Democracy Is Not For Everyone

America was the first country to try a new concept in government. That experiment has lasted over 200 years. It needed some corrections along the way and with struggle and perseverance the corrections were made. Democracy! Our founding fathers had no model for our form of government. It is unique.

This president and his administration are determined to bring democracy to the rest of the world, by force if necessary. It isn't as if other countries are unfamiliar with the concept. Why doesn't everybody want democracy? Can freedom really be forced on people at gunpoint?

What George Bush and his friends fail to realize is that democracy is not for everybody. The unique government worked because it's people are unique.

The people who came to America left behind the country of their birth, their family and friends, their homes and possessions, and undertook a long and arduous journey because of a desire for freedom of one sort or another. They could no longer tolerate the conditions they lived under and were willing to face an unknown and primitive wilderness rather than remain under a repressive rule. They were rebels who would not conform, adventurers willing to face dangers for the chance at living free from persecution and harsh rules. They built homes, and villages and cities out of nothing. They were individuals from different backgrounds united by one common thread-the desire to live free.

Over the years others came from all over the world. They had the same yearning for freedom and were willing to give up everything and endure anything to come to the unique country where there was a chance to build a new life. They found people who were tolerant and allowed them to practice any religion, to say and write whatever they felt, to use their skills and talents to open a business. Everyone was entitled to the same opportunities and held to the same standards of law. They could even vote for the people they wanted to represent them in this new kind of government.

Those who stayed in the other countries had the same opportunity to leave everything behind them for a chance to live differently. Why were they willing to remain with the status quo? If they weren't willing to leave their own country, why didn't they at least make their own declaration of independence? The answer is simple. They lacked that passion for freedom that burned in every fiber of their being. They lacked that spirit of independence that sets them apart. They lacked the tolerance to be able to accept people as they are, with all their differences. They lacked the courage and determination to fight and die to have and keep their democracy. They lacked what it takes to be an American.

These are not qualities that can be forced at the end of a gun barrel. These are not qualities that can be legislated by an occupying force. Maybe in order to have democracy and freedom, you have to be willing to fight for it. It can't be won for you by the sacrifice of others. Maybe you have to earn it.

11-12-03