A Ba'athist State is Superior to a Islamic Sharia Theocracy

Ba'athism is a secular Pan-Arabist Nationalist ideology. This ideology is mainly based on the writings of Michel Aflaq, who after the Assad-Hussein split supported the Iraqi variant of Ba'athism, but was also theorized by Arab politician Zaki Al-Arzuri. The two initially disliked each other, and were never part of the same organization. It has several factors which makes it sui generis from other authoritarian Arabic Nationalist ideologies, like Nasserism and Kemalism. These factors are liberty, Arabic Socialism and Unity. 1. Liberty and Utility “When you strip a man of his liberties, you strip him of his humanity” A famous philosopher once said. Liberty is a virtue of every government, so vital that even the most totalitarian regimes present their people as free and fair. Professor Patrick Glenn stated that “by giving priority to human welfare over human liberty, Islamic law justifies the formal inequality of individuals by collective goals” Liberty, in Ba’ath terms, is already defined as the freedom to disseminate progressive ideas within the tenants of the Ba’athist ideology. This liberty, although authoritarian in nature, is liberty in the sense that individualistic actions are not prohibited. Under Sharia law, this is non-existent. Acceptable Sharia behavior falls into five categories; mandatory, recommended, neutral, discouraged, and outlawed. Many actions in the outlawed sections violate the common liberties of human life; the spreading of new ideas relating to the concept of God (Allah) is prohibited. The marriage of a non-Muslim and a Muslim spouse is also in this outlaw section, despite the mere fact that this, the choosing of a spouse, is basic human rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Apart from this, freedom of faith is absent in the face of harsh terms against it. If a person leaves Islam, then that person will be executed. These violated liberties reduce the utilitarian value of happiness, which is put easily through this formula: H=s+c+v (Whereas H is happiness, s is biological standpoint, c is conditions, and v is voluntary values) With c being very low, as the conditions of living in a Sharia Theocracy because of the violation of liberties, v would be highly affected. Apart from this, c would be higher for men than women because of the Sharia-based social hierarchy. Since the above formula, in which almost all (except for s) variables are based on the preserving of human rights, a Sharia Theocracy creates less utility. As stated, many of these violations of liberties are non-existent in the Ba’athist Ideology, as liberty is protected in the main tenants of Ba’athism. Ba’athism therefore creates more utility than Sharia. 2. Economics Economics is an important part in measuring the success of many states. Before looking at practical cases, observing the theoretical positions of the two ideologies is vital in understanding this superiority. Sharia Economics are highly obsolete in the current world, although Islamic Economics created modern world capitalism. Sharia Economics is proto-capitalistic, with the creation of a monetary value instead of a barter system. Yet it is based on the assumption that there is only one monetary value in this world, due to the fact that during the Caliphate, there was only one. Apart from this, the Proto-Capitalistic system under Sharia forbids the privatization of the following resources: -Gas -Oil -Tar and Other Fire Producing “Fuels” -Animal Pastures -Water Resources With this said, the two real-life case studies that will be presented are the ones of the two neighbors, Iran and Iraq. Iran represents the Sharia Theocracy, while Iraq represents the Ba’athist State. Keep in mind that the Iraq that I'm talking about is the Iraq before the Iran-Iraq War in 1988, while the Iran I am talking about is the years directly after the Iranian Revolution of '79. In Iraq, during the period of economic progress, had a huge GDP increase (after the nationalization of the largest oil company in Iraq), which saw Iraq’s oil revenue rise from 219 million Iraqi Dinar (in 1972) to 1.7 billion Iraqi Dinar (1974). By 1980, Iraq’s oil revenue was at 80 billion Iraqi Dinar; a 40 times increase in a period of less than 10 years. Iraq’s economic growth throughout this period was a high 11.3%. Iraq, by 1980, was the 2nd largest oil exporter in the world. Compare this with the sluggish performance of Iran; although life expectancy is high for its region, unemployment and inflation is also very high. Inflation in Iran is 20%. Although the GDP of Iran has increased after to 8.7 billion Iraqi Dinar (I used Iraqi Dinar so that the comparison between the two countries would be easier), it still faces huge problem with employment, which led to a brain drain. With the current Iranian Economic Model, it can never achieve the miracles (even with the same or perhaps more) that the Iraqi Ba’athist model has achieved. 3. Arabic Unity Firstly, what do we mean by an Arab? The Arabic Race is represented via the following qualities; language, culture, and genetics. The Arabic language is an Afro-Asiatic Language; perhaps thought as the Modern Standard Arabic Language that is taught throughout many schools in Arabic countries. The Arabic Language has close ties with Hebrew. The Arabic Culture is something related, but not limited, to the language. In many Arabic countries, the culture of each country, whether it is Egypt or Syria, is almost identical. For example, Arabic music is based on an Arabic Tonal Scale, which is used in all variants of music played in the Arabic Countries. The last factor that defines the Arabic people is genetics; throughout the Arab world, Haplogroup E1b1 is the defining Haplopgroup in the Arabic race. Although people in Greater Syria contain some European gene flow, the Arabic race is unified, via genetics, by two Haplogroup. Through all these similarities, we can conclude that the only way to increase the prosperity and reduce the problems we face in the Middle East right now. But we must dig further into the problems; what is the main cause of these conflicts? The cause of these conflict(s) is sectarian violence; the internal violence between Islam, which has led to the loss of many lives. Under Ba’athism, however, the creation of the Arabic state would be united via cultural factors. As will be stated in my next argument, religion plays a less vital part than the appeal to traditions; 7.1% of Arabs, including the founder himself, Michel Aflaq, are Christians. By uniting all Arabs in one theocratic Sharia states, the minority Christian population would be wiped out in its entirety, as no other faith (apart from the faith of Allah) is allowed in a Sharia state. Sharia can never unite the Arabic people under one state, which is desirable in the creation of a more peaceful middle east; the only way to unite all Arabs is via Ba’athism 4. Secularistic Thoughts We dip briefly, but yet deeply, into the concept of the Golden Mean. Although a philosophical concept, this philosophy should be adopted by every person in order to make decisions. The Golden Mean is described, easily and simply, by the following quote made by a Phlocylides, a Greek Poet: “In many things, the middle has the best/ be mine a middle station” Or put simply, the Golden Means is a desired middle between two extremes. For example, the extreme of x is considerable undesirable because it violates and reduces utility of y group of people, while the extreme of a is undesirable because it decreases the revenue of k people. In order to create a Golden Mean between the two systems (for utility to be maximized), the solution for this problem is ax. Let us now take this equation into a practical basis, based highly and firmly on this debate. Let us say x is Sharia Theocracy, while a is an Atheist Republic. Clearly, x would be a violation of the rights of many people; women, non-Muslims, and communists. An Atheist Republic, or a, is also undesirable, because of the deep xenophobic feelings that many of the Arabian youth feel towards “outsiders” Then the Golden Mean between these two (describe via ax) is clearly Ba’athism. Why is Ba’athism a Golden Mean between two differing system? Firstly, Ba’athism is secular, not atheistic. It allows the Freedom of Faith for every person, but encourages Islam. Secondly, Ba’athism in nature enforces many of the things that a Sharia Theocracy ought to implement. The exploitation of man by man is banished; many industries would be in government hands, except for a few private industries. These many industries will almost definitely include oil and all the companies in which Sharia law ought to stop the privatization of. Apart from this, Michel Aflaq stated that the fall of the Arabian Empire was due mainly to Sectarian violence. The role between Islam and the State in Ba’athism is complex; I believe that it would be a balance between two, much like Israel’s state right now. The state has a religion, but many other faiths are allowed. The state does not claim divinity (in which a theocracy does), and does what is best for the subjects of the state’s individual rights. These things will clearly destroy any sectarian violence; the Arabic people will be too invested in uniting and taking advantage of the new UAR to actually take religion in a fundamental way, as they did. With this, sectarian violence will be eliminated. A Ba’athist state is the only way to eliminate the violence created. Because of these reasons, a Ba'athist State is superior to a Sharia Theocracy. GLORY TO THE UAR! GLORY TO THE ARAB BA'ATH! Citations:http://en.wikipedia.org...'athismhttp://en.wikipedia.org...http://en.wikipedia.org...'athist_Iraqhttp://en.wikipedia.org...http://albaath.online.fr...http://albaath.online.fr...http://albaath.online.fr...