 Why Kerry?
An alternative to
another four years of Bush
By Sam Ghandchi
February 16, 2004
iranian.com
Back in September, I wrote
about the shortcomings of
John Kerry's program, namely his lack of a
viable program for post-industrial technologies, that require clear
plans for fiber in the *last mile* to the home and commitment to
nanotechnology, and also his lack of support for pro-democracy
movement Iran and rest of Middle East, whereas Bush, in his strategy,
has correctly emphasized support of democracy in Iran and the rest
of Middle East. Bush's major handicap all these years has
been his disastrous economic strategy.
Despite shortcomings of Kerry's
program, I think if one can vote in the U.S. election, it is better
to vote for John Kerry
rather
than George Bush.
In the previous election, I suggested to vote for
Al Gore, not because I supported all his programs, but because
of what I considered
to be the key issue at the time, that even countries like South
Korea understood, namely building the next phase of Internet infrastructure
in U.S. and rest of the world, which Gore emphasized at the time,
and today one can easily see how lack of this vision in Bush's
plans, caused the setback of new economy in the U.S. and rest of
the world during the last four years.
My reason for supporting Kerry is not that I support
all his plans. My
reason in very simple. I think Bush has had a chance every
year since his election, to take steps to correct his economic
policy, and he has not, and the only way to end the current economic
disaster of U.S. and global economy, is to put an end to Bush administration,
and John Kerry is the best option available.
The continuation of erroneous economic policies of
Bush Administration, not only puts the U.S. at risk, but worldwide,
it is putting the
whole post-industrial development at risk.
Western democracies being in such a bad shape economically,
is helping the retrogressive forces in Middle East and elsewhere
to
gain grounds, as if the reason for the crisis in the West is the
post-industrial development, and as if the return to the
past strategy of Islamists and similar forces are more viable,
whereas the erroneous ultranationalist economic policies of the
Bush Administration is responsible for the current setbacks, which
have reversely impacted the post-industrial development in the
U.S. and elsewhere in the world.
As noted by David Bowers, chief global investment
strategist of Merrill Lynch, "America is more dependent on the rest
of the world for capital than at any time in the past 50 years" and
Bush's unilateralism has aliened Europe and even investors from
other parts of the world to invest in the U.S., and in a global
economy, such policies from any nation are shooting oneself in
the foot.
Alienating economic partners is what Islamic Republic
of Iran (IRI) has been doing for a long time, hurting Iran and
Iranians who want
to cooperate in global economy, and especially such policies from
the leading economic power of the world, United States, has devastating
consequences for the U.S. and other countries and for global economy
at large. Building relations with Europe and other countries
of the world is critical for the development of global economy
and John Kerry has a right emphasis on that.
Another important aspect of globalization is the
issue of *democracy* and *justice* worldwide, which need to be
emphasized, especially
in face of drastic unemployment in the recent years. The
Democratic camp is emphasizing social justice a lot more than Republicans
have done in four years.
As I have noted before, both Democratic and Republican
parties lack a vision in having answers for the critical issues
of democracy
and social justice in a post-industrial society, and
a Futurist Party is needed to properly answer these issues, but
in the absence of such an alternative, I think it is important
that the votes not break up, like the way Green's vote in the past
elections impacted the results for Al Gore, and all those caring
for the issues, need to vote for John Kerry as an alternative to
another four years of Bush Administration.
If Bush had learned from Al Gore for his economic
strategy, perhaps today he would be easily elected for U.S. presidency
for another
four years. Likewise, I hope Kerry to review his Middle East
policy and learn from Bush in supporting Democracy in the Middle
East, rather than helping regimes like Islamic Republic of Iran
to continue undermining democracy and human rights.
Hoping for a Futurist, Federal, Democratic,
and Secular Republic in Iran.
Author
Sam Ghandchi is publisher/editor of IranScope, an Iranian news
and culture portal site.
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Why Kerry?