Inner Quests

‎”Dictatorship nations are outlaws. Any free nation had the right to invade Nazi Germany and, today, has the right to invade Soviet Russia, Cuba or any other slave pen. Whether a free nation chooses to do so or not is a matter of its own self-interest, not of respect for the non-existent “rights” of gang rulers.”

[Ayn Rand ~ The Virtue of Selfishness]

I don’t agree of course. Just thinking that maybe there’s a principle like this behind the NATO wars.

Rand also defines what she means by ‘dictatorship’:

“There are four characteristics which brand a country unmistakably as a dictatorship: one-party rule–executions without trial or with a mock trial, for political offenses–the nationalization or expropriation of private property–and censorship. A country guilty of these outrages forfeits any moral prerogatives, any claim to national rights or sovereignty, and becomes an outlaw.”

[Ayn Rand ~ The Virtue of Selfishness]

Execution without trial? Glenn Greenwald of Salon writes about the September assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki:

It was first reported in January of last year that the Obama administration had compiled a hit list of American citizens whom the President had ordered assassinated without any due process, and one of those Americans was Anwar al-Awlaki. No effort was made to indict him for any crimes (despite a report last October that the Obama administration was “considering” indicting him). Despite substantial doubt among Yemen experts about whether he even had any operational role in Al Qaeda, no evidence (as opposed to unverified government accusations) was presented of his guilt. When Awlaki’s father sought a court order barring Obama from killing his son, the DOJ argued, among other things, that such decisions were “state secrets” and thus beyond the scrutiny of the courts. He was simply ordered killed by the President: his judge, jury and executioner. When Awlaki’s inclusion on President Obama’s hit list was confirmed, The New York Times noted that “it is extremely rare, if not unprecedented, for an American to be approved for targeted killing.”

More.

One Party Rule? It is a prejudice to suppose that two parties dominated by the same ruling class is more responsive to the will of the people than a one party system. We have to look at levels of participation in the political process.