Not sure which show...

...but the show that was on Air America at 10:50pm had an interesting call. What I heard was no doubt incomplete, but here is a paraphrasing:

Caller: You think they are unfit for democracy? That's racist!
Host: Whoa, whoa, wait a second. They have had tribal government for centuries and it works perfectly well for them*. So you want to be an arrogant white man who arrogantly imposes his idea of government on others. So watch who you are calling racist, buddy. [He also made some noise about imposing Christianity on others and said that that was what John Ashcroft and President Bush were doing].
Caller: What about Turkey?
Host: That's what I hate about you Republicans, you conservatives. You call about something else then ask about a red turkey herring.

I'm not in the mood for a complete critique of the conversation (tomorrow maybe), but I am in the mood to talk about my views on government.

I don't believe that a democracy is necessary for what I consider to be the most important aspects of government. I do think that it is probably better than other options, but there are issues with democracy and other systems have at least the hypothetical ability to do better.

So, if democracy isn't the end all and be all for me, what is?

Individual rights.

The right to be safe in your person, mind, and pocketbook. The purpose of government is to protect those rights.

As far as I'm concerned, a government must prove it is better at preserving those rights than anarchy would be...otherwise, it is illegitmate. Even if it is 'better than the alternative', any actions it takes that limits individual rights is still illegitimate.


*I'd like to remind everyone that, in these countries, women are often oppressed by this tribal system. I'm not going to claim that we definitively have the better system, over the centuries 'western civilization' has had its own share of oppression; but I am going to take issue with calling this a 'perfectly good' system of government.