making a buck & keeping our multinational puppet masters happy – appears to have taken over.

Democracy and the rights of man – drafted by Abbe Sieyes & Lafayette, w/ the assistance of Jefferson – seem to be falling into a perfidious cycle of entropy, replaced by the crony – economy/government.  In short, our democracy is owned by a kleptocracy and a plutocracy and subverted by the wealthy for their own ends. 

Therefore, Mr. Reagan’s words hold even deeper meaning today.  For not only must the West attempt to save the world, by introducing democracy and freedom - universally, and make it a better place for all citizens, but we must save ourselves.  JMH is not advocating wars and proxy wars, but the use of diplomacy, soft power, and the leverage of yes, gasp, tariffs...  all, and more, can be deployed to bring about peaceful regime change, in democracy's favor.

How important is democracy, freedom, and liberty to global stability?  It’s priceless. Authoritarianism & corporate rule aren't the wave of the future, freedom is.

And the very threat to democracy is a threat to the CEOs and the robber barons, all too many of which would gladly kneel and kiss the ring of any dictator in return for a contract (whether the plutocracy wants to believe this or not).  For the tyrant’s aim is to destroy democracy, freedom, and liberty… the very existence of which is an existential threat to authoritarian and totalitarian dictatorships around the globe.  For as long as freedom’s heart remains beating – no matter how much US oligarchs throw sand in the gears of democracy & liberty – there is hope for all the world’s citizens (especially the disenfranchised and those found underneath a dictator's boot heal). 

Doubt my words:

See the millions of Hong Kong residents piling into the city center, out of abject fear of China’s present and pending totalitarian rule.  

See the US Chamber, perennially on the wrong side of history, endorse the Communist administration of Hong Kong.  Myopic thinking at its very worst, and again, the epitome of the profits before US values ethos.  Mr. Tillerson would be proud.

As mentioned, see the flood of immigrants – fleeing tyranny and the war on drugs – arrive from South of the US border.  Despite Trump’s demagoguery & vilification, these immigrants seek nothing more than a better life, economically, as well as, freedom, security, and democracy.  Perhaps, in many respects, these immigrants are more American, than multigenerational blue bloods, alive today, who can trace their patrimony to the Mayflower?

Ditto, the flood of migrants headed into Europe, out of the Middle East and Africa.   What could cause these people to flee.  It couldn’t be America’s support for Middle East tyrants?  Nor could it be America’s endless wars in the region, in support of: Big Oil commercial interests, the Royal House of Saud, and the State of Israel?  And, per the Trump administration, mass migration couldn’t be caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and the resulting climate change.  Perish the thought.

The ultimate Cold Warrior understood the importance of universal suffrage & freedom. 

So not only must the US spread democracy and freedom – it’s in our economic and national security interests – but America must also hold in check those pernicious commercial forces who would tear our government apart at the seams (by purchasing politicians & elections).  JMH, of course, writes of the military industrial complex, Big Tech, Big Oil, Wall Street, and cartels & monopolies.  In short, any commercial interests that would place their quarterly returns before the national interests and stability surrounding the sanctity of democracy and liberty needs not only to be cut down to size but reminded – frequently – of their duties & obligations to this country. So many corporations – offshoring US labor, using monopsony power to crush same, and dodging tax payment – have lost their way and are morally bankrupt.

Some of these very same commercial enterprises, or business sectors, facilitate & prop up dictatorships around the globe, and then turnaround and use this same totalitarian technology & tools on Americans. Why these same multinationals are likely running highly sanitized/saccharin commercials on your favorite Sunday morning news program this AM.

We the People can’t have it.  The United States has been under corporate/multinational rule for too long (thank you not, Establishment Dems & GOP); and the results are clear for all the world to see: the election of Trump, and ultimately, possibly, someone far worse than Trump down the road.

Reagan, ultimately, has a great deal to answer for economically & on social issues.  Despite his many contradictions, between his words and deeds, he ushered in an era of disdain for government, rang in the Ayn Rand fairytale & neoliberalism, and despite being one of the most protectionist presidents of the 20^th Century, talked up free trade and globalism. Reagan gave credence to Voodoo economics, Mr. Laffer's supply-side fantasy, while passing no fewer than eleven tax increases to rightsize his budget deficits.  The reactionaries and the C-Suite brass don’t recall Reagan’s many tax increases, or that he brought the Soviet Union down w/out firing a shot… but many still remember his words & exploit them for their own ends, or simply make up Reagan’s words to suit their own ends.

In short, no one believes the business of America is business anymore; multinationals & private equity have shown Americans their true colors.  But rather, the business of America should, and must be, to standup for the disenfranchised, the unloved, and the unwanted… and particularly, for American & foreign-born children who cry out for want of bread in the middle of the night.

Where Reagan didn’t fail was in his unyielding belief in the rights of all women and men to enjoy self-determination and that rarest of commodities, even on our shores, the rule of law.

Such irony then, that the world’s leader in taking on the greatest terror threat on the globe, the Saudi government, is not the United States, but our northern neighbor, Canada.

Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2019