To be clear I didn’t claim I believe they care. But because representation is the basis of their authority, they must, at a minimum, pretend to care. And this obligation to care can be utilized and leveraged to box our leaders into a corner to do the right thing. Vestiges like “We the People,” “inalienable rights endowed by our Creator,” the Bill of Rights, separation of powers, etc., while all superficial on one hand, can actually be utilized as powerful rhetorical tools against our government. So yes, it matters to vociferously express your views, to engage your fellow citizens in debates, to learn from each other’s arguments, and to exercise your rights on a frequent basis because whatever isn’t used gets lost. And boundaries that aren’t regularly reinforced are soon violated and disregarded.
Uh no, I don’t feel I need a license to criticize foreign governments. But I’ve already explained why it’s useless to complain about governments which don’t answer to us and are a fraction of the inconvenience in our lives that our own government is. And like I’ve already stated, you blame first the parties most responsible for the state of the world. And in determining who that is, you begin with the former colonial powers who created and manipulate international institutions, who have invaded, occupied, and destroyed the most number of foreign lands and peoples, who have the largest military and intelligence budgets, the largest imperial footprints, the largest debts, etc. In other words, you don’t blame poor children desperately throwing rocks at armored vehicles before first blaming the nuclear monopolist in the region who has the most aggressive lobbying and blackmail operations in every country with the largest defense and finance industries. You don’t blame non-nuclear Iran for any wrong doings before first taking responsibility for the thousands of civilian deaths and millions of refugees you’ve created which have made life difficult for other countries in the region like Iran.
You can call my criticisms screeds, or you can point to my inaccuracies and include any important points I’ve not properly accounted for.
