The New York sequel

An eventful couple of days so far.. commuting to New York has its own charm. The best part of my day is the 10 min ferry rid over the East River overlooking Manhattan on the one side and Brooklyn on the other....its especially breathtaking on the way home when the whole city is lit up. A close second to this experience is just walking to my office from Wall Street to Battery Park. Its like being a part of a procession of people from all over the world -- Americans, Chinese, Japanese and of course, Indians.... Headlines on CNN : "Bush delcares elections in Iraq a success". Now I have the utmost respect for the American way of living and hold a very healthy appreciation of almost all things American....but this "world police" thing is not sending out the right signals to lesser countries. Two things --- First of all, who the hell is Bush to declare the elections a success? Just because the Americans managed to plant a puppet govt in Iraq doesnt mean the Iraqis are happy.... Second of all, what is with thrusting democracy on all the world? How do we know it is the best form of governance? How do we know it is best for a country like Iraq. This policy of spreading democracy has great similarities to the crusades undertaken by King Richard and his kin to "recover" Holy lands from the muslims and more generally the wars undertaken by 13th Century Christians to spread their faith by forcefully converting people. Its like taking your beliefs and forcing them on others without regards to what's best for others. I have always believed that democracy is not above doubt as the best form of governance....there are flaws and it is not necessarily the best for all countries....some populations are not ready for it or plain cannot afford democracy....more on this reasoning in a different post...but the bottom line is that people do not always know what is best for them --- food for thought, aint it? Enough said....enough said. Adieu for now...