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> preservation of democracy against totalitarianism I don't think I will ever understand this sentiment. At the time of WW2, the US still legally discriminated
by pm90 9y ago
> preservation of democracy against totalitarianism
I don't think I will ever understand this sentiment. At the time of WW2, the US still legally discriminated against colored people. The UK had a sprawling empire whose colored citizens were not given full rights or representation. France was also similar; in fact France tried to claw its empire back which led to some ugly wars in IndoChina (Vietnam) and Algeria.
Let me say that Nazism and Fascism were surely forces that needed to be defeated and put down. But the Allies were hardly the perfect coalition of "free people" or the "free world" that people today glorify them to be. They were at best a "better side that was moving in the right direction".
- philwelch 9y ago> They were at best a "better side that was moving in the right direction". That is democracy. Fascism and communism were the worse sides that were moving in the wrong direction, and allowing those factions to gain a military advantage would have been morally indefensible. The UK and France abandoned their empires in the 20th century; the Soviets expanded theirs. I think it's wonderful that liberal democracies have a rich culture of self-criticism when it comes to their flaws and imperfections. That's what makes it so important to preserve them.