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In a recent interview with a Spanish newspaper, famed director Woody Allen reportedly declared himself "pleased" with President Barack Obama's presidency.
"I think he's brilliant. The Republican Party should get out of his way and stop trying to hurt him," Allen explained. Then he waded into thorny terrain by saying, "It would be good ... if he could be a dictator for a few years because he could do a lot of good things quickly."
Allen, who, one hopes, was joking, doesn't speak for anyone but himself (and perhaps Soon Yi Previn-Farrow-Allen) yet makes a good point.
Aside from the occasional genocide, oppression, evil, and torture, etc., it is inarguable that public policy could be implemented more rapidly in an autocracy. Think of how many uninsured Americans we could have helped. Think of the environmental benefits. Democratic institutions are imperfect and chaotic, and man's selfish behavior is constantly gumming up progress.
Just ask widely read liberal New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who pointed out (twice in recent months) that despotism can be advantageous if "enlightened" tyrants (in this case, environmentalists) would run the show.
"One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks," according to Friedman. "But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages."
Originally posted by jokei
It's not a new idea either, a couple of links that might be of interest.
Originally posted by traditionaldrummer
freedom-based republic that has worked for 200+ years
[edit on 20-5-2010 by traditionaldrummer]
Originally posted by mr. toddly
George Soros actually wrote an op-ed called The New World Architecture in which he states that the Chinese system will become the new global model and leader. As usual, the blog comments at the end of the article are more interesting and informative than the article itself. If only the comment writers ran the world instead of the authors...
Here's the link:
www.project-syndicate.org...
Originally posted by traditionaldrummer
Originally posted by jokei
It's not a new idea either, a couple of links that might be of interest.
True, it's not new and it is employed elsewhere in the world. But for people in a society that have been granted a freedom-based republic that has worked for 200+ years to desire a dictatorship in order to achieve their political goals quickly is shocking, egocentric and short sighted.
[edit on 20-5-2010 by traditionaldrummer]
Originally posted by Flatfish
I think that Thomas Jefferson once said, "A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine."
It seems that what Woody Allen is trying to say is that the Republican party should accept the fact that they lost the election and that obstructionism is not a party platform.
You know the old saying, "Lead, Follow or Get The Hell Out Of The Way." Well, the Republican party has not been leading or following so they should get the hell out of the way.