…then you just might be so very 2003. Which is to say you might a “neocon“. Or at least that’s the point that Daniel Finkelstein over at the Times of London made today in his very interesting take on what’s going on in Iran right now.
I find it an interesting and compelling argument myself. I am very open that I consider myself to be a classical liberal or sometimes I’ll say libertarian as that’s better known in the US (even if it’s not wholly accurate).
At the end of the day, I firmly believe that if people want to find the religion, lifestyle, sexual identity, and expression that is most genuine and authentic, it’s imperative that they be able to do so without overt or covert repression from external institutions like governments and Churches. And so, in that regard, my politics are closely tied to the rest of me and my other beliefs.
We shouldn’t expect that the Iranians will replace their limited democracy with a truly liberal regime if this succeeds. But, one things is for sure, when you look at the pictures here you see the same brave hope for a better, freer future that you saw in Tiananmen in 1989, in eastern Europe and Russia in the early 1990’s and in Lebanon in 2005.
Here’s wishing them the best. Support your local Iranian protestor: Twitter information to enable the protestors to keep feeding information to the outside world.
1 Comment
17 June 2009 at 8:13 am
I hate to get too hung up on labels and names. You know I’d never be comfortable being called a neocon or a libertarian. But on this issue I find that my words and my thoughts are the same as those who embrace those terms. I think this is one area where we all agree. We want the election to reflect the will of the people and we want those people to have free expression. Those ideals transcend labels.