DingBat said:
You do realize that my personal hypocrisy (or lack thereof) does nothing to invalidate the question itself, right? It's a red herring.
Your response also totally ignores the question which is: why aren't we all concerned with eliminating dictatorships around the world?
I suspect the answer is: we don't want to be bothered. I believe that there are many people who honestly oppose the war, certainly. I also believe there is a strong undercurrent of "we don't want to do anything and we don't want to have to face any awkward questions by others if they do something either. Better to try to make sure no one does anything."
Dingbat, with all due respect, I think you have taken your own argument in a circle
Your hypocrisy has
everything to do with it, in so far as you are human being like the rest of us. You are not outside the equation anymore than the other citizens of your country, or of any country, and hence any hypocrisy is illustrative of what others that you critique may be marked by.
How does my response ignore the question? You ask why we aren't all doing more to stop despotism, and so I rehetorically ask then, "Yeah, so why aren't you doing more yourself?"
The idea is that there is a difference between encouraging the volunteering others for a cause, and volunteering yourself.
My central point is to consider yourself are like millions of others. Hence, you can see where others have reservations, which you did towards the end of your post. The fact that there are large portions of the population who do not desire to abandon their life for a certain cause says something about the feasibility of fighting for such a cause.
As I said earlier, no nation has ever done what you and others are speaking of, it is just not economically or socially viable.
A nation state has to watch out for its constituents. Domestic concerns should ultimately be of the highest priority, or else, why have a state to begin with? Does a state exist for the protection of the rest of the world?
Having said that, how adequately are the needs of the citizens of states such as the USA being met when resources are diverted to fighiting despotism abroad?
Was taking down Saddam worth the huge deficit, the higher cost of living, the death knell of medicare and social security, or any other things? Not to speak of the human cost, and of constrainst on civil liberties in the USA imposed by the regime in the name of upholding freedom?
If the USA was simply acting "in its best interest," whos interest is it really? The average citizen? On the other hand, lets make a list of who has clearly benefitted.
Granted, you cite how humantarian efforts have been underway in Iraq, which is good. But we must also recognize that truly good and selfless acts can arise anywhere, regardless of the circumstances.
What I mean is, the humanitarian efforts that take place within the midst of a conflict do not justifiy the conflict, it merely demonstrates that humans will always bring a bit of light even in darkness.
There is always a bit of light in the dark, and dark within the light. We have helped many Iraqis, but we have also killed over 34,000 of them at the same time.
You can make this dichotomy in all other aspects as well:
-We have brought political freedom to Iraqis, but also have almost ensured the country will be factionalized among three distinct lines, creating continuing political turmoil
-We have eliminated the terrible practices of Saddams regime, yet also had to make use of the same prisons, the same barbous methods that he used to keep order. Everything from Abu Graihib to employing balaclava clad "police" which are becoming implicated more and more with indiscriminately killing citizens of rival Muslim factions.
-We have supposedly eliminated a regime which could harbor and support terrorits...yet at the same time created a catylyst for furture terrorism by fueling Jihadists rationales through our invasion. Iraq has now become the hotspot for Jihadists, attracting them from outside the region, while the deaths from the war (and fears of future political persectuion, such as with the Sunnis) have persuaded many to join the insurgency.
-We have glavanzied our image as a nation that acts on its convictions...while also being internationally condemned for profiteering from the conflict and for human rights abuses.
The list goes on.