Inconvenient truth about liberal democracies

Switzerland, one of the most democratic and well-off countries, have passed a referendum banning the Muslim minaret. It seems Huntington was right, or wasn’t he?

Fear of Islam is rife in Europe, not only after 9/11. Muslims came to Europe because they were colonized, and also, there has been a demand for labor force. But Europe has never been as open to the immigrants as the United States. Considering the anti-immigration sentiment in America, it is understandable that immigrants are not welcome in Europe, especially those we don’t speak the European languages very well.

But what about culture? Is it really the clash of civilization? 9/11, Madrid and London bombings of course worsened the situation. This gave some politicians excuses to shut the door for Muslims. But we all know there are Christian extremists and there were many more in the past. The cause is not the religion per se, and it will certainly improve in the future. But prejudice, animosity and discrimination will only delay the moderation of Islam.

Can democracy help? It’s hard. I do believe liberal democracy is the best type of political system mankind has ever made, but everybody recognizes it’s far from perfect. The political diversity is good for the society, and people are always easy to be influenced and incited by some demagogues or warmongers. Whenever there is a crisis, hatred and fear will dominate and be taken advantage of by politicians.

Even there were no Islam, they would still use the differences among people (there are always some, because everyone is unique), in terms of their religion, culture, language, race, gender, wealth, etc., to pursue their hidden agenda. There will always be some.

But are those politicians to blame? No. They exist because of the system. You cannot expect everybody to be Philosophy King. People do what they do because of the system they are in. It is really an inconvenient truth. I would expect this kind of story will exist forever in the world. What I can do is to finger-cross and hope it will become rarer.

Trip to Switzerland? Trapped in Switzerland!

The world-renowned director, Roman Polanski, has been arrested by the Swiss authority when he tried to enter Switzerland to receive the Lifetime Achievement Awards at Zurich Film Festival. He will be extradited to the United States where he was charged of unlawful sexual intercourse with an underage girl.

Oh dear. He could've made a movie about himself which could easily win Oscar Best Picture. Though the sex law in the United States is extremely harsh, Polanski did commit a serious crime in 1977 (more serious than it sounds because its current charge is part of a plea deal). Actually raping a 13-year-old girl is more accurate. But the way of arresting him is very interesting.

Knowing he could be extradited back by any country who has the treaty with US, he has been cautious for the past thirty years, restricting his traveling in very few countries. He canceled several trips for fear of being arrested. But this time, facing an option of getting a lifetime honor, he wasn't so careful. Probably he thinks the US government is forgetful or forgiving. It turns out to be neither.

Clearly the arrest has been planned for a very long time. A provisional warrant has been issued to the Swiss authorities beforehand. The determination to implement laws is certainly applaudable, but trapping an extremely famous celebrity by sneaking would not be that popular after all.