The Natural State of Things

In her latest column titled “A Green Card in Every Pot”, Ann Coulter discusses the (illegal) immigration bill that is raising the ire of conservatives across the country.

As usual, her column is worth the read. However, one sentence stands out:

In fact, the natural state of the world is Darfur. The freakish aberration is America and the rest of the Anglo-Saxon world.

It’s easy to forget that democratic civilizations with free citizens are a recent invention. The natural form of government is when the biggest bullies, through violence and intimidation, take control and oppress their people. In fact, most of the world today is ruled by this kind of tyrant. What we’re seeing in Darfur is aspiring despots fighting for control.

It is also easy to forget that democracy is fragile. A garden requires constant vigilance and work to maintain – grass needs to be mowed, flower beds need to be weeded, and trees need to be pruned. If the gardener stops doing these things, the garden returns to its natural state.

Democracy is the same way. If we don’t maintain it, it will return to its natural state.

And that is Darfur.