Re: Democracy is not a luxury, but a practical necessity
In Cambodia you can protest all you want, the freedom and democracy will never come by peaceful means to the least Cambodia's leader and its supporters will fight to protect their interests. Any change in Cambodia to the least must come from a coup d'état .
Democracy can never be given to a people because democracy is something that people themselves create through the very process of fighting for it. It is in the very struggle for democracy that people win their democratic rights; it is in the very struggle for freedom that people become free.
The only kind of force that can liberate a people from tyranny and allow them to create the kind of democratic society they would like to live in, and that is a repressed people’s own use of force against their rulers, a repressed people’s use of revolutionary force to transform both their society and their lives.
To see why democracy can never simply be handed to people you only need to compare and contrast different historical examples of democratisation. In the wake of uprisings in which people themselves fought for their liberty, there would often be a period of great optimism and openness, of political and social experimentation.
9 comments:
The united state and Vietnam concerned over Cambodia may become second Burma, They may be right or they may be wrong, to the current status of Cambodia regime,We should compare Cambodia to Zimbabwe. Cambodia leader and Zimbabwe leader have a lots in common, for example not accept defeat in the general election, use majority to oppress the minority and so on.
Hun Sen not going to wake up in the next morning and given the power that he and his supporter have fought so hard in the last few decades to the people who ever win the next general election, history have proven of Hun Sen past behaviour.
The current regime if not to the category of brutal at least they use force to get what they want, the day Hun Sen prime ministerial post is over it could sooner for his victims. Hun Sen and his close aides have all the survival tools too the least they can escape by helicopter to Vietnam.
Democracy in Cambodia will come with the cost, but it really worth of fighting for? and it really last? the influent of the mighty dollars will overwhelming for most poor Cambodian politicians, the afford and scarified will go invain and Cambodia have to start from the square one again.
Why don't you point to the root cause of the problem ? You need to change Cambodia constitution !!!
Does the opposition party support the term limit ???
Did any of the opposition member voted for Cambodia constitution ???
If you did, you have to live with it or support the term limit !!!!
If you can't do that, then just shut up and go back to wherever you want to live !!!!
It is true, the same with freedom will never be given, it has to be fought for. When I say fight, it doesn't mean fight with weapons, but fight with peaceful means like through campaigns, diplomacy, press, elections but because Hun Sen cheats it is hard and impossible to win through elections.
Democracy requires good education and the dedication from all sides of politicians, the question is Cambodian politicians have what it take to steer Cambodia forward the true democracy.the equality of all persons. majority rule, minority rights. necessity of compromise. and individual freedom Democracy requires the following things:
First and foremost is "Freedom of Speech." Without this democracy cannot survive. The ability to speak your mind without government interference is crucial to any democratic society.
Second is "Freedom of the Press." The role that the press plays in any democracy ensures that all sides of an issue is heard, not just the government spin or what the government want you to hear.
Third is "Freedom of Religion and Freedom from Religion." The two concepts go hand in hand. You must be able to worship freely and without fear of repercussions and attack for your beliefs. That said, you must be able to choose not to believe in a religion and not be forced by anyone including the government or religious leaders forcing this prospect on you.
Fourth is "Freedom of Assembly." This is the fourth pillar in any democracy. You must be able to join together with people of like mind, political view, religious views and to be able to use this platform to go to your government and peacefully protest the government for actions you believe are not in the best interest of your country.
The bottom line of democracy is the government should be "Of the People, By the People and For the People."
People tends to talk about Cambodia doesn't have freedom. Let talks about what can people do: they can gather group and meet to do political party, they can protest as you can see land issues, environment issues etc, they have free market, etc. I think all of these things fit democracy definition to me. I live here and I can do whatever I want as long as I don't violate other rights.
Most of the people know how democracy suppose to work and most often people are talking about the democratic system in the US.
By design, the US constitution put the term limit (Max. two terms)on the presidency because they don't want the president stay in power too long.
But they didn't set the limit on Sanator and House Representative. Some American still support the term limit on these key positions. They complaint that the position become a making money machine for the carrer politician.
Now the democratic system in the US is in question because the Gov. didn't act fast enough to solve the problem for regular American.
The problem is the world has changed and need faster response like China. In the past, the world has to wait for the US response so it worked find for the US but it doesn't work like that any more.
The poor and middle class American are still complaining that the Gov. is working for the rich only !!!
But, if you look back in the past, for any country, the rich is always control the world and that was why the Communist system was created.
Democratic or not, if you want free economy system, you have to learn how to live with it.
Democracy will not find the food and solve every thing for you, you have to go out there and compete with others and hope that you will win some and lose some.
Life is about trying to be better for any Gov. that you are living at. You may not get there, but as long as you are trying, that is all it matters.
to anonymous 3:57
I thought freedom of speech and freedom of religion have the same principle (the same thing).Isn't it?
@1:09AM you are absolutely correct. Every nation has it internal problems and social unrest such as United States. However, in Cambodia, everybody blame PM Hun Sen for the tree falling the side of the road. True Khmer should read you comment; it probably not going into his thick skull any way.
Indeed every societies have their internal problems, But in Cambodia Violent clashes between poor Cambodians and security forces evicting them from the land they live on have increased fears of widespread unrest over the country's land policy. Large numbers of displaced people could hurt the country's bid for peaceful development.
According to their salaries they hardly feed their families , why those official have unusual wealth where it come? despite their hard work, the villagers failed to establish their claim to the land, and the provincial court instead granted the land rights to a high ranking officials with better political connections.
Approximately 15% of the country's 14 million people have no land to call their own. And according to the World Bank, nearly 43% of Cambodians live on US$1 or less a day, up from 37% in 1996.
According to the observation, it seems like one party, who tries to get the land from the poor, they always have the official document.
International aid donors have blasted the government for granting contracts without full public knowledge and for allowing concessions to far exceed the legal 10,000 hectares. Some aid agencies say the deals also often do little to help the country's finances.
Post a Comment