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| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
as per usual, i can't really say youre wrong there mate 'cept for that bolded part, where i say "fuck yes, we have a right to exercise our free speech/trade/UN vote/sporting pressures etc in an effort to force change around the world."
the peoples of this planet will never be free (and let's not get distracted by pedantic definitions of freedom) until they are all housed under the liberal democracy roof. obviously iraq is a total mess, but i still believe afghanistan is a worthy and righteous cause and that governments like the taliban dont deserve anything but western pressure and meddling.
i think cultural relativism is nothing more than a cop out. |
Thing is, liberal democracies only hang around for short terms of anywhere between 4-12 years, after that they change to a new government of sorts which might not support effective measures.
Tyrannies run on 20+ years, they don't go away until the one up top dies/ousted and they ever so frequently outlast the people allied against them 
Trade, UN and everything else doesn't really affect 'them' and by them I mean the people up the top, propping up oppressive regimes. All outside forces do when they put in place a picket, embargo or withdraw support (or- military force) for a country they don't like is hurt everyone underneath the governing forces.
That harbours resentment from the majority of the population.
They don't see the economic mismanagement and depredations of their leaders as being the cause of their woes... oh no, they see the people outside the country who put an embargo in place as being the cause of everything craptacular in their little part of the world.
Mostly because its easy to hate a faceless enemy far away than it is to deal with one right next to you. Having been on both sides of an embargo, I can say quite plainly, they really don't work.
What does work is two things-
Communication
Education
These two things actually do far more damage to despots and tyrants than any embargo will ever do. If people talk and if they know what they're talking about, it makes it very, very hard to put in place those softer parts of socio or gender or economic oppression which don't require troops on the street.
If we really want to wreck a tyrant, we don't send in troops or a blockade, we teach and we put up a communications infrastructure 
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