"Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently"
-- Rosa Luxemburg (The Russian Revolution, 1922, chapter VI)
To paraphrase Rambo Rumsfeld, in a free country people are free to do bad things, like looting and robbing. They also are free, fortunately, to do good things, "for goodness gracious!"
Health care and education aren't free in a free country but one is free to get rich or poor and consume at will.
A free country is by essence a democratic country.
There is no freedom without democracy in a free country.
In a democracy, office holders are elected at the polls by the majority of the voters.
A free country must be flexible and adaptive to change. For instance, if for some unforeseen reason, the majority of the people votes for the "wrong" candidate, then the final tally can be ignored and the "right" candidate be selected by a non-elected supreme body whose members serve for life. Henceforth, in a free country the minority can become the majority, and the majority the minority. There is no reason to pay attention to the voice of the people any longer since it is a free country.
Freedom reigns with crystal clarity and moral certainty in a free country.
Freedom must be defended. A free country builds fortresses and walls along its borders.
Freedom must not be challenged. A free country maintains huge military forces.
"We know that freedom is the gift of God to all mankind, and we rejoice when others can share it," so declaims the great leader of the free country par excellence.
The gift of god then must be spread all over the world. A free country uses force to bring the gift of god to undemocratic countries.
Undemocratic countries are not free. They have not received the gift of god. They are not free to consume at will, and their healthcare and education systems are free. This is not democracy; after all, there is no free lunch.
With godspeed and firm resolve undemocratic countries can be enlightened. "We don't do body counts" in a free country.
An undemocratic country can rebuild itself and choose its own government once it has been destroyed and deemed free. It then becomes a free country.
Military bases will remain in the newly free country, for freedom is untidy and needs order -- and "a little anarchy is to be expected when freedom first appears."
From those bases, other undemocratic countries and tin-pot dictators will also be enlightened and receive the gift of god. Hey, for freedom's sake one has to give up some freedom, as Rumsfeld would aver.
Finally, in a free country, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz can be described as "a revolutionary, in a way," by a Christopher Hitchens, for Wolfowitz is willing to "make war on the status quo." This is truly the mark of a free country!
Enough, enough! I am overwhelmed. This is so exhilarating.
I feel liberated.
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Resources
Amedeo Henry, political cartoonist
The 1991 Gulf War Rationale - A Swans Dossier
Iraq on Swans
Gilles d'Aymery is Swans' publisher and co-editor.
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