THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 213, September 26, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
MAJORITARIAN DICTATORSHIP VERSUS THE AMERICAN SYSTEM:
MEET THE INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATIC UNION
& ITS UNDERLYING POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
By Tom DeWeese
THE INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATIC UNION & ITS ADVOCACY OF FABIAN SOCIALISM & MAJORITARIAN DICTATORSHIP:
HOW THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE IDU DIFFERS FROM THE FUNDAMENTAL GOVERNING PRINCIPLES STATED IN THE
AMERICAN DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, EMBODIED IN THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, & UNDERLYING AMERICA'S
CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
FULL STORY:
Not many Americans, particularly Conservative Republicans, have heard of the International Democratic Union (IDU), but most
would be very surprised to learn the names of the IDU's membership and the true goals of the organization.
Formed in 1983, the IDU says it’s a “working association of over 80 Conservative, Christian Democrat, and like-minded political
parties of Centre and Centre Right.” Some of the political party members of the IDU include the German Christian Social Union, the
British Conservative Party, the Conservative Party of Norway, and the U.S. Republican Party.
In the IDU’s 2005 Declaration, issued after a recent meeting in Washington, D.C., it stated:
“Our common goal is of free, just, and compassionate societies. We appreciate the value
of tradition and inherited wisdom. We value freely elected governments, the market-based
economy and liberty for our citizens. We will protect our people from those who preach
hate and plan to destroy our way of life. Free enterprise, free trade, and private property
are the corner stones of free ideas and creativity, as well as material well-being. We
believe in justice, with an independent judiciary. We believe in democracy, in limited
government, and a strong civic society.”
Such a statement gives one the impression that the IDU is on a mission to spread the ideals of the American Revolution around the
globe. Here, at last, might be an international organization that brings the good news of our own Declaration of Independence to the
far corners of the oppressed world. No other document on earth more strongly declares the principles of liberty that made the United
States of America the guiding light of the world. With the U.S. Republican Party as an active member, it would certainly be expected
that American documents and principles would be the basis of policy for an international organization that declares it promotes “free
enterprise, free trade, and private property.”
But a careful look at the IDU’s founding Declaration of Principles reveals a very different message. The second paragraph of the IDU
Declaration states that the organization is "... committed to advancing the social and political values on which democratic societies
are founded, including the basic personal freedoms and human rights, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights....”
That, of course, is the United Nation’s Declaration of Human Rights that the IDU document is promoting.
There are two conflicting philosophies of governing in the world. One philosophy, the American view, as outlined in the Declaration
of Independence, maintains that all people have rights they are born with and that government’s only job is to protect those rights at
all costs. The Declaration of Independence says that these rights are forever and unquestioned. This concept of God-given, natural
rights is the foundation for human freedom.
The other philosophy says that government decides the rights we should have, professing that all such rights give way to an
undefined, common good whenever the situation is warranted. That means that all socalled rights are subject to the whim of whatever
gang is currently in power, making the definitions of what constitutes the “common good.”
As an example of how this second philosophy works in practice, the Constitution of the Soviet Union stated that Soviet citizens had
most of the same rights as Americans, but also said individual rights were secondary to the common good. In the case of the Soviet
Union, the common good was defined as creating a worldwide Communist utopia.
The UN’s Declaration of Human Rights takes this second approach, outlining specific rights it says we should all have. It says
nothing of inalienable rights and refers to the “rights under the law.” Who or what is the law, according to the Declaration? It says
“the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government.” Now, at first look, that sounds like American system --
constitutional democracy, the rule of law, popular government, democratic political participation, people voting, the end of
dictatorship, tyranny, and political suppression and oppression.
But such a concept ignores the very root of American freedom – the idea that our rights are guaranteed, no matter what the majority
thinks.
Suppose the majority of people vote to abolish your business or take your home? This is called absolute majority rule and is another
form of dictatorship. Unlimited majority rule, or majoritarian dictatorship, what led to the ravages of the guillotine in revolutionary
France. It’s rule by fear -- fear of the wrong gang changing the rules, fear of standing against the crowd. Absolute majority rule is
simply rule by a lynch mob – or more graphically, three wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for lunch.
This is the root of the philosophy entrenched in the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights. It is the root of the political policy behind
Sustainable Development and the Supreme Court’s Kelo Decision on Eminent Domain. It’s the philosophy that says the common
good needs to be served. Hang individual rights. Personal wants and needs must give way to the whims of the crowd in charge.
Now this destructive philosophy is entrenched and being passed off as freedom by the International Democrat Union, an
international organization that dares pretend to speak for those of us who advocate limited government and human liberty. The
IDU’s documents are filled with rhetoric about compassion. Does it show compassion to support a policy that says no one’s
property is safe from confiscation?
The root of the IDU’s political agenda is Fabian Socialism, which wants to blur national borders and cultures and to eliminate
private property and individual liberty in favor of the common good. The Fabian Socialists -- called "Liberals," "Liberal Leftists,"
"Leftwing Liberals," and "Liberal Statists" in the U.S.A. -- consider themselves to be a ruling elite that knows better than
individuals how to run our lives. Their way is: Heads, government wins. Tails, citizens lose. It is the worst form of tyranny. And
this is the root of the IDU, and by association, apparently the Republican Party, U.S.A.. That answers a lot of questions about
recent Republican public policy decisions.
Today, we are in a battle between the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights and the American Declaration of Independence --
Between Liberty and Tyranny, between Individual Freedom and Fabian Socialism. It is no longer a battle between Left and Right,
between Liberals and Conservatives. Many who call themselves Conservative have been greatly troubled by the policy decisions
of the Republican Party and the Bush White House. Perhaps now the reasons for their confusion will be clearer. The answers
lie in the accepted policies of an international organization that most local and state Republican leaders have never even heard of
– and major Republican leaders won’t even acknowledge exists. The IDU’s web page, by way of proof, is www.idu.org. It exists
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
U.S. Constitutional Law & Political Philosophy
The American Declaration of Independence
The Constitution of the United States of America
Political Theory Underlying the U.S. Constitution:
The Federalist -- Selected Essays
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
American Politics & Political Competition
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, & Other Leftists
Liberalism Versus Conservatism in American Politics
-------------------------
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY & POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES:
COMPETING SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
Conservatism
Traditional Conservatism: Questions & Answers
Conservatism: Attitudes, Types, & Present Status
Constitutional Conservatism: American & British
Liberalism
Classical Liberalism: Intellectual Foundations
Classical Liberalism: Conservative Liberalism
Manchester Liberalism & Social Darwinism
Modern Social "Liberalism": Statist "Liberalism"
Radical & Totalitarian Ideologies
Radicalism, Utopianism, & Totalitarianism
Tom DeWeese is the Publisher and Editor of The DeWeese Report and President of the American Policy Center, a
grassroots activist think tank headquartered in Warrenton, Virginia. The Center maintains an Internet website at
www.americanpolicy.org.
Copyright 2005 Tom DeWeese
Published with Permission of Tom DeWeese
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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