I agree. I read a long time ago in one of W. Y. Evans-Wentz's books on Tibetan Yoga, in one of his prefaces, where he commented on the best-ness of democracy as compared to a benevolent autocracy. He preferred the latter, as well.
The value here is knowing that we don't have a perfect system and diligent viligence by writers and reporters is key.

Excuse me, that's spelled vigilance, je pense. I ignored the spell check marker thinking it made a mistake. Yikes, just a fluidiot here.

Conservative David Brooks, in April 2007, had a talk with Obama regarding "effective foreign aid programs in Africa" and other issues. In his post-interview article at the Times, Brooks wrote:

'Finally, more than any other major candidate, he has a tendency to see the world in post-national terms.[...] When I asked him to articulate the central doctrine of his foreign policy, he said, “The single objective of keeping America safe is best served when people in other nations are secure and feel invested.”'

Obama, Gospel and Verse
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/04/26/opinion/26brooks.html

Actually, America never exported democracy.

Read DK's post on Bretton Woods II. Americans wanted political power and influence to go along with their military supremacy as a way to fight perceived threats like communism after WWII.

One of the primary techniques was to talk a lot about the wonders of democracy as a door opener to get other countries to go along with Free Market policies favorable to America, and to convert them into political allies.

DK notes the damage done by the IMF and other huge western interests (others are ITT in Africa and Big Oil in Nigeria).

We buttered them up with talk about democracy, then exploited them economically. In far too many cases, we complemented these policies by political and military backing of dictatorships that we wanted to make deals with (in many cases even supporting dictatorships that openly crushed democratic movements in their own countries).

We would then send in "economic hit men" to finish the job.

Double-speak as a political technique has a long and ugly history in the US (as well as many other countries).

Noting that Bush talked about exporting democracy does not indicate that was his true intention. The language is highly coded, just as is his language that appeals to Christian fundamentalists.

"Exporting Democracy" has been one of the main banners that Friedman-influenced advocates of totally unregulated markets has used for ever since WWII. They love to hear bush use that phrase because it siugnals that he is on board with their agenda, just like Christian fundamentalists love to hear hear him talk about ":faith-based" initiatives because they know he is really talking about spreading fundamentalist Christianity.

yogi-one, wow....talk about hitting the nail on the head.....ruth

He stole my lines! He stole my lines!

Arrrr

India, that largest democracy in the world, was democratized just how . . .; ooo, those darn Brits with their imperialistic burdens that just happen to make them so very rich!

Hey but can I be a benevolent autocrat! If not, then those are fighting words darn it!

Just a funning . . .

"I believe a ‘benevolent autocracy’ is likely the best political system to help efficiently/quickly advance a society economically and socially. The only issue is, those benevolent/enlightened autocrats are really difficult (virtually impossible) to come by….and power corrupts, so this too is a slippery slope."

Hey you are in luck Rayman, perhaps you won't get a true benevolent autocrat after November, but surely a triloka autocracy in:

Pelosi-Reid-Obama (in that order as no one will question her royal nanness)

Personally, I would choose the Empyrius One over the above posers!!

All Glory is Fleeting
All Glory is Gleeting
All Glory is Fleeting
All glory is fleeting

even my spelling is fleeting

gee i wonda if these amigos are really amigos ..aka neocon artists...or just playing the fool...or devil's advocate if u will....dang!

Only if you are my right-hand man Shmuel! In fact, the regulars here at intentblog might just do a pretty good job if we were in the White House!

We might have to put Diablo under house arrest though . . .

:)

I don´t know about political systemas. But I agree that safety is the main problem,

Many people would be so much better off if they simply listened to their base chakra
for confort/discomfort messages regarding the actions they intend to take. The safety problem
would solve itself almost automaticaly.

Interesting thought the 'benevolent autocracy...'

Well I guess democracy is just another imperfect stage on the journey towards that utopian dream....

Yeah power corrupts (and could be very harmful) unless the circuitry is well designed in order to distribute it in a the most efficient and productive way... (:D)

Thus power is there to be distributed, as it is required, (not to hold onto or to imposed onto) and it is the architecture of distribution that is important, so there's no room for corruption.

So having Obama out there in the PSU perhaps is just one minor step the major task would be to design the architecture for effective distribution....