On mind over matter, Marx was wrong.

Over at Sultan Knish's:

Yes, the central problem of human development is that society's culture defines society's life. Rigid dogmatic schema's of social construction change nothing until "the psyche" of a nation is changed - its CORE MORAL VALUES, it's ETHICS system.

The Arab/Moslem societies of today are autocratic - self-oppressing: their oppression is innate, ingrained in their fabric of day-to-day life, not a consequence of any external "dictator" who's rule is often a counterweight to it and a guarantor for some limited form of personal rights (like it was for women in Saddam's Iraq for instance, and of course the Egypt's Mubarak).

Of course we can define the cultural assumptions behind Freedom in a little bit more explicit terms than just "the Englishmen rights". It is the rule of Law - equality of all before Law; and the most importantly, the Law being a manifestation of *Negative Golden Rule*:

Do No Harm!
(i.e. do not do unto other that which you wish were not done onto you).

Plus, the Imperative of Individual Freedom:

Freedom of Thought and Choice!
(viz., the Right to Know, to Think, and to Choose for yourself), and

NO COERCION!

Any ethics system based on these three moral axioms can not but lead to a Freedom Society, of free and responsible individuals.

A specific governance scheme is less important then. A responsible citizen will even refrain from voting on issues with which she is less familiar.

The most dangerous crime in such a system would be conscious spreading of LIES, half-truths and omissions of facts in order to influence the thinking process of individuals. That is of course widespread today.

The problem of false perception remains (to wit, the Rachel Corries, the Daily Kos's and HuffPo's of today), but Rational Thought is not an easy and passive endeavor.