[Grovenet] Exporting Democracy?

[Steven]

It seems that people want to separate themselves from others, rather 
than be a 'melting pot'. As seen in Kurdistan or Northern Idaho.
I would imagine that the people who live in these communities would be 
happy with democracy, just not big government.

Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
> 70% of the residents of Cairo, Egypt live in "informal" communities within
> the cities.
>
> This video report from the NY Times takes a look at the attitudes of
> Egyptians living there.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/2wgkek 
>
> The goal of those people is not to get anything from the government,
> according to the report. Rather, the people do their best to avoid any
> contact with government. There is no "intersection" between the lives of the
> people and the government and they want it to stay that way. 
>
> These are not wealthy people by most standards. The ones shown live in small
> open boats floating in the Nile. They sleep in the open boats, awake with
> the dawn, draw some water from the river to make a little tea, then they set
> about their day's work trying to catch some of the small fish in the river. 
>
> They don't care about democracy because they don't care about government.
> Expect nothing. Get nothing. It's the best way they know how to live.
>
> To "export democracy" to such people would require rebuilding their lives,
> their outlook, their attitudes, their fundamental beliefs from the ground
> up. Changing government alone would not do it. 
>
> Maybe it's a good thing to do for them. Maybe not. One thing for sure, it's
> not simple. 
>
> Ron D'Eau Claire  
>
>
>
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