Democracy 2024 Gerry OShea
This year,
2024, is being justifiably hailed as the year of elections. Almost half the
world’s population lives in countries that will be voting this year. It should
be a global watershed affirming human rights and the rule of law, but a closer
look provides only limited reason for celebration.
Consider
some of the results to date. In India, in the largest election held in human
history, Narendra Modi, the Hindu strongman, won re-election but by a
surprisingly reduced majority. The legitimacy of the election is not being
questioned, but with some political opponents and journalists locked up because
of their opinions, Modi’s ideas on democracy are questionable.
In March,
thousands of Russians gathered in Moscow’s Red Square to celebrate Vladimir
Putin’s reelection. Three Kremlin-approved losing candidates showed up to give credibility
to the charade - Putin allegedly got 86% of the votes cast.
Behind this
tightly controlled scene lay a grim reality. Putin’s chief political opponent,
Alexey Navalny, died a month earlier in a prison north of the Arctic Circle. No
independent commentator doubted that Putin’s hand was marked with the Russian
hero’s blood.
In
Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro, the authoritarian who has been in power
since 2013, declared himself the winner of the summer elections there.
Independent observers cried foul, and Washington has rejected the “official”
results. Outside election experts claim that Maduro lost to opposition leader
Edmundo Gonzalez by over 30 percentage points—a landslide by any standards.
Democracy
protesters in Caracas are being jailed and maltreated. To stay in power, Maduro’s
clicking heel will try to crush all opposition with guns and truncheons.
Donald Trump
had nothing to say about the blatant election thievery in Venezuela. However,
he praised the alleged reduction in crime achieved in that country by shifting
the “horrible” criminals in Caracas to American cities where they supposedly
continue their depraved behavior.
Back in 2000,
speaking to an audience in Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International
Studies, President Bill Clinton assured his listeners that “In the knowledge
economy, economic innovation and political empowerment, whether anyone likes it
or not, will inevitably go hand in hand.” In other words, opening the door to
all aspects of trade and commerce would inevitably lead to a free discussion about
artistic and legal matters.
President
Clinton’s views were directed especially at the Chinese, who enthusiastically
followed policies that allowed them to compete in all facets of international
trade. This project continues to yield massive economic benefits for Peking.
They compete successfully in world markets against the European Union and the
United States.
However, the
inevitable liberalization that Bill Clinton foresaw has not happened. Instead,
the Chinese have designed what has become known as the Great Firewall of China.
We are talking about Big Brother controlling all internet communication.
This
involves an elaborate system of blocks and filters that prevent internet users
in China from accessing particular words and phrases. For instance, they have
successfully obliterated the word Tiananmen, where the major democratic revolt
took place on June 4th, 1989—dates that, according to the current all-powerful
government in Peking, have no
significance anymore. The cries for freedom that were heard in Tiananmen Square
just never happened. Move on!
Those words
and many others relating to freedom of thought don’t exist on the internet in
China, so there is nothing for the citizens to commemorate or evaluate because the
Tiananmen revolt for freedom has been obliterated. Don’t try to research the
heroic happenings in Tiananmen in any library in China.
Hong Kong
used to enjoy a high level of artistic freedom, with plenty of room for
differing opinions on the social and political issues confronting every city.
That day is gone, and Peking now makes all the decisions.
Taiwan, with
a population of 24 million, has a recent history of political parties and fair
elections. The island's leaders are mostly committed to maintaining their
independence, and they have enhanced their defense spending in recent years.
President Biden promised them his full support, but it is far from clear that
Washington would get involved when the inevitable Peking invasion of the island
takes place in the next few years.
Where does
America fit in this maelstrom of ideas and anti-democratic practices evident in China,
Russia and other committed totalitarian regimes? It is hard to believe, but an
important segment of the American political spectrum is vocally committed to
promoting these far-right ideas here.
The American
MAGA movement is inherently anti-democratic, propounding the conviction that Washington
democracy is degenerate, their elections illegitimate, and their civilization
is dying. The movement’s leaders, headed by Donald Trump, are determined to
pump nihilistic ideas into their followers’ minds, including convincing them
that nothing they see in democratic politics is true.
Given that
both Russian and Chinese actors now blend in so easily with the MAGA messaging
operation, it is hardly surprising that the United States government finds it
extremely difficult to respond adequately to the new interlinked autocratic propaganda
network.
MAGA leaders,
firmly in control of the Republican Party, refuse to accept the legitimate
results of the last presidential election. Every court rejected Mr. Trump’s
claims of voting chicanery. Amazingly, one of the two main political parties in
the United States supports this ridiculous assertion that the election system
that declared Joe Biden’s victory was undemocratic in November 2019.
Mr. Trump is
again the Republican nominee. He is already asserting that the democratic
election system is inherently corrupt, but it will be ok if, as some polls
predict, he wins in November.
The future
of democracy in the United States is in real peril.
Gerry
OShea blogs at wemustbetalking.com
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