"Democracy under siege." At first glance, Freedom House's 2021 report about the state of open societies, which carries this title, has a depressing takeaway. The Covid-19 pandemic, now in its third year, has accelerated many developments that help autocrats, like allowing heads of state to hold emergency powers. Around the world, the engineered proliferation of medical disinformation intersects with conspiracy theories and ideologies based on scapegoating.
Regarding Ronald Stade's comment--It is interesting to attribute parallel structures to the Cold War geopolitical "clash" between communism and capitalism; the supposed civilizational clash between Christianity and Islam; and the domestic political clash between liberalism and illiberalism. However, I must disagree with the characterization of the clash between liberalism and illiberalism as one between opposing ideologies. Communism and capitalism are ideologies. But as the forensic psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee (formerly of Yale University) keeps pointing out (evidently in vain), illiberalism (or autocracy) is not an ideology. It is individual psychopathology writ large as societal psychopathology. Modern autocracy in its various forms is a disease of democracy, not an alternative ideology--just as the psychopathology of Donald Trump and his followers is a mental disease, not an alternative form of mental health.
There is of course a vast literature on this subject. Thus in his seminal work, "The Crowd," Gustave Le Bon writes that the man who in isolation "may be a cultivated individual" becomes a "barbarian" by "the mere fact" of becoming "part of an organized crowd." He thereby becomes "a creature acting by instinct," who can be "induced to commit acts contrary to his most obvious interests and his best-known habits," often adhering to "the most savage proposals" and engaging in criminal behavior. Is this not precisely the phenomenon of Trump supporters and of Autocracy on the Global Ballot in 2022? Le Bon specifically laments (in 1895!) our civilization's continued failure to understand crowd (or mass) psychology: "we are bound to resign ourselves to the reign of the masses, since the want of foresight has in succession overthrown all the barriers that might have kept the crowd in check." How many unnecessary wars, genocides, coups, disappearances, torture chambers and so on have there been from 1895 to 2022 because of our failure--no, because of our determined refusal--to address the psychopathology (not the ideology) of tyranny? How much evil have sociopaths in positions of power succeeded in doing because normal human beings, uneducated in their ways, are helpless to recognize and understand them and their world-historical power, and consequently helpless to control instead of follow them?
Regarding Jan Stickel's comment--Education is certainly essential to democracy. However, thinking of education as getting people to agree with particular beliefs we hold is mistaken. That is indoctrination, not education. Education is helping people to learn to think for themselves. Thus the foundation of democracy is liberal education. That is why the ignorant, reactionary, and materialistic forces of our society have long been instructing us to worship the STEM disciplines while despising and neglecting the liberal arts; have been turning mass primary and secondary education into profit centers dedicated to the militaristic indoctrination of the industrial army and the underclass; and have turned higher education into a lottery that produces a few "winners" sitting atop the wreckage of generations of educational-debt slaves.
Autocracy cannot be addressed solely in terms of its poison fruits. It is necessary to address the total social organism, root and branch, from the perspective of past, present and future, in particular regarding psychopathology and education.
Autocracy, anocracy, illiberal democracy: call it what you want, but it's been on the rise since the 1990s and now the battle between autocratic and democratic values takes place on a global scale. The Cold War morphed not into a clash of civilisations, but into another version of the old clash of ideologies. An urgent question is how liberal democracies can defend themselves against the threat from its enemies (Trump, Putin, Xi, Orbán et al). In Tunisia, Kais Saied employs undemocratic methods to defend secular, democratic values against the islamist threat against the country's democracy. The absurdity of this situation is telling: can illiberal undemocratic forms be used to safeguard the substance of liberal democracy (its values of personal freedom, equality, inclusion, etc)? Our gut feeling will tell us, no, this path leads nowhere. So, then what are our options? Ronald Stade, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, Sweden (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Stade)
The excesses and contradictions of corrupt regimes like Hungary's autocratic boss Victor Orbán's have unified the once splintered opposition parties into a formidable political opposition. I'll be watching! Likewise, in Israel not long ago, we saw how "Bibi" Netanyahu's, crimes and corruption united Israel's opposition parties into a ruling coalition that got rid of his strongman rule. I hope these are good examples that show how when resistance is focused and untied, liberal democratic change can be achieved by fed up populations, who aren't going to take it anymore!
What shall become of puppets who groak for strongman bones and headpats? I sure hope this growing feeling of hysteria, in Europe, and America, resolves well, and that people, in Hungary, and etc. see through these plastic puppets of, um, the Puppeteer. You bring hope and lucidity. Grazie!
Thanks for the summary of global elections to watch … can hardly wait for your analysis of the important 2022 US elections … we’ve got a few in Oregon that could be interesting - Governor and our new US House seat and a couple gun control initiatives - our state is grievously divided, a womb for both insurrectionists and progressive activists …. the violence in Portland during the George Floyd summer protests just a nationally visible fire that has smoldered for decades
Regarding Ronald Stade's comment--It is interesting to attribute parallel structures to the Cold War geopolitical "clash" between communism and capitalism; the supposed civilizational clash between Christianity and Islam; and the domestic political clash between liberalism and illiberalism. However, I must disagree with the characterization of the clash between liberalism and illiberalism as one between opposing ideologies. Communism and capitalism are ideologies. But as the forensic psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee (formerly of Yale University) keeps pointing out (evidently in vain), illiberalism (or autocracy) is not an ideology. It is individual psychopathology writ large as societal psychopathology. Modern autocracy in its various forms is a disease of democracy, not an alternative ideology--just as the psychopathology of Donald Trump and his followers is a mental disease, not an alternative form of mental health.
There is of course a vast literature on this subject. Thus in his seminal work, "The Crowd," Gustave Le Bon writes that the man who in isolation "may be a cultivated individual" becomes a "barbarian" by "the mere fact" of becoming "part of an organized crowd." He thereby becomes "a creature acting by instinct," who can be "induced to commit acts contrary to his most obvious interests and his best-known habits," often adhering to "the most savage proposals" and engaging in criminal behavior. Is this not precisely the phenomenon of Trump supporters and of Autocracy on the Global Ballot in 2022? Le Bon specifically laments (in 1895!) our civilization's continued failure to understand crowd (or mass) psychology: "we are bound to resign ourselves to the reign of the masses, since the want of foresight has in succession overthrown all the barriers that might have kept the crowd in check." How many unnecessary wars, genocides, coups, disappearances, torture chambers and so on have there been from 1895 to 2022 because of our failure--no, because of our determined refusal--to address the psychopathology (not the ideology) of tyranny? How much evil have sociopaths in positions of power succeeded in doing because normal human beings, uneducated in their ways, are helpless to recognize and understand them and their world-historical power, and consequently helpless to control instead of follow them?
Regarding Jan Stickel's comment--Education is certainly essential to democracy. However, thinking of education as getting people to agree with particular beliefs we hold is mistaken. That is indoctrination, not education. Education is helping people to learn to think for themselves. Thus the foundation of democracy is liberal education. That is why the ignorant, reactionary, and materialistic forces of our society have long been instructing us to worship the STEM disciplines while despising and neglecting the liberal arts; have been turning mass primary and secondary education into profit centers dedicated to the militaristic indoctrination of the industrial army and the underclass; and have turned higher education into a lottery that produces a few "winners" sitting atop the wreckage of generations of educational-debt slaves.
Autocracy cannot be addressed solely in terms of its poison fruits. It is necessary to address the total social organism, root and branch, from the perspective of past, present and future, in particular regarding psychopathology and education.
Autocracy, anocracy, illiberal democracy: call it what you want, but it's been on the rise since the 1990s and now the battle between autocratic and democratic values takes place on a global scale. The Cold War morphed not into a clash of civilisations, but into another version of the old clash of ideologies. An urgent question is how liberal democracies can defend themselves against the threat from its enemies (Trump, Putin, Xi, Orbán et al). In Tunisia, Kais Saied employs undemocratic methods to defend secular, democratic values against the islamist threat against the country's democracy. The absurdity of this situation is telling: can illiberal undemocratic forms be used to safeguard the substance of liberal democracy (its values of personal freedom, equality, inclusion, etc)? Our gut feeling will tell us, no, this path leads nowhere. So, then what are our options? Ronald Stade, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, Sweden (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Stade)
Thank you Ruth for the facts with the sway of hope.
Educating the public on the detriments of corruption to individuals and families is key.
Gaming the system is fun (for awhile to some) -- until it's not. The costs are devastating to a society. It's amoral. People will lose their souls.
Thank you for the good news on democracy seedlings stirring.
The excesses and contradictions of corrupt regimes like Hungary's autocratic boss Victor Orbán's have unified the once splintered opposition parties into a formidable political opposition. I'll be watching! Likewise, in Israel not long ago, we saw how "Bibi" Netanyahu's, crimes and corruption united Israel's opposition parties into a ruling coalition that got rid of his strongman rule. I hope these are good examples that show how when resistance is focused and untied, liberal democratic change can be achieved by fed up populations, who aren't going to take it anymore!
Another example: Ukrainian President Zelensky now in office in large part due to 2014 popular resistance that ousted Putin-puppet Yanukovych
What shall become of puppets who groak for strongman bones and headpats? I sure hope this growing feeling of hysteria, in Europe, and America, resolves well, and that people, in Hungary, and etc. see through these plastic puppets of, um, the Puppeteer. You bring hope and lucidity. Grazie!
Thank you, Ruth!
Thanks for the summary of global elections to watch … can hardly wait for your analysis of the important 2022 US elections … we’ve got a few in Oregon that could be interesting - Governor and our new US House seat and a couple gun control initiatives - our state is grievously divided, a womb for both insurrectionists and progressive activists …. the violence in Portland during the George Floyd summer protests just a nationally visible fire that has smoldered for decades