Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Can you Nuke a Nation into Liberal Democracy?

Look, I'm all for encouraging liberal democracy abroad in illiberal lands, but Roy Masters's approach goes a bit too far I'd say. Masters, if you don't know, is one of the more interesting right-wing crackpots. I've written about him before here. He calls himself a "Messianic Jew" and blends Christian Fundamentalism, Gnostic Mysticism, Eastern Philosophy, Freudian Psychology, and New Age meditation (all the while trying to well-position himself with the religious right, most of whom regard him as a cult leader and a theological heretic).

His followers include Michael Savage, Bob Just and Matt Drudge. Supposedly, John Wayne was a follower.

From his "Terrorizing the Terrorists" article:

Our enemies have struck a blow to the American Spirit, gunning for the downfall of mankind. To eradicate this diabolical evil we must not dilly-dally around with insufficient, military strikes or ground troops. We must strike a massive, shocking, Hiroshima-like blow so as to forever convert terrorism and its architects to liberty-driven spirit of the West....

What is needed, for its psychologically effect, is a massive shock not unlike that suffered by the Japanese in Nagasaki and Hiroshima . It is not the time or situation to seek morality from our violators. Our goal must be more defined, unwavering and definite. We must strike and secure a permanent change in behavior as well as a redirection of the current perverse loyalty terrorists have toward their anti-humans. Such a high-minded, even honorable purpose can only come from a massive shock to their death-centered system....

I know that this kind of conversion to Western thinking is not exactly the ideal. But conversion of loyalties through a greater shock than that caused by their corruption is absolutely necessary in order to reconvert the masses. They are born into a cultural violence, needing violent extraction from the influence of evil. This is the only paved road to genuine peace.

Japan has become a thriving democratic country from which have come noble leaders, creative thinking and philosophically sound national policies. All of this was born out of a saving violence.

1 comment:

Marty said...

Ahhh, good old fashioned Imperialism! It's about time...

FWIW, this sort of thing is far more useful as propaganda, than any realistic policy. But dont tell that to the Saudi's! Shhhh!