Literary Quote of the Day: Natan Sharansky
Natan Sharansky (b. 1948) is a former Soviet Refusenik and protégé of Andrei Sakharov, former hard-line Israeli politician and present-day writer.
His “The Case For Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror� (2004), co-written with Ron Dermer, is said to have influenced President Bush and other leading conservative Republican lights. In it, Sharansky argues that human rights and societal stability can only be assured by releasing people from their oppressors and turn them into free societies, an oft-made argument by supporters of the war in Iraq.
An excerpt:
“This community of free nations will not emerge on its own. It will require both the clarity of the democratic world to see the profound moral difference between the world of freedom and the world of fear, and the courage to confront fear societies everywhere. I am convinced that a successful effort to expand freedom around the world must be inspired and led by the United States. In the twentieth century, America proved time and again that it possessed both the clarity and courage that is necessary to defeat evil. Following that example, the democracies of the world can defeat the tyranny that threatens our world today and the tyrannies that would threaten it tomorrow. To do so, we must believe not only that all people are created equal but also that all peoples are created equal.�
3 Responses to “Literary Quote of the Day: Natan Sharansky”
“Every policy of the Putin administration is anathema to what Sakharov believed in and fought for. For the past three years, I have witnessed the systematic dismantling of democratic institutions, the suppression of independent media, and the instigation of nationalism and xenophobia. … It is a penchant of oppressive regimes to decorate themselves with fake attributes of democracy – sham elections, a servile judiciary, manipulated media. In today’s Russia the masquerade is called ‘managed democracy.’… I am told that the appeasement of ‘managed democracy’ is the necessary evil needed to keep an important ally within the coalition against terror.”
Elena Bonner, widow of Russian anti-Communist, pro-democracy dissident Andrei Sakharov during the Soviet years, on Russia under Vladimir Putin
Well, there’s democracy and then there’s democracy à la Bush and Putin.
I have to get this book.
I guess it is up to who defines what exactly a repressive Govt. is. Was South Africa before the fall of Apartheid? What about Israel now? Is it a Democracy where a person must belong to a particular religion to be elected? Could a Christian be president in Israel? Could a Catholic? Is it repressive to have ‘voter ID cards’? Can you take any land you want based on 3,000 year old myths? Is it a good idea to base political activities on religion?
The war was a huge mistake and Israel is hoping to keep American kids dying to protect their country. The war over there is not our war. The US should withdraw and make it clear borders 12,000 miles away are not our main concern. Washington warned of foreign entanglements, and look what we are in now! The Hawkish Israelis and the Money-loving capitalists ala Dick Cheney have created an ongoing war. The horrible part is THIS is the exact outcome Bin Laden would have wanted. The US in a death wrestle, in a war it can never win, with no defined victory. We even took out an Opponent of Bin Laden, the non-religious Bath party of Iraq. Bush was played, the conservatives were played and Israel is hoping to keep us involved or they will have a real war on their hands…(maybe that would stop them from stealing more land and water rights for a while?)