paul & ayman - are they on to something?

paul & ayman, originally uploaded by John Barleycorn.

After watching Adam Curtis's fantastic BBC documentary The Power of Nightmares I've started to think a lot about what had been said. Could Paul Wolfowitz and the Neoconservatives and Ayman al-Zawahiri and the Islamists be on to something? Is the liberal democracy something chaotic and bad? Well, not necessarily. Trade unions, strikes, feminism, violent demonstrations, gay activism, rock'n'roll, riots and short skirts doesn't have to mean that the freedom of a liberal democracy is something bad. On the contrary. But that's the Neoconservative and the Islamist view apparently. And their favourite "solutions" to these "problems" are patriotism and religious moralism. And if that's not enough they have the Politics of Fear! The evil enemy that threatens to destroy our way of living! Soviet communism, American imperialism or Islamist terrorism - just choose your favourite fear. With these tools they can create a democracy that's mostly harmless and easy to control.

Well, now to my point... or, well, the thing I've been thinking about. What if there's another way to solve these "darker" sides of todays liberal democracy - the riots, the strikes, the violent demonstrations and... well, not the short skirts... Something other than patriotism, religion, fear or media sedatives. How do we keep the democracy vital and meeningful? It seems like freedom without basic equality leads to social unrest and civil disorder. Maybe because people don't like to be poor, hungry, powerless and constantly f*cked by a wealthy elite that protects its power and property violently. So what about basic economic and social equality? A society without huge social and economic inequalities will be a much more stable and happy society. Less riots, less strikes and less violent demonstrations. So it all comes down to three alternatives:
-A fake democracy based on religious fundamentalism, patriotism/nationalism and fear
-A fake democracy plagued by chaos, ruled by monopolies and oligopolies and protected by a violent police force
-A true democracy based on economic, political and social equality

Make your choice! Am I a f*ckin' hippie commie or what!!!????