The Case For Democracy over dirty dishes
The dishwasher at my house is me armed with a sponge, soap and my iPod. I used to hate washing the dishes because I fixated on the ickiness in the sink and on my sponge. I had a very idle mind. After I got my iPod a year ago, I realized that I could listen to music/podcasts/audiobooks so my mind focused on something other than the icky-slimy stuff on the plates and the time would go much quicker.Today I couldn't wait to do the dishes. I've recently downloaded The Case For Democracy by Natan Sharansky and it is incredible! I know it is a book that is often sited by neo-cons as a "pro-war" book, and it might be, but his argument seems without fault. He makes a strong, but simple argument. As the Audible.com page says,
"Freedom, Sharansky claims, is rooted in the right to dissent, to walk into the town square and declare one's views without fear of punishment or reprisal. The authors persuasively argue that societies that do not protect that right can never be reliable partners for peace and that the democracy that hates us is much safer than the dictatorship that loves us."
I don't see how that can't be read as anything but a very liberal and progressive statement. I am sure I will have more to say on this, but you'll have to wait until we dirty some more dishes. ;-)
For those of you still using the dead tree form of communication, you can get The Case for Democracy
right here.
posted by Expat Teacher @ 12:58 PM
