Western democracy and the third world: A further comment

Abstract

An elementary lesson taught to lawyers, diplomats and others whose function is advocacy of any kind is that when you have a weak case your best defence is to confuse the issue and attack your opponent. Nothing has given me more assurance of the correctness of my analysis' than Professor Morris-Jones's attack on it.2 There is a type of mind that is convinced that it has the monopoly of truth. It was exemplified till the last century by the evangelists from the western world who set out to carry the gospel to the heathen with the truly honest and genuine desire to save his soul from eternal damnation. They were deeply hurt when the obstinate heathen would not see the light and persisted in worshipping his own ancient gods; they could not understand why. Since the death of God in the West, the mantle of the missionary has fallen on the evangelists of democracy who are equally convinced that they are in possession of the universal and only truth. They regard it as their duty to humanity to propagate the new gospel and are as hurt and mystified as their forerunners were at the stubborn refusal of the Third World to accept it. Professor Moris-Jones holds that I am anti-western. According to him I am oppressed by the fact that liberal democracy is western in origin and application. I am racist because I point out that democracy outside Europe has been successful, largely only in countries colonised by men of European stock. I know only the elite of the western world; and I look down on my 'benighted masses' and the 'lower orders'.3 I argue against western liberal democracy because it would affect the position of my own class and that I am guilty of 'petulant irritation' because China has done so much better than India and consequently, has achieved greater international recognition. None of this has any bearing on the validity of my thesis. But as the attack on my person has been so virulent, a word about my personal position might not be inappropriate. I am sure I am not without bias: no human being can be. But I am fairly certain that I am not biased in any of the ways Professor Morris-Jones