Democracy?? What's that??
Hey Folks -
It's no surprise that the world's view of our nation has soured some; but what surprised me in the story below - less by what it says than by the fact that it was reported at all - is the statement in red: "majorities in many countries . . . find American democracy distasteful."
That is amazing!
We have long been engaged in a senseless, destructive, mindless war; the reason for which - we have been repeatedly told (and many believe it) - is to "spread 'democracy'." Democracy is our justification, and yet our justification is distasteful to majorities in many countries.
Of course, to anyone who's been paying attention, that discrepancy has been obvious since the beginning.
Certainly, anyone who has been paying attention has had to ask themselves just what our "leaders" and the media mean by such words as "democracy" and "freedom." Whatever the authorities mean, the reality of those words (as demonstrated by practice) has left a bad taste in the mouths of millions around the world - and here as well.
Equating "our way of life" to that which we are "spreading" fails to leaven our oppressive actions in the Middle East but does successfully reveal (and increase) the coarseness of what passes for democracy and freedom here.
According to the international poll, "majorities in many countries . . . find American democracy distasteful." If we had behaved even half as well as our nation's official, self-congratulatory press releases suggest we always do; if America were even half the shining exemplar we, as children, learned it was; such an opinion could not exist.
- Uke Man
Doubt deepening, but many in global poll still like U.S.
Thursday, June 28, 2007 By Meg Bortin
THE NEW YORK TIMES
PARIS -- Distrust of the United States has intensified around the world, but overall views of America remain very or somewhat favorable among majorities in 25 of 47 countries surveyed in a major international opinion poll, the Pew Research Center reported yesterday.
"Anti-Americanism since 2002 has deepened, but it hasn't really widened," said director Andrew Kohut of the Pew Global Attitudes Project. " ... There is still a favorable view of the United States in many African countries, as well as in 'New Europe' and the Far East."
Nonetheless, majorities in many countries reject the main planks of U.S. foreign policy and find American democracy distasteful, the survey found.
Respondents worldwide not only want Washington to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq "as soon as possible," but also to end the American and NATO military intervention in Afghanistan, now in its sixth year.
The poll found growing wariness toward other major powers as well. Concerns over China's economic and military might have tarnished its image in many nations, Pew found, and confidence in President Vladimir Putin of Russia has dropped sharply.
The survey, conducted in April and May, is by far the largest that Pew has carried out since 2002. It involved 47 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, and assessed the opinions of more than 45,000 people.
Negative views of Iran have deepened, including in some Muslim countries, Pew found, and respondents in almost all countries surveyed were utterly opposed to its government acquiring nuclear weapons.
The survey focused closely on the world's image of the United States, which was largely positive in 2002 -- reflecting global sympathy for Americans after the Sept. 11 attack. But it has declined steeply since U.S. troops invaded Iraq.
During the past five years, favorable ratings of the United States have decreased "in 26 of the
33 countries for which trends are available," Pew said.
There is a widespread view that the United States acts unilaterally in making international policy decisions. This view is especially powerful in Europe, shared by 90 percent in Sweden, 89 percent in France and 70 percent or more in Britain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Russia, Slovakia and Spain. About 83 percent of Canadians say their neighbor ignores their interests. Middle Easterners overwhelmingly share this view, as do many Asians, including South Koreans and Japanese.
The poll also found that concern about global warming has increased dramatically in the past five years.
It's no surprise that the world's view of our nation has soured some; but what surprised me in the story below - less by what it says than by the fact that it was reported at all - is the statement in red: "majorities in many countries . . . find American democracy distasteful."
That is amazing!
We have long been engaged in a senseless, destructive, mindless war; the reason for which - we have been repeatedly told (and many believe it) - is to "spread 'democracy'." Democracy is our justification, and yet our justification is distasteful to majorities in many countries.
Of course, to anyone who's been paying attention, that discrepancy has been obvious since the beginning.
Certainly, anyone who has been paying attention has had to ask themselves just what our "leaders" and the media mean by such words as "democracy" and "freedom." Whatever the authorities mean, the reality of those words (as demonstrated by practice) has left a bad taste in the mouths of millions around the world - and here as well.
Equating "our way of life" to that which we are "spreading" fails to leaven our oppressive actions in the Middle East but does successfully reveal (and increase) the coarseness of what passes for democracy and freedom here.
According to the international poll, "majorities in many countries . . . find American democracy distasteful." If we had behaved even half as well as our nation's official, self-congratulatory press releases suggest we always do; if America were even half the shining exemplar we, as children, learned it was; such an opinion could not exist.
- Uke Man
Doubt deepening, but many in global poll still like U.S.
Thursday, June 28, 2007 By Meg Bortin
THE NEW YORK TIMES
PARIS -- Distrust of the United States has intensified around the world, but overall views of America remain very or somewhat favorable among majorities in 25 of 47 countries surveyed in a major international opinion poll, the Pew Research Center reported yesterday.
"Anti-Americanism since 2002 has deepened, but it hasn't really widened," said director Andrew Kohut of the Pew Global Attitudes Project. " ... There is still a favorable view of the United States in many African countries, as well as in 'New Europe' and the Far East."
Nonetheless, majorities in many countries reject the main planks of U.S. foreign policy and find American democracy distasteful, the survey found.
Respondents worldwide not only want Washington to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq "as soon as possible," but also to end the American and NATO military intervention in Afghanistan, now in its sixth year.
The poll found growing wariness toward other major powers as well. Concerns over China's economic and military might have tarnished its image in many nations, Pew found, and confidence in President Vladimir Putin of Russia has dropped sharply.
The survey, conducted in April and May, is by far the largest that Pew has carried out since 2002. It involved 47 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, and assessed the opinions of more than 45,000 people.
Negative views of Iran have deepened, including in some Muslim countries, Pew found, and respondents in almost all countries surveyed were utterly opposed to its government acquiring nuclear weapons.
The survey focused closely on the world's image of the United States, which was largely positive in 2002 -- reflecting global sympathy for Americans after the Sept. 11 attack. But it has declined steeply since U.S. troops invaded Iraq.
During the past five years, favorable ratings of the United States have decreased "in 26 of the
33 countries for which trends are available," Pew said.
There is a widespread view that the United States acts unilaterally in making international policy decisions. This view is especially powerful in Europe, shared by 90 percent in Sweden, 89 percent in France and 70 percent or more in Britain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Russia, Slovakia and Spain. About 83 percent of Canadians say their neighbor ignores their interests. Middle Easterners overwhelmingly share this view, as do many Asians, including South Koreans and Japanese.
The poll also found that concern about global warming has increased dramatically in the past five years.
2 Comments:
"... if America were even half the shining exemplar we, as children, learned it was; such an opinion could not exist."
Of course it could. During the cold war, huge numbers of Western Intellectuals thought Stalin's USSR was far more moral than the US. We had racism, they only had mass starvation... and racism.
In the 1970s, students all over the US (and the world) embraced Mao. Yet, for all our faults, Mao was far, far worse: he'd starved millions of his own people to death, and supported violent thugs in countries as far away as Peru.
World opinion often supports the worst of two options; it holds a few nations to what are sometimes impossibly high standards, and yet gives a pass (or even laudatory praise) to genuinely awful actors.
Tim,
I'm working on a longer comment, but for now, I'll just say this:
1. Check out the long list of thugs the US has supported around the world. Look at how we have historically acted as thugs ourselves. Your perspective is like that of the parent who wants all the kids in the class severely disciplined - except his own.
2. World opinion is irrelevant. What really matters is our honest opinion about ourselves. As I tried to express in the piece, WE have established high standards for ourselves. If we are to meet them or even come close, we can't lie to ourselves about how good we are when we're not; and demonizing others doesn't make us any purer - no matter how bad our "enemies" might be painted.
- Uke Man
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