The Inexorable March of Liberty, No. 1

The last feudal system in Europe was abolished this week. Was that headline from 1840? No, it was from 2008; the United Kingdom-controlled Channel Island of Sark, population 600, was this very week granted a legislature chosen by universal suffrage. Other than being on the front page of Wikipedia, what does this mean for the rest of the world? Probably not much, as stability and rule of law have existed there for a long time. Indeed, the constitutional changes were made to bring the Channel Islands into compliance with EU policy. But it does show that yes, despite 200 years of cynicism, attempts at utopia (i.e. Communism and Fascism), and ethnic clusterfucks in the Balkans and Third World, the West still believes that representative democracy is the only legitimate system of government. Of course dictators like Mugabe, Hu Jintao, al-Bashir (dictator of Sudan), Ahmadinejad, and Kin Jong-Il will not bat an eye at a mandatory reform in a dependency of 600 motor-vehicle-free souls. It's nice to think that they would, though.