Thoughts on democracy and secession

Thanks, Margo, for the informative post on the history of the Kurds.
While reading it, some thoughts occurred to me that I'd like to share.

You mention that at one point, Turkey was democratic but still highly
repressive, and it seemed to me (I may well be reading far too much into
your words) that you were registering surprise at the combination. I
think it's important to realize that democracy per se does not guarantee
anything like a just set of laws. From what I understand, for example,
Nazi Germany was highly democratic. Everything Hitler did was in some
sense by popular mandate, as expressed by legally taken votes of the
electorate. His campaign speeches were direct in their message: Jews
are the cause of Germany's problems, and I'll fix it. Many people
bought into his madness, and the rest is shameful history.

If anything, a pure democracy may be more susceptible to the excesses
of mob mentality than a dictatorship, if there is nothing to check the
"will of the people".

In saying this, I do not mean to advocate forms of government which are
non-democratic. It is absolutely vital, however, that elected officials
at all levels have sharply limited power to meddle in the lives of free
individuals.

The United States has a fairly well-written Bill of Rights, but this has
not stopped us from some terrible adventures. The mob hysteria against
certain drugs, for example, continues to this day to be whipped up by
opportunistic politicians, and the countryside of Colombia (to take just
one example) has this very year been decimated by herbicides in a vain
effort to stop cocaine from being produced and exported to the U.S. I
have watched in horror for most of my adult life as this wall of
hysteria has withstood years and decades of attempts to break through
it. Only now are there glimmerings of hope that this massive stupidity
may end within our lifetimes.

On a related subject, I want to discuss the morality of secession. As
we all know, this nation began with a completely "illegal" Declaration
of Independence from Great Britain. We celebrate that bold move to this
day, and my voice is among the celebrants. But when the shoe was on the
other foot in the 1860's, the southern states were forcibly prevented
from seceding, at huge loss of life.

Of course I am not going to excuse the enslavement of one human being
by another; that is an abomination. But the truth about Lincoln is that
he was a self-professed racist who made it very clear he didn't give
a damn whether slavery was ended or wasn't. As we know, he _did_ issue
the Emancipation Proclamation, but this was a calculated ploy to boost
his war effort. I'm not saying he deserves no credit for this action,
but his portrayal in 99% of the history books today is a complete
fabrication. The suspension of Habeas Corpus in the north is just one
of many brutal actions he undertook in the name of holding the nation
together at all cost.

Lincoln aside, I think we should all confront the question: if a
majority of people in a particular part of a nation wish to split from
that nation and form a new nation, should that be prevented? I say the
answer is no. Of course such an action is no panacea. The new nation
may be as repressive to its own minorities as anything its people
experienced at the hands of the original country. And, in some way it
is unfair to those who oppose secession, howbeit they may be a minority
in that particular region. But I believe that the alternative, which
is practiced all around the world with this country's active support, is
worse.

I find it strange that people in the United States, which was born of
secession, do not address this question, or the inherent contradiction
of the Civil War to the Revolutionary War.

Margo, let me again thank you for your wonderful posts during this
trying time. As we grieve, as we experience anger and every other
human emotion, I believe it is good to reach for a larger perspective
on issues that have been long buried in our national psyche. Thanks so
much for sharing your knowledge, and thanks in advance for anything you
may post in the future!

JdL