DEMOCRACY SHOULD RULE ON EARTH

When oppressive regimes look for a way to excuse their crimes against humanity, they promptly bring up their claim to sovereignty. To intimidate accusers and confuse the concerned audience, “It is a matter of internal affairs,” they shout. Cuba, China, North Korea, Iran, you name them: thy all do it. Are these excuses valid? Do they justify laws and actions that violate the human rights of their defenseless citizens? Never mind the legal pronouncements of the United Nations—those giving equal status and powers to saints and sinners. I am referring to the moral justification for claiming the right to act independently, regardless of the matter in question. The answer is a resounding “No!”

Sovereignty rests on the hands of the people, not on the government. Hence, because of free elections, only democratic governments qualify in meeting the first requirement to claim the right to sovereignty. Moreover, to meet the second requirement, those democracies must respect the rights of minorities. Imagine the hypothetical country named “One-man-out.” Everybody except one person supports the government. That citizen is a minority in the extreme sense of the word. Such is the moral aspect of this matter, that the imaginary country of One-man-out can only meet the second requirement of a claim to independence, if and only if they respect and uphold the inalienable rights of that one individual.

What is the third requirement of a claim to sovereignty? To remain a truly representative government—one that meets the first two requirements—the third requirement calls for allegiance to the democratic system of government, and to the institutions that make up a free society. Finally, the leaders of a rightfully independent nation must act reasonably, responsibly, and in good faith when dealing with other sovereign nations that also seek world peace and prosperity.

All who meet these four requirements can morally make a claim to sovereignty. Nobody else can. I already mentioned some of those that do not qualify. Include Venezuela, where Hugo Chavez is slowly but surely dismantling the democratic system to impose his own Castro-inspired tyranny.

Nothing is sacred. Simon Bolivar’s self-proclaimed disciple confiscates private property. A new “law” gives him the right to do so. Chavez stifles and intimidates the press. Eventually there will be only one paper, like the Granma, the communist party newspaper in Cuba. Chavez undermines all the civil and religious institutions that oppose his heavy-handed way of leading the country. Eventually they will play no significant role in the makeup of Venezuelan society. Chavez revamps the legislative and judicial branches of government and infuses them with new blood—his own supporters. Eventually, as happens in Cuba—and as if by magic—they will all be of one mind, parrots of el Comandante’s wishes and demented ideas.

Chavez also overhauls the Armed Forces. He first conjures up charges against military officers loyal to democracy. Then, he strips them of their rank or puts them in jail. Finally, he replaces them with those sworn to protect him and his regime—not downtrodden Venezuelan citizens. To put icing on the cake, he makes multi-billion dollars arm deals with merchants-at-the-temple type countries like Spain and Russia have proven to be. I know. We too have sinned. This build-up of weaponry for defensive purposes, no doubt, to fight those menacing imperialist Yankees who (as you and I know) are sworn enemies of democracy, the system that brought Chavez into office. Loyal fellow, Chavez is, a man of principles and deep convictions.

For now, Hugo Chavez allows other (due to the prevalent conditions, ineffectual) political parties to participate in the electoral system. Eventually, as is in Cuba, there will be only one political party. It will be the Chavista, Bolivarian, or whatever other ego-inflating-romantic name they find for what will be, by its own nature, a sinister assembly.

That is my judgment on rightful claims to sovereignty and those that do not deserve our respect. It is up to you now to look around the world and decide which countries belong in either class. The inalienable rights to which every human being is entitled are universal in nature. It does not matter where one is born. Erc, the Ultimate God in my book (see Ercian Testament – Part Two, chapter 10, Erc, Infinite and Eternal), encompasses everything. All that is, exists within Erc. Therefore, everything that happens in God’s kingdom is our business. When it comes to human rights, there are no “internal affairs”: what happens in Cuba is our business, what happens in Venezuela is our business, what happens in Iran is our business, what happens in China is our business, what happens in Saudi Arabia is our business, and what happens in every other country in the world is our business. I could include civilizations and countries in other planets and universes, but I will let somebody else do that at the proper time.

Democracy should rule on Earth. In principle, we are equal under God or Reality, whichever term you care to use. No individual or group should preside over us without our consent. No monarchies, no oligarchies, no dictatorships of the right or of the left, no theocracies, and no renegade or authoritarian governments left to make our lives miserable: this is my Ercian vision of the world, the kind of world in which we could all prosper, a truly advanced civilization.


Recommended reading: Ercian Testament - Part Three, chapter 27, Proligion Revisited