I, and I think most people, have always assumed that advances in civilization have then brought about increases in women’s rights. But what if that has it backwards? What if the real cause & effect is that increases in women’s rights have brought us our increases in civilization.
And by civilization I mean society increasing it’s protection of rights for all through the rule of law, an increasingly productive economy that raises the standard of living for all, and the right of all to live life as they choose.
So back to my point. Women’s rights and increases in civilization have tended to progress together. And in societies that are less civilized today - women also have significantly fewer rights.
The poster child for this is the Arabic world. And not just Saudi Arabia and Iran which are horrible on both counts, but also look at Lebanon and Jordan, two of the more "civilized" countries in the region and both have greater rights for women, both legally and culturally.
But you can see the same dichotomy in North America vs. South America. And in Taiwan where women have come close to achieving equality with men to a degree that may even surpass the U.S.
The same holds for the micro-loan programs in place around the world. These programs have found that they are much more effective when the loans are made to women. These loans lead to new business which in turn lead to a stronger economy and more people entering the middle class – a key cause of increasing civilization.
So what does this mean? Well, if women’s rights is the key to increasing civilization, then we should be concentrating on three things as we try to effect dangerous regimes in other countries (and note that these items do not require an invasion):
- Women must have the vote. The voting rights act was the single biggest step for the civil rights success in this country. With the vote, as women make their cultural changes, they have the political power to enshrine those changes in law.
- Provide micro-loans to any woman who qualifies in targeted countries. This will give women economic power and an independent platform to push their views from. And this independence will lead women to start asserting their own views, views that will evolve as their success and independence continues.
- Provide support for political movements that are liberal and either primarily run by women or at a minimum have women in equal numbers at all levels of the organization.
I think the above three steps would be very effective even if it is civilization and then women’s rights. But if it’s women’s rights that have historically brought about increases in civilization, then the above steps will be tremendously powerful. More powerful than an invasion for a lot less cost and a lot less death & destruction.
Trackbacks: The Political Teen, DailyKos, The Indepundit, Mudville Gazette
