Moderates Stand Firm in Lebanon

Congratulations to the people of Lebanon who this week cast their votes against extremism and brutality.

The dynamic of extremists and elites who refuse compromise, and are inclined to seize power, imposing their will on a pliant, intimidated majority, has been repeated countless times throughout history. The extremists, the hyper-aggressive types, the fanatics, those most compelled to impose their will on others, have by and large dictated the course of history.

To the extent an antidote exists, it is a modern idea, born of millenia of struggle, warfare, and agony: democracy. It may be that, given humans’ exquisite sensitivity to pain and the dread of striking out against the herd that seems imprinted on our very DNA, it is only in the privacy of the voting booth that the peaceful majority can prevail. Thus it is democracy, this fruit of civilization, when combined with other ideas that have slowly, slowly gained traction through the centuries–liberal education; law and order; free speech, free enterprise, private property, civil liberties, minority rights and their protection–that can provide the greatest chance at happiness for the greatest number of individuals.

Godspeed to the people of Lebanon in asserting their rights against the disease that has infected their nation in the form of Hezbollah. The United States should support the peaceful majority of people in that country to stand up for their rights and not be hijacked by the worst extremists. The United States has historically supported pro-democracy, pro-peace movements and must continue to do so in places like Lebanon.

This entry was written by Heather Robinson and posted on June 9, 2009 at 1:33 am and filed under Blog. permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Keywords: democracy, human-rights. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL. */?>