Letter

In response to When Confucius meets Machiavelli

Capitalism and democracy are different things

In the very excellent When Confucius meets Machiavelli, Teow Loon Ti states,

“It implies whether these countries comprise people of European origin, profess an adherence to the idea of democracy and common values with the core, is endowed with valuable natural resources and willing to make them available to the Empire and its supporters on terms agreeable to them…”

This sentence proves the lie contained within it. The lie that the US Empire is devoted to protecting the ideal of democracy. The US Empire has only ever been interested in defending Capitalism, not democracy. Millions of victims of US supported right wing autocracies from South East Asia to South Africa and South America can attest to this. Even Australia’s fragile democracy was undermined by the CIA to protect capitalism.

We must remove this lie from public discourse to be able to maturely navigate our alliances in the future.

John Donegan Nathalia, Victoria.

— John Donegan from Nathalia