Monday, April 18, 2022

Why are Populist leaders more popular? And democracies in decline?

If freedom is to win on this planet then freedom-loving people must remain secure.  And we who are still free need to unite like Ukrainians.   Not for peace, but to sustainably maximize human freedom and security (the only legitimate purpose of government according to Thomas Paine in Common Sense) globally.   Peace is just the period when warring sides rearm while ignoring the fundamental causes of war. 

And while trying to understand these causes...freedom lovers will need better weapons to enforce this universal will of ‘we the people’.   This ultimate civilized ideal. 

 

And need to ensure more people every day will join with us in this cause.    Unfortunately, most of the world’s population remains on the fence regarding support for Ukraine or Putin.  That could change overnight.  And that mostly depends on how much truth the majority of people in those other nations receive and the freedom they feel to express it, without fear.  

 

President Putin has unintentionally woken the world to this global dilemma.   Those of us who are free and want to remain so must be more concerned about ensuring with certainty that Ukraine defeats all of its invaders.  This will require the world coming together as one, to provide Zelensky’s freedom defenders with the best and the most weapons the free world can provide.

 

This is not pro-war.  It’s not even pro-democracy.  Elections to choose our leaders are nice.  But not nearly as important as the protection of fundamental human rights and sustainable human security.

 

Trump and Putin were both elected.  And for the last decade, populists are winning more elections.  Often free and fair elections.  Some authoritarian-leaning winners can then rig the next election, repress freedoms, and/or alter the nation’s system of laws to pay off those that helped them achieve power.

 

Over the last 16 years, freedoms within democracies have been slipping and falling in over 60 nations globally.  Freedom House website states that “In every region of the world, democracy is under attack by populist leaders and groups that reject pluralism and demand unchecked power to advance the particular interests of their supporters, usually at the expense of minorities and other perceived foes.”  In it’s newest report Nations in Transit 2021 it “finds that attacks on democratic institutions are spreading faster than ever in Europe and Eurasia, and coalescing into a challenge to democracy itself.”  

 

Ultimately, for sustainable peace and protection of freedoms, so-called democracies must deliver the benefits of free self-government to their people. To restore trust in such democracies all citizens must be presented with tangible results.   Together this could build increasing support for the shared mission of defending civilized ideals of freedom and sustainable security in this increasingly hostile world.

 

The problem.  The Western world has been protecting people.   And democracies have not dealt sufficiently with the concerns of most people in many nation’s populations. Nearly everywhere, the rich have gotten richer and the poor poorer.  Money influences those who are elected, and they quietly rig their nation’s economic systems to primary benefit themselves.  Meanwhile, the misery of the rest is largely increased by a flawed UN system of independent nations that are inability to address globally interdependent problems. 

The pandemic, violent weather patterns, wealth disparities, terrorism, and refugee problems exacerbated by wars and all these problems above cannot be solved with independent agencies within independent governments.   Thus strong authoritarian leaders or governments appear to offer better solutions.    

 

A recent Russian news broadcast advocated for Russia to “help Trump win again” in 2024.  And increasingly the US electorate remains lethally divided.   And unable to effectively deal with our immigration crisis (mostly fueled by past flawed US foreign policy fighting communism, and now current US immigration policy fighting illicit drugs and terrorism.  Both drugs and terrorism are influenced by a sick US culture that values 'feeling good' over 'doing good', and a flawed US foreign policy that prefers 'looking good' (to US voters) over 'being good' (to our southern neighbors and middle east religious majorities).

It's liberty and justice for all.  Or more of the same we are now experiencing.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment