Fwd: RE: [Peace-discuss] Crimes

[John W.]

Here's Rob writing 9 days ago.  Didn't I just say the same thing in bold, 
essentially, only to have Rob jump on me for supposedly disdaining the 
common man??



>From: "Robert Dunn" <prorobert8 at hotmail.com>
>To: illyes at uiuc.edu, peace-discuss at ucimc.org
>Subject: RE: [Peace-discuss] Crimes
>Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2007 18:45:33 +0000
>
>
>
>
>According to Aristotle's Politics, democracy is the shortest route to 
>tyranny. A regime must have a final causality, the common good. When you 
>have a pure democracy, a demagogue can rouse the passions of the polis and 
>descend the democracy into a tyranny. This is what Abraham Lincoln was 
>addressing in his Lyceum Speech when he chastised mob rule and spoke for 
>the rule of law. Adolf Hitler was put into power because the Weimer 
>Republic was almost a pure democracy. The majority of the population does 
>not allow reason to guide their thinking and based on human nature, are 
>ruled by their passions or instincts. This rush to war was based on a pure 
>appeal to emotion/passions as well as a lot of the arguments against the 
>war as well. I call myself a conservative because like Abraham Lincoln, i 
>want to save the republic from destroying itself. It seems that we are 
>back in the day of John Calhoun and his dangerous notion of popular 
>sovereignty. I weep for the republic for which it stands.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Robert
>
>
>
>From:  <illyes at uiuc.edu>
>To:  peace-discuss at ucimc.org
>Subject:  [Peace-discuss] Crimes
>Date:  Fri, 6 Jul 2007 23:58:28 -0500 (CDT)
> >Well, of course our invasion of Iraq is a crime, Carl. It is a crime 
> that would deserve the death sentence for many of the neocons if I 
> believed in the death sentence, which I don't. But I would lock them up 
> and throw away the key.
> >
> >The Athenian and Roman experiments with democracy were very early, and 
> had well-known flaws. Aristotle had to leave town in a hurry on account 
> of them. The Roman experiments were relatively minor, with the people 
> having very little real power, and the Senate heriditary. Aristotle's 
> idea of polity had a lot of merit, although classical liberal theory is 
> much better developed. Marx had his heart in the right place, but went 
> for radical (relatively pure) democracy, which was the same thing that 
> chased Aristotle out of town. Marxists speak against liberalism, because 
> they think it delays the inevitable revolution. They need to read 
> Aristotle a little more closely.
> >
> >Bob
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