saudi arabia vs america, conservatism vs liberalism?

Question

saudi arabia seems like the perfect nation. totally conservative, no political correctness, no communists, no hippies, theyre all afraid of it! even feminists never say a word about it out of fear. they will always keep their culture because they also regulate immigration. people can leave, but few can enter. the native population is growing rapidly and there is no abortion, so there will always be saudis. their economy is booming, and soon they wont even need to rely on oil. they keep their religion, and dont adopt others. NO ONE questions them! they are afraid! and they do all of this by will, not by rule of law.
at this rate, saudi arabia will last nation on remain on earth, while america is constantly bogged down by liberals and the ACLU who dont really focus on human rights.

can we thus prove that liberalism destroys nations? like the roman empire for example...

mathew, is free democracy worth it if saudi arabia is heading in a much better direction than america, the big democracy of the world?

Answer 1

Actually there were a multitude of things that caused Rome to fall and liberalism wasn't one of them. Overtaxing of the middle and working classes, the rich didn't pay taxes and became very lethargic and debaucherous in their lives. Constant war against its neighbors, because the economy of Rome depended heavily on a looting mentality, i.e, no domestic source of supplies, the loss of their manufacturing capabilities, and the increase in religion and its zealotry prevented them from exploring science and developing new technologies.

Answer 2

As a conservative, I'm getting desperately tired of folks who try to espouse a conservative position without doing their homework. Yours is merely the latest example. To begin with, the dominant religion in the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the Wahabi sect of Islam. It's spiritual leader was Ibn Abdul Wahab Najdi. His writings and beliefs are part of the philosophy adopted by Osama Bin Laden and the other Salafist Jihadists. The other main source for the Jihadists are the writings of Sayeed Qutb.
The "booming" Saudi economy is driven by the work of non-Saudis. Western engineers and the like. The Saudis place those folks in "infidel ghettos" so that their culture won't pollute the culture sustained by the draconian measures of the religious police. When that oil supply dries up, so does that economy. The aura of perfection you assign to the Saudis was matched in other parts of the world. Romania and Albania, during the days of the Soviet Empire, come to mind.
The ACLU has one simple mission: to defend the first ten amendments to our Constitution. I cannot understand why any conservative feels those amendments don't need defense and protection.

Answer 3

I'm sorry, but because of this heavy conservatism, there are lots of human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, like non-Muslims are discriminated, women have little or no rights, amputation of body parts, no alcohol allowed, no homosexuals allowed and no freedom of speech. Besides they're only rich because of that oil they seemed to have which will run out sooner or later.

Answer 4

You might have a point but on the other hand countries like Saudi Arabia do not engender much creativeness which is also necessary for survival.

Answer 5

If you'd rather have an absolute monarch instead of free democracy go ahead.

Maybe this says something about hard core conservatives... although I disagree with most conservatives about almost everything... I think they'd even agree with me that they'd rather have democracy than a dictatorship.

Answer 6

Huh? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I was too busy watching my 50" Plasma widescreen. What were you saying about destroyed nations?

Answer 7

Your point seems to be that fascism and authoritarianism are better than democracy. I say f*ck that.

Answer 8

people in SA have very little rights...

the ACLU fights for people's rights