OxBlog

# Posted 12:30 PM by Ariel David Adesnik

OXBLOG VS. DEMOCRACY PROMOTION: For the second time this month, OxBlog is coming down on the anti-democratic side of an issue. The issue this time is freedom for whales.

As demonstrated by the case of Keiko, aka "Free Willy", some creatures do not have an inherent desire for freedom. Animal rights activists insisted that Keiko should be "free", rather than enjoying the benefits of a benevolent dictatorship at any one of a thousand aquariums that would've been proud to have him.

Even though millions of dollars were spent on preparing Keiko for freedom, he never abandoned his desire for human company. According to psychologist Clive Wynne

A love of animals is no bad thing, but when one beast receives more resources than all but the tiniest fraction of the world's wealthiest people, we should at least stop and think for a moment...

It is a classic anthropomorphic fallacy to believe that an animal's best interests are whatever a human would desire under similar circumstances.

Hence, let it be clear from this moment forward that OxBlog is a supporter of human rights.

Also I'd like to take this opportunity to respond to those who criticized me for taking the anti-democratic side in the most recent China-Taiwan dispute. I would've responded earlier if I hadn't been in California. Anyhow, one of the well-thought out criticisms of my post came from JH, who writes that Taiwan's

ballot proposal poses absolutely no threat to anyone, least of all China. It's utterly symbolic, and will not threaten a single citizen of Mainland
China. That being so, there is very little that would justify China's response --and even less to justify our support for China's response.

Even if we didn't endorse the Taiwanese election, what we did was very specifically and forcefully endorse China's right to dictate to democratic Taiwan what it can and cannot choose to do. That's a very chilling precedent considering we're supposedly committed to paying any price to
building a democracy in Afganistan and Iraq...

JH is right that the ballot proposal is utterly symbolic. And that's exactly why there is no need for the United States to support it. It will result in no real gains for democracy on Taiwan or anywhere else. All it will accomplish is the provocation of mainland China.

Another JH writes that

Chen is a politician. Fortunately, he is not an opportunist, except when it comes to democracy. Not a bad thing. During his tenure, Chen has certainly erred and just as certainly deepened the roots of democracy here in Taiwan. Again, this is not at all bad. Here and now, the defensive referendum is certainly a hot topic and certainly worth examination because the referendum will be the start of a much needed reexamination of the status quo. That is something the powers in Beijing just cannot allow and America must insist upon if we are to follow up on President Bush’s Forward Diplomacy initiative.

Why is the referendum something that "the powers in Beijing just cannot allow"? Because it is a fundamental threat to their hold on power. In abstract terms, that is a good thing. But there is no excuse for risking massive bloodshed when other avenues of reform exist.

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