There are a number of important - key, even - aspects of democracy that must be maintained to enable democracy to function well, and some of those have been illustrated by recent news articles.
I'll begin with external threats. This has been a particularly notable issue since the USA misinterpreted George F Keenan's warning about the need to “contain” the USSR after World War (part) Two, which led to the Cold War, and also led, in my opinion, to a series of political failures leading to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and, to some extent, the war in and near Gaza. , which I mentioned here, (and for more on that, see “Containing Global Russia - War on the Rocks” https://warontherocks.com/2024/03/containing-global-russia/ which is an excellent long read - which starts with George Keenan’s historic
comment in 1947, and provides an objective, balanced overview of
Russia’s gains, losses, aims (and possible aims - especially economic,
with a surprise comment included on decoupling from Western economies),
and vulnerabilities. The article ends with some brief suggestions on
responses).
A number of other sources have mentioned the importance of strengthening democracy in order to protect and promote that, and this weeks news articles included the following:
“Culture, Democracy, and the Fight against Violent Extremism” https://africacenter.org/spotlight/culture-democracy-and-the-fight-against-violent-extremism-burkina-faso/ “Strengthening democratic institutions and amplifying traditional African values to promote social cohesion and consensus goes hand in hand with the fight against violent extremism”
Of course, one of the biggest problems in accomplishing that is the addiction to power and the cluelessness (lack of touch with how many people live) of those at the top of the politico-socio-economic power tree.
That can result in problems such as interference with elections, corruption, and abuses of power.
There are several examples of that this week (so far) that I consider worth noting.
The first is that former US despot Trump's political appointees to the US supreme court (it no longer merits the respect implied by capitalisation) have given him - and other US Presidents - an appalling level of immunity. See:
“The Supreme Court decides, in effect, there will be no Trump trial before the election” https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-supreme-court-decides-in-effect “And immunizes a president from wildly illegal actions” “Unprecedented” https://theaimn.com/unprecedented/ “US supreme court rules Trump has ‘absolute immunity’ for official acts” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2024/jul/01/supreme-court-decision-trump-immunity-ruling “Court rules former presidents entitled to some degree of immunity from criminal prosecution” “US Supreme Court rules Trump has some immunity from prosecution” https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240701-%F0%9F%94%B4-us-supreme-court-in-trump-ruling-says-ex-presidents-have-immunity-for-official-acts “The Supreme Court on Monday ruled for the first time that former presidents have some immunity from prosecution, extending the delay in the Washington criminal case against Donald Trump on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss and all but ending prospects the former president could be tried before the November election.” “Biden denounces supreme court decision on Trump immunity: ‘He’ll be more emboldened’” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/01/biden-speech-supreme-court-trump-immunity “In speech from White House, president said ruling ‘undermined the rule of law’ and compared their characters” “Presidential Immunity” https://youtu.be/iJtQiAx5Pcw?si=bcZOZrblyDXgwk4Q “‘Death squad ruling’: Maddow reacts to Supreme Court Trump immunity decision” https://youtu.be/UYyzhIeuPV4?si=Zfvf1KW3OkXE08kk “The Real Danger (guest post)” https://www.sarahchayes.org/post/the-real-danger-guest-post This is a warning that dictators never leave voluntarily, and that Trump is going to be better organised for staying in power
I always get nervous when inept/amathiac people here prattle on about convention as if it meant anything than the traditional derisive assessment of a verbal contract as “not worth the paper it was written on”, or as if spectacle / entertainment had a significance anywhere near that of good governance / democracy.
At least there are lessons and examples that can be drawn from history. From France:
“‘We’ve been there’: French Resistance fighters speak out against rule by the far right” https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240704-we-ve-been-there-french-resistance-fighters-speak-out-against-rule-by-the-far-right “In the run-up to the second round of legislative elections in France, former members of the resistance to Nazi rule are voicing their concerns over the possibility of a far-right government taking power. They urge the French people not to forget the legacy, spirit and values of the French Resistance during the Second World War.”
There are a few other examples of abuses (including misuse and failure to use) of power:
a The Guardian exclusive reports: “Defence probed 16 alleged links between personnel and extremism in two years” https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jun/30/australia-defence-force-adf-extremism-links-operation-lumen-ntwnfb “Exclusive: Documents reveal the ADF has conducted more than a dozen investigations into allegations about army and navy personnel since 2022” The presence of right wing extremists in military/paramilitary organisations (especially police) has been of growing concern for around a decade now, maybe a little longer - and their leading roles in Trumps attempted insurrection was extremely disturbing. How is it that people have been hired and put in those positions who have a fundamental failure of competence in that they do not understand what defending democracy actually means? The questions apply to more than the people being investigated
“Freed Gaza hospital head accuses Israel of repeated torture” https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/01/freed-gaza-hospital-head-accuses-israel-of-repeated-torture “Al-Shifa’s Mohammed Abu Salmiya alleges Israel tortured him across seven months of detention without charge” Israel has destroyed its credibility as anything good (including its now clearly fallacious claim to be a leading example of democracy in West Asia) over the last seven months - and it was on dodgy ground before then
“Indigenous man’s death in custody a “preventable tragedy,” Victorian coroner finds” https://nit.com.au/01-07-2024/12279/indigenous-mans-death-in-custody-a-preventable-tragedy-coroner-finds At least the private prison where that occurred will be closed and “New report shows NSW police “rarely being held to account”” https://nit.com.au/01-07-2024/12281/new-report-shows-nsw-police-rarely-being-held-to-account
Lack of (adequate?) responsiveness is also an issue:
“Here’s how bad it is for Sunak: I went to the most Tory seat in Britain – and the word on people’s lips was Reform | Owen Jones | The Guardian” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/02/sunak-most-tory-seat-reform-canvey-island-essex
in response to profound concerns over Australia’s response to the war in Gaza, “Muslim Vote group says it will target Labor ministers and whip at next federal election | Australian politics | The Guardian” https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/02/muslim-vote-political-movement-candidates-labor-federal-election
The refusal to compensate some of the victims of the illegal and notorious RoboTax could also become a problem later:
“Older Australians pressured into paying unfair robotax debts will not be compensated, government says | Tax | The Guardian” https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/03/elderly-australians-robotax-debts-not-compensated-ato
This next example is of being completely out of touch:
“Greece introduces ‘growth-oriented’ six-day working week” https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/01/greece-introduces-growth-oriented-six-day-working-week “Pro-business government says measure is needed due to shrinking population and shortage of skilled workers” The article goes in to the backwardness of this action, although more could have been written
But there has also been some good news, with Colombia making more steps towards ending more than six decades of violence:
“Colombian rebel group agrees to 'unilateral ceasefire' and release of captives” https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20240630-colombian-rebel-group-agrees-to-unilateral-ceasefire-and-release-of-captives “In a significant step towards peace, the Colombian rebel group Segunda Marquetalia declared a ceasefire and committed to releasing captives following successful negotiations with the government. This marks the third set of peace talks initiated under President Gustavo Petro's administration, which has faced numerous challenges in its quest to resolve more than six decades of conflict involving various armed groups.” It should be noted that the <expletive deleted> USA and its multinational corporations were responsible for starting this conflict in the first place - which loops back to the very first article in this post - see https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Colombian_conflict&oldid=1230661535
In the governance world, a recommendation has been made for improved regulation in Australia:
“ASIC should be split in two after ‘comprehensively’ failing as regulator, parliamentary inquiry finds” https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/03/asic-should-be-split-in-two-after-comprehensively-failing-in-role-as-regulator-parliamentary-inquiry-finds “Scathing report says commission’s investigations and decisions are ‘opaque’ and it responded to criticism by managing its own reputation”
I am going to end with one other very important aspect of democracy: the inherent problem of decisions based on majorities, which is discrimination against minorities (a problem also potentially shared by staff/worker-owned businesses). To address this, the following call has been made:
“History shows Australian laws have left minorities marginalised. A Human Rights Act would help fix that” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/30/australia-human-rights-act “Instead of inquiries and apologies, a bill of rights could give people access to justice and ensure governments are held to account”
As an example of what be achieved when suitable laws are finally in place - and enforced, from the USA:
“White Mississippi cops who terrorized Black community are sentenced to prison” https://socialism.com/fs-article/mississippi-cops-are-sentenced-to-prison/ “After pressure from families, the Black community and supporters, for the first time in Mississippi history six cops have been held accountable for torturing two Black men.”
And I will leave this post at that - for now, at least.
Assumptions / basis
In writing this, I have assumed / started from the following:
- this
blog states quite clearly that it is about political and human rights
matters, including lived experience of problems, and thus I will assume
readers are reasonable people who have noted the content warning in the
post header;
Possible flaws
Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider:
- there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan
Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”;
- I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.
If they are of any use of interest, the activism information links from my former news posts are available in this post.
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Note that, as with my main blog [see here], I am cutting back on aspects of my posts.
Remember:
we need to be more human being rather than human doing, and all
misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+
lives at risk
& accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor
comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering”.
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