Re: The words 'democracy' and 'communism' are meaningless
"The ones that oppose democracy and the freedom of speech are the ones that are the enemies of her own people and her own country."--True Khmer
Warrior Blood at 8:48 PM can say that Cambodia doesn't need democracy because he lives in comfort and freedom in America, so he sees no need for his hapless compatriots to enjoy democracy and the wealth like he does in America. The corner stone of a country's prosperity is democracy, justice and the respect for the rule of law, the state of law, I mean. When a country doesn't have this then the rulers can do whatever they want, abuse the citizens, abuse their powers, commit corruption etc. These are the recipes that lead the country toward disaster and poverty. Communist China and Vietnam, the countries that you have used as a model of success under Communism, have been poor for more than 30 years (1949- late 1990s for China and 1975 to early 2000s for Vietnam). And North Korea is still in the stone age. If you compare these countries to democratic countries like Japan, Taiwan and S. Korea, the countries that have emerged from the ravage of war at the same time as China, it is a total difference because these countries have thrived very impressively from the first days when they have emerged from the war.
China and Vietnam have only emerged and become economically successful because they have abandoned socialist system, not communism, and a command economy and instead embraced free market economy practiced by the free world, but this only came about much later when much of the damage had been done to their countries and their citizens already.
Coming back to Cambodia, it has been a backward country for more than 20 years, from 1975 till the 1990s, because of communism and the lack of democracy and due to widespread human rights abuses and abuses of powers by the Cambodian leaders who lack accountability and culpability. Cambodia had only emerged and move forward because UNTAC (UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia) came to sow the seed of democracy in the early 1990s and Sam Rainsy, Son Sann and other resistance fighters, who had sacrificed their lives to chase out the Vietnamese invaders, were parts of the democratization process brought about by UNTAC.
Cambodia has become a backward country because of some Khmer people who have a mentality of selfism and power-hungry. If they just think about Cambodia and the Cambodian people, give up powers and stop trying to cling to power for life, then Cambodia would be a much better place. Remember, in the 1960s Cambodia was on par with Thailand and even better than Thailand in some aspects. Now, Cambodia is 30 years behind Thailand in everything and you have to imagine and figure out why. You are preaching totalitarianism and dictatorship for Cambodia and I dare and challenge you to give up your U.S citizenship to swap your life style and live in those dictatorial countries like N. Korea and Cuba so you can have a taste of what you are preaching. Good luck!
4 September 2011 9:43 PM
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Anonymous said...
The ones that oppose democracy and the freedom of speech are the ones that are the enemies of her own people and her own country.
True Khmer
4 September 2011 10:07 PM
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Anonymous said...
Well put 9:43 PM and also 10:07 PM.
Democracy is not a luxury as might be implied by some conventional minds, but very much a practical necessity. I'm astonished that anyone should sincerely think otherwise, particularly, if he or she had once fled Cambodia in search of a better life.
Just look at the fallen woman by a busy roadside market in the video clip below with no one passing by willing to intervene on her behalf. This personal tragedy is somewhat analogous with that of the country at large at present where immunity before the law for some and the climate of fear pervading society dictate in turn a culture of indifference where few, if any, compromise their own individual welfare by helping out their neighbours in time of urgent need. That’s the kind of life and culture this autocratic regime and its predecessors have promoted. And when one looks at this ‘culture’ within the wider context of geo-politics and territorial encroachments, it’s not hard to see where Cambodia as a nation stands.
4 September 2011 11:47 PM
6 comments:
In Cambodia you can protest all you want the freedom and democracy never came by peaceful meant to the least Cambodia leader and its supporter will fight to protect their interest, any change in Cambodia to the least must come from 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.
Why is there no democracy in Cambodia? Because Cambodians, live for the "opportunities to settle their scores"; they had a lot of scores to settle. No matter who will be the next prime minister, the result will be the same. Whether Sam Rainsey, Sourn Sarey Ratha, or "True Khmer"; they will all go in the same way. They will all become "tyrants" because of their insecurity while they are in office.
I can bet my dime on it, that "True Khmer" will be a far worse tyrant than that of Hun Sen if he is given office to rule over Cambodia. If one is prepared to use force to crush those who opposes to his opinion, what makes him any better than anyone else? The fact that he is prepared to label those who opposes him as "Ah Youn" highlights the significance of the fact that he would be just as prepared to kill his own people as Pol Pot did; because that was the reason why 2 million Cambodians lost their lives! Not because they are "Youns" or "CIA's"; they were Khmers. Yet they were labeled as "Youns"; So it is ok to kill such ones.
Changing a system just "for the sake of" letting such one in government, doesn't necessarily guarantee true democracy, you are just swapping one tyrant for another. The problem is; there is risk of a lost of lives and properties involves and the risk of chaos that matters the most that result at the end of of it.
To the author: China, North Korea, Vietnam became communists to counter Western Imperialism, not because they want to; but they did it to protect themselves from becoming "slaves to the West". Deep down, they were far more receptive to capitalism than you might think they are. Communism was just a vehicle to unite their large population to back them up and sway them in a direction where they should be. The West, uses the the concept of "divide and conquer", they tried to cut bits and pieces of each of those nations and caused them to fight against each other and ultimately, will weakened it's ability to rise against a Western domination.
I agree with 1:58PM and 2:52PM. Cambodia should learn the lesson of the past. quite honestly, I want stability so that I can continue to serve my customers and making a living. I don't need revolution. If you want change, do it through election.
After I read Wikileak; Warrior Blood is right all along; it makes more sense for the two leaders to meet and negotiate with each other peacefully. violence will only destroy cambodia. opposition leaders should advocate change through election.
True Khmer, what do you think about the Wikileak both US and Vietnam concerns about PM Hun Sen? I was wondering if you still blind and not even bother to think about Sam Rainsy behind the scence deals. Since he is close to Western world, I assume that he is the logical choice to replace Hun Sen. It sounds like, it doesn't matter which leader come on board to take over Khmer, Veitnam got it bases covered. You probably say, well Sam Rainsy is not a sale out. No way man, he is the golden boy.
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