Senator George Mitchell Talks About Something Besides Baseball and Steroids
With a backdrop of a rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan, Vladimir Putin as Time Magazine’s man of the year, and an increasing dependence on oil located in volatile countries, Senator George Mitchell discusses the challenges and opportunities facing Democracy in the 21st century.
The difference between democracy and baseball players? Democracy doesn’t need steroids to beat the competition.
In the 20th century democracy faced several major challenges to its existence - the depression, fascism and communism among others. The signal event of that century was the ultimate triumph of democracy.
In much of the world today, there is widespread recognition that democratic governance and free market economics offer the best hope to improve the lives of people, whether they are in developed, underdeveloped, or developing countries.
In a speech to the House of Commons in November of 1947, Winston Churchill described democracy:
“Many forms of government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms of government that have been tried from time to time.”
And Churchill, who wasn’t against the use of force to settle a diplomatic impasse, on war:
“Never never never believe any war will be smooth and easy. Or that everyone who embarks on this strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.”
Over the past half century trade among nations has grown at an unprecedented rate. As a result there has been a steady rise in the standard of living in many countries. One consequence is that economic interdependence has grown as well. What happens in one part of the world can have profound effects on our economy and way of life. The most obvious current example is our economy’s dependence on oil and gas, much of which is located in volatile areas. Political instability creates uncertainty, which inhibits economic growth.
What are future threats to democracy and global stability?
George Mitchell was the 2006 British American Business Inc. annual Winston Churchill Lecture Series speaker.
George John Mitchell is a former Democratic Party politician and United States Senator who currently serves as chairman of the worldwide law firm DLA Piper and also as the Chancellor of the Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was the U.S. Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995 and chairman of The Walt Disney Company from March 2004 until January 2007.
Currently, he’s taking on Roger Clemens & Barry Bonds in the MLB steroid investigation.
Michelle Maher is an Associate Producer at ScribeMedia.Org. She has a particular fondness for penguins.
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