[Tlc] michael jerryson

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Here is an opinion from one of our members, Michael Jerryson:

There is a lot of dirty laundry to air; whether this
administration will do it is a question. Investigations and
changes take time, and there is no smooth sailing in matters
like these.

The Thai Rak Thai party, under the leadership of Thaksin,
uprooted many civilian and local administrations that were
extremely important to maintaining civility in Southern
Thailand. Take for instance the Southern Border Provinces
Administrative Centre (SBPAC). This previous week, Sonthi is
beginning to try and resurrect the SBPAC and has made contact
with some of the groups responsible for the continual deaths
and mayhem in Southern Thailand-- raising a possibility of a
ceasefire.

To criticize the coup for destroying the integrity of a
democratic system raises epistemological queries. It also
calls into question the use of the very use of the term
'democracy.' Is this simply a title, or a sense of duration,
or should it pertain to state matters and their
interrelationship with the people?

Are we discussing a 'Western liberal' form of democracy, which
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong considers at best
adequate in Asian governments, or another type that is still
forming? There is an online forum sponsored by The Nation,
regarding Thailand and democracy, which I feel is quite
relevant to this discussion. The title of the forum: "Can
foreigners ever understand Thai politics?"

Aside from the fact that the U.S has a very disturbed
democratic system as of late, we need to remember our own
roots for our constitution and said democracy. As General
Washington 'reclaimed' the government for the people (and
right now many retired generals are quietly talking about
reclaiming the current government), we should realize that it
took military might to alter our course for a specific democracy.

While I appreciate recent musings on the September coup, I
fear many of us have become jaded by recent historical records
(which is understandable -- 17 coups since 1932). To assess
this coup will take time. And although I am not a Freudian, I
do agree with him that in order to adequately assess history,
we must have some distance from it.


michael jerryson

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu