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The Thomas Jefferson Discussion Group
of Orlando, Florida
Meeting No. 44 - December 15, 2004
Holiday House Restaurant, Orlando, Florida
THIS MONTH'S TOPIC:
UKRAINE FROM A JEFFERSONIAN PERSPECTIVE
"You say 'Tomaato,' I say 'Tomotto' ... Let’s call the whole thing off!"
"You say 'Yanukovich,' I say 'Yushchenko.' ... Let’s have another election!"
The first quote is from the that charming banter between Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold in the1958 film "Gigi." The second is from me about the recent election in Ukraine!
History is being made the former Soviet Republic, as people protesting in the streets over a clearly rigged election have trumped guns and tanks – the more traditional way of “problem – solving” in that part of the world.
Has "power to the people"ever rung more true? The "problem" is Democracy is a messy, awkward, cumbersome political system.
With a dictator in power, this "mess" would have been "cleaned up" within a few days of the election.
It turns out, in a relatively quiet way, Jeffersonian democracy (a form of government where representatives of the people carry out the collective will of the people and protect their natural rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, while not violating the human rights of the minority. – note: my definition) has been triumphant. One of those rights is the right to protest. This "Freedom of Speech" right has been used surprising often in non-violent mass protests when the people feel their elected governments have not lived up to their end of the bargain.
As noted by Stephen Zunes, a processor of politics at the San Francisco, in a recent New York Times piece by Michael Kaufman, there are many examples of this over the past 25 years:
- Bolivia (1977 and 1982)
- Sudan and Haiti (1985)
- The Philippines (1986)
- South Korea (1987)
- Chile, Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia (1989)
- Mongolia and Nepal (1990)
- Mali (1992)
- Madagascar (1993)
- Bangladesh (1996)
- Indonesia (1998)
In addition, Zunes points out that spontaneous non-violent action has thwarted coups in Argentina (1987), Russia (1991), Thailand (1992) and Paraguay (1996 and 1999)
On the other side of the ledger the two that stand out for me are the 1989 carnage in Tiananmen Square, China. There, the spontaneous mass protest was met by automatic weapons fire – many, many killed. Also, Kent State University (2,000 – 3,000 students protesting the Vietnam War) on May 4, 1970, in our country, leaving 4 dead and 8 wounded.
On Wednesday night we’ll discuss Ukraine from a Jeffersonian perspective. Hope to see you Wednesday evening, (12/15), at the Holiday House, Lee Rd and I-4 (In the La Quinta Hotel) at around 6:30. http://jdg.thejeffersonproject.org/
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