Me, myself and Iraq

A principal prop of liberal Western capitalist culture is individualism. The grand transformation of the European order came when people hitherto perceived mainly as components of larger social structures (often under the ultimate authority of a king endorsed by the Divine) slowly established secular systems where individuals played the defining role. The individual could now shape his own life narrative much as he pleased, agreed a contract with society to avoid mutual harm, but otherwise acted as an autonomous unit whose individuality was best embodied in the institution of democratic elections – “one man, one vote.” So obvious were the merits of this scheme that it was with growing consternation that the United States struggled with it as the scheduled date for Iraqi parliamentary elections approached at the end of last month. The reason was that under the system chosen to govern the elections, individuals in Iraq might, in theory,