Democracy Is Everything?: Democracy, Militarism And World Wars

Democracy is an elegant and even seductive concept. But does it apply to all types of human activities? Is it universally applicable to all matters? Indeed, too many people have been too naive about the concept of democracy. They fail to see that democracy is basically an idealistic idea of equal political representation and equal political rights. It may be highly controversial to say this, but it is quite apparent that they fail to see that these ideas are basically not realizable in practice because absolute equality among humans is an illusion. In view of the current undeserved self-glorification of western democracy, one might well ask: if democracy is not the perfect political system, what is? The answer is really quite obvious: there is no perfect political system in the world. But there is hope in the diversity of existing political systems around the world which offers many useful alternatives and possibilities. Indeed, democracy is not everything. The great diversity of political systems, governments, cultures, religions, traditions, and social mores around the world in different human communities are precious human heritage built up over many centuries of human history. They must not be lightly brushed aside. Indeed, they should be respected by all who care about human dignity and the survival of one humanity.