Article

2005-03-29 Arabia

Why the Arab World Lags, Part XXVII (or, The Little Arab World That Could)

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Posted by Spot 2005-03-29 8:28:26 AM|| || Front Page|| [8 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 ROFLMAO!!!

This is just so rich and ripe and fragrant it makes one swoon, lol!

Posted by .com 2005-03-29 8:59:58 AM|| 2005-03-29 8:59:58 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Oh, these yearning Arabs... They must have hatched overnight. I don't remember seeing them 2 years ago. By a sheer coincidence, that was when Bush doctrine was formulated. But "no, it wuz not him, na-aah, it is not a result, it is a part of sumtin'".

Posted by Sobiesky 2005-03-29 9:21:42 AM|| 2005-03-29 9:21:42 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 and you're rolling on the floor, etc., because?

If you're laughing because he says it's not part of the Bush Doctrine, I can see why. Without Bush, he couldn't have published this without the Baathists or MMs or (name of thug here) hauling him off to the slammer. But if more and more people are saying this and trying to put tolerance into practice, then everybody has something to cheer about.

Posted by mom 2005-03-29 9:27:46 AM|| 2005-03-29 9:27:46 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 âWhat is wrong with the Arab world?â

How about, "not staying in the Arabian peninsula?"?

Posted by gromgorru 2005-03-29 9:35:52 AM|| 2005-03-29 9:35:52 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Not to be argumentative, but the problems are much deeper, wider, and harder than this fellow imagines. The direct lie that the Bush Doctrine plays no part is definitely a knee-slapper.

But so is the ongoing endless indoctrinated from birth knee jerk total BS about the Paleos ("occupation, suppression and oppression of the Palestinians") and the Joos ("guilty as they are of so much"). Same old shit, there, even though he suggests that it be played down, not tossed as the garbage it is.

The joke is more than their Govts - it's their entire social fabric supporting corruption, despotism, and nepotism. It's Islam and Shari'a Law holding them in the Stone Age. It is blame ("painful to remember our failings and even more painful to have to acknowledge them") vs guilt - one resolves nothing / propagates repetition while the other encourages change and improvement. And you can't fix what you don't acknowledge.

The problems run all the way to the core. Just embracing what he thinks of as "a civil society free from religious extremism, free from the imposition of only one view or interpretation and free of intolerance toward all who are different in any way" is undoubtedly not the same as what you'd think if you said the same words.

The secret word is Freedom, certainly, but also consent and redress. The key in the lock is the Bush Doctrine. He whiffs on most of the pitches, though they're fat, slow, and right down the middle. I guess you want to credit him for the one or two. Fine. It's a small start - handed to him on a platter, which may mean that they really don't even "get it" regards the couple he got a piece of. You use "mom" - so I guess you have kids. I was a single dad for over 10 yrs. So you know the difference in attitude regards that which they are given and that which they earn.

My $0.02.

Posted by .com 2005-03-29 9:56:51 AM|| 2005-03-29 9:56:51 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 I want to clarify something...

I was very harsh on this guy - but it doesn't mean I'm not hopeful that some Arabs can cast off the shackles that bind them. Many bloggers and a few "news outlet" articles have been much more honest and forthcoming - and I give full credit to those.

In other words, I was just responding to this one article.

Posted by .com 2005-03-29 10:13:32 AM|| 2005-03-29 10:13:32 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 This is a first step, so don't expect too much, dont mock too loudly. At least he is "gettinng it" - the central truth that economic and personal freedom are intimately related, and that the Arab worlds needs more of both.

Posted by OldSpook 2005-03-29 11:34:49 AM|| 2005-03-29 11:34:49 AM|| Front Page Top

#8 ..for which the Israelis, guilty as they are of so much,..

Oh? And just what constitutes "so much"?

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2005-03-29 12:38:41 PM|| 2005-03-29 12:38:41 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 It is a start, but a weak one. Dictatorship and sycophancy definitely are negative factors but what about corruption, lack of a developed work ethic, oppression of women, tribalism, a religion that regards reason and the scientific method as suspect, medieval levels of intolerance, etc. When all of those factors are addressed, then you _might_ start to see Arab Tigers. That's two or three very turmoil filled generations away, if we're lucky and the Arabs and their satelites like Pakistan don't go Gotterdammerung on us and do something suicidal.

My guess is that oil is going to be the key. Either it's going to get so expensive that the Arabs are going to get hubristic and think they can win the current war with a coup de main or we're going to figure out how to do without it and the Arabs will lash out in on last spasm of pride before they become irrelevant.

Posted by 11A5S 2005-03-29 1:30:09 PM|| 2005-03-29 1:30:09 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 âWhy does the Arab world lag behind almost every part of the world except of course sub-Saharan Africa?â

Easy answer (and short too): Islam.

Posted by Parabellum 2005-03-29 6:09:33 PM|| 2005-03-29 6:09:33 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 This is a first step, so don't expect too much, dont mock too loudly. At least he is "gettinng it" - the central truth that economic and personal freedom are intimately related, and that the Arab worlds needs more of both.

Posted by OldSpook 2005-03-29 11:34:49 AM|| 2005-03-29 11:34:49 AM|| Front Page Top

#12 Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]

Posted by OldSpook 2005-03-29 11:34:49 AM|| 2005-03-29 11:34:49 AM|| Front Page Top

10:24 Choicemaker Jim
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