The Procrustean Bed

The Procrustean Bed

 

Forcing someone to fit or conform, generally through some type of violence.

    In ancient Attica lived a robber named Procrustes (he who stretches). He would force his victims to lie in a specially built bed. If the victim was too long, he would chop off their arms and legs; if too short, he would have them stretched until their limbs broke. This became known as the Proscrustean bed, designed not to fit however was forced to lie in it, but to force them to fit it.  

Modern states can be seen as being either Democratic or Procrustean.  Procustean states come in many forms but they all share two common traits. They are based upon rule by a minority and the minority is willing to use force to maintain its control.  Some procrustean states are relatively benign; i.e. Oman and Jordan. Some are brutal, i.e. Assad’s Syria, North Korea. Some are rich, i.e. Saudi Arabia. Some are poor, i.e. Afghanistan. Their one common trait is the belief that rule must remain with a minority group. 

When I was young I used to mentally place democratic states in one column and non-democratic states in another.  While informative it may lead to a false impression that some states are by nature democratic and that some are not.  During the past decades I have observed democracies becoming dictatorships and dictatorships becoming democracies.  Why some countries are democracies and some are not is a question for historians, but this I know, there is nothing genetic about the choice between being a democracy or an authoritarian state.  In democratic states you can find people struggling to live in an authoritarian state. In dictatorships there are people struggling for democracy.

I have heard it argued that a nation because of its past and traditions is inherently unfitted to be a democratic state. This is similar to arguing that since a five year old has never known how to read and write, it should not be allowed to go to school.  How is a nation supposed to learn to govern itself if it is never given a chance?  Great democracies have been built with the help of  immigrants from non-democratic states. Too often the genetic excuse has been used by ruling elites to justify their continued oppression and by democratic states to avoid assisting oppressed peoples.

The procrustean bed was designed by Procrustes to render his victim helpless so that Procrustes could rob him.  The procrustean state seems to have a similar purpose.  What is frightening is that in many democracies there are groups busy trying to build their own proscrustean beds at the expense of their fellow citizens.



 

Reviews

[Jodash]

This is a very thought provoking piece. And the title concept- I've never heard of before until now.