The Dogma of Our Governments

Okay, so I promise that I won't get preachy very often. Lies, I will.... mostly because I find the internet a valuable forum for discussion. You may not agree with me about certain matters, and I welcome your opinion on the comments section... provided that said opinion is well thought-out and not vulgar.

As some of you may know, I have taken a liking to political readings of late. That fact, coupled with the Sociology of International Development class that I am taking, has created a little bit of a political commentator within me.  Not so much with regard to specific people in the governments of both Canada and the United States, but more in general terms and overriding themes.

Let us take Egypt as an example. The people of Egypt are protesting the fact that they don't have the full ability to vote and decide who is in charge of their country. Furthermore, they don't have what we know as "Free Speech".  All of this was sparked when the people of Tunisia revolted against the same facts in their government during the month of December.

Now, there is a current theory called "modernization theory" that postulates that countries develop in a certain way.  It is the common consensus in the Western world that Western-style democracy is naturally the highest point of development for any country regardless of that country's  ethnic or religious background. What some people don't understand is that these countries (Egypt included) do not enjoy as strict a separation of church and state. Further, they have been USED to this way of living for centuries, before the United States or Canada even existed; before Democracy was enjoyed in Europe; and long before anyone thought about what a natural progression for development would be.  There are certain points of traditional Muslim law, that conflict with a true Democracy. Roughly 70% of the population of Egypt still wants Muslim law.  I am definitely not saying that the people of Egypt are incapable of changing their government; I am simply pointing out that they will not be able to instate a copy of the United State's or the United Kingdom's form of government.  The people of Egypt will need to create their own form of representative government that pleases the masses its people. Who says that democracy is right for every culture?

What that government will be has yet to be decided. But it is clear that in this case, and when taking into account the other occasions when Western powers have interfered with another culture's development, the United States and its allies should take a back seat to the will of the people of Egypt, who are enacting their own change.

The concern of western powers, is that these protests will open up the government of Egypt to the influence of a radical group that does not want to interact positively with the rest of the United Nations.  This is a true concern for me, as a citizen of both the United States and Canada. But we have to know when to step back and let a modern country do what we did in 1776 and decide their fate for the betterment of their people.