How Democracy Dies...

in #politics7 years ago


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If you aren’t seeing signs that American democracy is in trouble, I would say its only because you aren’t looking. Many of the players in American politics are discarding long held standards and practices that have kept our political rivalries in balance, and prevented the kind of bitter conflict that eventually leads to the types of repressive governments we have witnessed so often over the last century.

My disgust with the orange clown leading our country is no secret - in fact I tell everyone who will listen just how deep that disgust runs. I can’t stand him, his policies, or any of the people around him – surprise… I constantly argue that Donald Trump is displaying classic authoritarian tendencies in addition to the widely reported ineptitude at governing...

What makes a democracy healthy and what would lead to its collapse?

Some democracies die in a hail of gunfire, or there’s a military coup, or the leaders are imprisoned, or sometimes entire political factions are even executed. This is not the typical breakdown of democracy that we see happening in America today, this would be more typical of the cold war era. What we see happening in America is much more subtle - but no less dangerous.

Military coups do occur occasionally in the world today, although they are much less common than they used to be. The primary way in which democracies have died since the end of the cold war is at the hands of elected leaders, in the hands of governments that were often freely or close to freely elected, who then use democratic institutions to weaken or destroy democracy slowly from within. Military coups happen suddenly, overnight in most cases - sudden events which trigger the breakdown, giving rise to dictators and other authoritarian regimes.

We can only hope that our American institutions are strong enough to survive this process, but surely if we were to fall into some kind of crisis, it would likely take that form – destruction from within by the very people charged with preventing it.

This doesn’t typically happen the week or even several months after the elected leader takes power, it unfolds gradually. That’s one of the things that make it extremely difficult to study, and for us citizens, make it extremely difficult to even recognize its happening.

Electoral totalitarians come to power democratically, they have democratic legitimacy from being elected, and then they gradually chip away at democratic institutions. There is a gradual tilting of the playing field toward the incumbent so it becomes harder and harder to dislodge the incumbent through democratic means. The process may take years, or it may take a decade, but at the end of the process the incumbent is firmly entrenched in power.

This process takes different forms in different countries.

For example what we have witnessed in Turkey over the last ten years. Essentially president Erdowan has entrenched himself in power, and weakened the opposition to the point where it is now almost impossible to remove him by any democratic means. In this instance there continues to be elections, but the elections are tilted in favor of the incumbent, making the elections no longer fair. Through a variety of mechanisms the president is able to stay in power, and to withstand any criticism, even though public support is no longer there.

Very often what we see today is the formal architecture of democracy remains in place, but the actual substance of it is destroyed or rendered inoperable. Such as in Russia, where it only had a brief brush with anything resembling a true democracy in the late 1980’s, that quickly collapsed and has since devolved into an oligarchy. Russia has the illusion of democracy, with a parliament and institutions designed around the democratic principal, but in practice it would more accurately be described as an oligarchy or autocracy.

History is destined to repeat itself...

Never in a million years would I have considered the possibility that American democratic principals could be threatened as they are now. Under the Trump presidency we are seeing the systematic dismantling of every democratic institution that makes our country BETTER. The judiciary is being stacked with sycophantic judges, the congressional leadership on both sides governs based solely on self interest, and the population is so blinded by artificial made up issues designed to divide us, that most have no clue who the true enemy of democracy really is.

I've been reading a new book called How Democracies Die - by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (Professors of Government Harvard University) Yes I know - confirmation bias... Its a great read - recommended... I'll probably write more of these "rants" as I read more of the book... It gives me a lot of material to work with... :)

If you wont take my word for it - take theirs... Get the book...

Believe Me...

Thanks for reading...

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The pit the left against the right, no matter who is in the Oval Office, they both end up supporting their master, the banking cabal. The dollar demise started in 1972, when Nixon took us off the Gold standard, depreciating to USSA dollar to only 2% of it's original buying power through inflation, which we are getting plenty. The Roman empire ended when they watered down their silver and gold coinage, and the soldiers refused to accept copper coins, not worth dying for and we watered down or coinage in 1964......That's how"How Democracies Die".

Hi @ rollingthunder... Your on the right track my friend... The currency argument is a separate issue (although just as important and relevant). My "fear" is more with the systematic dismantling of American institutions that's happening as we speak.

What most historians would tell you is the US Dollar was effectively removed from the gold standard in 1933, and completely separated in 1971:

To help combat the Great Depression. Faced with mounting unemployment and spiraling deflation in the early 1930s, the U.S. government found it could do little to stimulate the economy. To deter people from cashing in deposits and depleting the gold supply, the U.S. and other governments had to keep interest rates high, but that made it too expensive for people and businesses to borrow. So in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt cut the dollar’s ties with gold, allowing the government to pump money into the economy and lower interest rates. “Most economists now agree 90 percent of the reason why the U.S. got out of the Great Depression was the break with gold,” said Liaquat Ahamed, author of the book Lords of Finance. The U.S. continued to allow foreign governments to exchange dollars for gold until 1971, when President Richard Nixon abruptly ended the practice to stop dollar-flush foreigners from sapping U.S. gold reserves.
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...but I would argue it goes back to 1913 to the creation of the Federal Reserve (the first American coup)...
Nixon went even further and removed us from the silver standard, basing our currency on commodities instead.

Americans could learn a lot from the saying "Nero fiddled While Rome burned"...

"Trump (insert ignorant action here) while America burned"

Thanks for the comment - much appreciated...

I'll go with "Trump golfed while America burned"

I like that one - gonna probably borrow that (steal it from ya)...

Yes, there will be multiple ways for our country to slowly unwind, including the new generation of cell phone addicted individuals that are losing the spirit of America.

DEMOCRACY IS THE GREATEST SCAM SYSTEM EVER INVENTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's a pretty bold statement @joshuaatiemo...

Im not sure where your journey through life has led you my friend - but I went through communist Eastern Europe in the late 1980's as communism was collapsing, and through quasi-fascist south america in the 90's when people were starving for no apparent reason other than greed...

Now take this for what its worth - and consider that I will readily admit to having "socialist tendencies" in my personal ideology - when I say democracy is by no means perfect, but its the hands down best system EVER... Im sure we would all like to see a total egalitarian society - don't hold your breath...

Edit: What evidence can you give to support your "scam" hypothesis ...

Let me ask you a question. You don't know me...but let's pretend I'm a friend of your's who is asking you, for this question. (thought experiment)
If I don't obey a threat of the politicians (law) because my conscience/moral compass says it's bad. What do you personally advocate that must happen to me if I do not obey the law?

This is a good one - Sorry it took me a while to get back to you, I wanted to think about it before answering.

I was told by a judge once 'Ignorance of the law does not excuse you from having to follow it". That would be my position for a majority of potential scenarios - do the crime , pay for it...

Now to consider a circumstance where one of my friends, or even family, outright rejects a specific law directly because of moral and/or ethical grounds.

First I would have to weigh the potential consequences of his or her actions - does the action create unnecessary harm to others, and will this persons actions create future consequences to him/her self.

Finally I would have to determine if I agree with their position or not, whether or not I have the same moral and ethical reservations that would cause me to do the same, and I would have to weigh the overall cause and effect from both perspectives.

I would make a decision based on these factors, however I don't think I could give any genuine course of action to a hypothetical situation. The severity of the "crime" would have to be considered, as well as who the person was to me...

I like some of my friends more than others, I would be willing to die for some of them, and I wouldn't piss on others if they were on fire... :)

Thank you for the cool "thought experiment" @wordsword ... I am curious though - where this fits into the theme of this particular post...

I give you an example and then I leave you.
My grandparent broke the law by hiding jews in the attic. (1940-1945)

I'm glad that you still in some cases would follow your own moral compass and not only the abstract arbitrary opinions (laws) of politicians and judges. They are humans too, with their own moral compass. If they have one that is, and if they have one they don't follow it, they only follow the abstract arbitrary opinions (laws) of jet someone else.
Thanks for you replies :)
Edit I added a sentence

edit again ;) Come to think about it, you always make the decision yourself. If you sometimes would reconsider that means you always make the decision to reconsider or not. And blindly following the law is also making a choice. Escaping responsibility is impossible, it it's always the individual who makes the decision and is responsible for what happens. i.m.h.o.

Do you have any idea why cheetah downvoted your comment? (maybe because the all caps?)
because I find it very strange.

BTW - @joshuaatiemo is on the Cheetah black list for plagiarism and scamming... I dont personally know the exact circumstance, but its likely not too good if they're flagging simple comments...