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Originally Posted by politicophile
The question is this: what, if anything, should liberal cultures do to encourage illiberal cultures to change their ways?
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That assumes a few things.
Let's break this down.
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Liberal:
-Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
-Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.
-Of, relating to, or characteristic of liberalism.
Liberal Of, designating, or characteristic of a political party founded on or associated with principles of social and political liberalism, especially in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States
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So when we refer to a liberal country, we are talking about a country that is open-minded. A country that is tolerant. A country that is not bogged down by political or social dogma.
This suggests that the illiberal countries are closed minded, intolerant, and is willing to follow dogma for it's own sake?
I've got to be honest. You're describing the two antagonistic parts of every society. America has parts that show the greatest of liberalism, and the greatest of illiberalism, just like very other country in the world. There are no countries that are free of liberalism or illiberalism, and few if any that exist with either to the extreme.
I think that self proclaimed liberal contries are diluting themselves. I think that if there were contries referring to themselves as iliberal, they ewould also be mistaken. It is a sweeping generalization that misrepresents the truth of society; there exists a dichotemy in all countries and all societies.
Because, IMO, there are no liberal countries, and no illiberal countries, only shades of gray, there should be no holier than thou attitude. The idea that we'll bring freedom to the savages is sypmtomatic of an even larger self dillusion.