braces_for_impact
Veteran Member
Recently, I've read a short but excellent little book by Timothy Snyder entitled On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.
It seems to me that people have been predicting, or lamenting, the loss of democracy in the U.S. for some time now. Often, I've found this to hyperbole, or so I used to think.
It's common throughout history that people living during their time period to think that they are living in a particularly historic or special time, or "interesting times" as the purported Chinese curse goes. As of late it feels like perhaps the ancient curse is prophecy being fulfilled before our very eyes.
There is a lot in the realm of relatively current events that have convinced me we are currently on the road away from our own democracy. I don't think this is inevitable, but currently I see no signs of slowing down on this dangerous highway. I think I really started to ruminate over this question in the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision. Saying that restricting money is equal to curtailing free speech in our democratic process struck me as about uniquely Un-American as you could get for a Supreme Court decision.
Currently of course, we have the rise of Donald Trump and his administration. Between Trump's love of dictators and strongmen, his visceral hatred of a free press, and his seemingly willingness to toss our freedoms into the wastebasket if it contradicts his reckless and incompetent agenda, many people besides myself are feeling nervous about our checks and balances withstanding the onslaught from his administration. Also of concern is his base - who seem willing to sacrifice their own freedoms if only to see that agenda enacted, and as quickly as possible.
A source of even more worry for me, is the current state of our political parties. Specifically the Republican party. The Republicans at this moment hold an unprecedented amount of power in our government. They hold almost all the levers of our Republic. They currently hold 32 state legislatures. They hold both branches of congress, and of course as of late the Executive branch. The Trump administration is obviously grossly incompetent. Donald Trump is blatantly ignorant of our constitution, how our rights are derived, and the scope of his power. Even more concerning, he lacks any intellectual curiosity to explore these topics and learn some of the answers to those very important questions. His administration is bogged down in investigations involving a foreign power having undue and illegal influence on our democratic process - the very bedrock of our freedom. Even if no collusion by Trump's campaign is involved, the Republicans have shown very little interest in ascertaining exactly what happened, and taking steps to ensure it does not happen again, simply because they currently enjoy their current state of affairs with themselves in charge. Drunk with power is an understatement. The "Grand Ol' Party" has reached this pinnacle by suppressing the voting rights of others, and by gerrymandering districts in order to win elections. Thus, we have a party with all this power and influence that didn't get there by having better ideas, by connecting better with the grass roots, or by enacting policies that are popular with their fellow citizens. Even now, they debate health care policy that will affect almost everyone in our country in total secret, not just from the democrats, not just from the public, even from most of their own party! They intend to spring this upon us all and shove it through the congress. No rigorous debate, no fact checking, no listening to what the public that helped vote them into their positions has to say. A small handful of men deciding the fate of over 320 million people. Does that sound like democracy to you? How does a party that did not earn their position and passes public policy deeply unpopular with their constituents expect to stay in power? Obviously not with democratic principles, but with dirty tricks that got them "elected" in the first place. Otherwise, what public servant in their right mind would go against the wishes of the vast number of their voters?
Earlier I mentioned the book I read recently. There was an excerpt in it which was incredibly jarring to me. It was from a leading German Jewish newspaper of the time. It's dated Feb. 2nd, 1933.
Such was the view of many reasonable people in 1933. The simply could not see it coming.
We are not any better than the people of 1933. We are not exceptional. We cannot assume that it won't happen here - that it cannot happen here.
What say you?
It seems to me that people have been predicting, or lamenting, the loss of democracy in the U.S. for some time now. Often, I've found this to hyperbole, or so I used to think.
It's common throughout history that people living during their time period to think that they are living in a particularly historic or special time, or "interesting times" as the purported Chinese curse goes. As of late it feels like perhaps the ancient curse is prophecy being fulfilled before our very eyes.
There is a lot in the realm of relatively current events that have convinced me we are currently on the road away from our own democracy. I don't think this is inevitable, but currently I see no signs of slowing down on this dangerous highway. I think I really started to ruminate over this question in the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision. Saying that restricting money is equal to curtailing free speech in our democratic process struck me as about uniquely Un-American as you could get for a Supreme Court decision.
Currently of course, we have the rise of Donald Trump and his administration. Between Trump's love of dictators and strongmen, his visceral hatred of a free press, and his seemingly willingness to toss our freedoms into the wastebasket if it contradicts his reckless and incompetent agenda, many people besides myself are feeling nervous about our checks and balances withstanding the onslaught from his administration. Also of concern is his base - who seem willing to sacrifice their own freedoms if only to see that agenda enacted, and as quickly as possible.
A source of even more worry for me, is the current state of our political parties. Specifically the Republican party. The Republicans at this moment hold an unprecedented amount of power in our government. They hold almost all the levers of our Republic. They currently hold 32 state legislatures. They hold both branches of congress, and of course as of late the Executive branch. The Trump administration is obviously grossly incompetent. Donald Trump is blatantly ignorant of our constitution, how our rights are derived, and the scope of his power. Even more concerning, he lacks any intellectual curiosity to explore these topics and learn some of the answers to those very important questions. His administration is bogged down in investigations involving a foreign power having undue and illegal influence on our democratic process - the very bedrock of our freedom. Even if no collusion by Trump's campaign is involved, the Republicans have shown very little interest in ascertaining exactly what happened, and taking steps to ensure it does not happen again, simply because they currently enjoy their current state of affairs with themselves in charge. Drunk with power is an understatement. The "Grand Ol' Party" has reached this pinnacle by suppressing the voting rights of others, and by gerrymandering districts in order to win elections. Thus, we have a party with all this power and influence that didn't get there by having better ideas, by connecting better with the grass roots, or by enacting policies that are popular with their fellow citizens. Even now, they debate health care policy that will affect almost everyone in our country in total secret, not just from the democrats, not just from the public, even from most of their own party! They intend to spring this upon us all and shove it through the congress. No rigorous debate, no fact checking, no listening to what the public that helped vote them into their positions has to say. A small handful of men deciding the fate of over 320 million people. Does that sound like democracy to you? How does a party that did not earn their position and passes public policy deeply unpopular with their constituents expect to stay in power? Obviously not with democratic principles, but with dirty tricks that got them "elected" in the first place. Otherwise, what public servant in their right mind would go against the wishes of the vast number of their voters?
Earlier I mentioned the book I read recently. There was an excerpt in it which was incredibly jarring to me. It was from a leading German Jewish newspaper of the time. It's dated Feb. 2nd, 1933.
Such was the view of many reasonable people in 1933. The simply could not see it coming.
We are not any better than the people of 1933. We are not exceptional. We cannot assume that it won't happen here - that it cannot happen here.
What say you?
