On democracy [Note: Content Warning - links to reports on oppression/bigotry/hate, violence/abuse/war. Reader discretion is advised]

Note: CONTENT WARNING - some of this content is about upsetting, disturbing or triggering events & attitudes. Seek competent help - including professional - if you need it. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that linked articles may contains names and/or images of deceased people. READER CAUTION IS RECOMMENDED! For anyone distressed by anything in this post, or for any other reason considering seeking support, resources are available in Australia here, here, and here. In other nations, you will have to do an Internet search using terms such as “mental health support - <your nation>” (which, for instance, may lead to this, this, and this, in the USA, or this, this, and this, in France [biased towards English-language - my apologies]), or perhaps try https://www.befrienders.org/. 

Note: in my “from the news” posts, quotes are shown italicised and blue, my comments are in a different shade of blue, and “good” items are (when I remember) shown in green.

 

I want to make something clear at the start of this post: 

hate can be, and often is, a direct motivator of those who oppose difference and/or change

I’ve often read progressives try to claim fear and/or ignorance is the underlying motivation for haters, BUT: 

1. that ignores the fact that any fear and/or ignorance is buried so deeply you MUST deal with the expressions of hate before it can be reached - and that can likely only be reached by a COUNSELLOR, NOT a progressive political campaigner, an activist, or a human rights campaigner;
   
2. it IGNORES the reality that, what has become very apparent in a lot of cases, it that what is driving those behind and collaborating with right wing hate is WANTING TO MAINTAIN SOCIAL STATUS - and that is snobbery, elitism, and disdain - NOT fear. 

As with gossip, social status is evil - and those researchers/academics who think it is neutral are incompetent amathiacs. 

Having made that point, I want to move on to issues of concern regarding democracy. 

I’ll begin with Israel. 

I briefly discussed the threats to democracy in Israel in   “Are we watching a democracy die?”   https://politicalmusingsofkayleen.blogspot.com/2024/07/are-we-watching-democracy-die.html   , which was based on a media article which I detailed as follows: 

“As _____ war drags on, Israeli democracy weakens further”   https://theconversation.com/as-_____-war-drags-on-israeli-democracy-weakens-further-234339   “a leading democracy index demoted Israel’s classification from a “liberal democracy” to an “electoral democracy.”   ...   Democracy is associated with three key elements: leadership, institutions and citizens’ values. When they appear to be deteriorating, a democracy is said to be backsliding.   Historians and social scientists have found that a country’s democracy tends to get weaker during a prolonged war.   ...   Even before the war began, a growing share of Jewish citizens of Israel believed they should have more rights than non-Jewish citizens   ...   In the first month of the war, for example, there were 18,000 calls for Gaza to be “flattened,” “erased” or “destroyed” in Hebrew posts on the social media   ...   A February 2024 poll found that two-thirds of Jewish Israelis oppose humanitarian aid to Gaza, while 42% say Israel shouldn’t follow international humanitarian laws or abide by the international laws of war.”   The author’s concluding remarks about the main risks to democracy are particularly significant      

I pointed out that other nations - including the Allied nations of World Wars One and Two had been in, and recovered from, similar concerning states of existence, but what I didn’t discuss was what was done to facilitate that recovery, which probably (arguably) began with acknowledging the role of official (government) propaganda in creating the problem, which led to a first action of easing up, and then reversing, that propaganda. 

Israel has taken a small, arguably tokenistic, step towards accountability by an investigation (not the first into actions that Israel and/or the IDF consider abuses of their rules, it should be noted), as described in the media report below, which has been responded to with extreme violence by the right wing haters: 

“Israeli inquest into alleged abuse of Palestinian detainees sparks far-right fury”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/29/israeli-inquest-into-alleged-abuse-of-palestinian-detainees-sparks-far-right-fury   “Arrest of IDF reservists suspected of abuse prompts confrontation at notorious detention base and outcry from MPs”     

While the investigation is commendable - PROVIDED it is genuine, which includes independent, what Israel has to acknowledge is, as with the allies in the world wars, the one sided information provided by both government and much of the Israeli media is a major influence here as well. 

And, just as the allies had to do in and after the world wars, that “information”needs to be toned down and made more balanced, and extreme reactions such as reported in the above linked article will continue - and will actively impede any chance of peace (or even a ceasefire) or some limitation to the damage that Israel is doing to itself on the international stage. 

On the Allies in the world wars, it is worth watching the following: 

“Victory at any Cost? - Allied Censorship - WW2 Special”    https://youtu.be/EivLm1fHfYw   (especially from 9:32 on)      

“Hollywood: Government Propaganda? - WW2 Special”   https://youtu.be/wheuEOZz6Kg   From 12:33: “OWI know from the experiences of World War One that hat propaganda is counterproductive”      

“US Concentration Camps and Hitler's Latest Ally - War Against Humanity 078 - September 18, 1943”   https://youtu.be/oD9AhM6eqBo&t=350      

“Dead Refugees Are Better Than New Immigrants - War Against Humanity 058 - May 1, 1943”   https://youtu.be/HSQmY--t7Z4&t=375      and   

“Racism of the US Army - Fighting for Freedom? - WW2 Special”   https://youtu.be/Z7kwIOqkluY&t=536     

and also note: 

“Internment of Japanese Americans”   https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Internment_of_Japanese_Americans&oldid=1236436358#Legal_legacy      

“American mutilation of Japanese war dead”   https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_mutilation_of_Japanese_war_dead&oldid=1229086217#Dehumanization     

 

To sum up: 

• propaganda can cause hate;
  

• hate can cause appalling brutality;
  

• the propaganda-induced hate can block attempts to end and heal from conflict.
  

Ultimately, history shows propaganda is anti-democratic. 

 

 

And on anti-democratic influences, I am appalled that one third of Australians are favourably inclined towards King Trump - see:

“Guardian Essential poll: Australians more favourable to Trump and less sure about AUKUS”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/30/guardian-essential-poll-australians-more-favourable-to-trump-and-less-sure-about-aukus   “Survey records 15-point surge in support for Republican presidential nominee since November 2020, with 36% now considering him favourably.   ...   Despite the number of Australians warming to Trump, vice-president Kamala Harris remains more popular with Australians than the Republican presidential nominee, at 48% favourability.”     

We have a problem with far right extremism here - including neo-n_z_s, and that needs to be acknowledged and then countered by explaining the risks that Trump creates for democracy, that neo-n_z_s and hate are to democracy, and how inclusive (progressive) democracy makes everyone better off.

Anti-democratic influencers such as the following need to be called out for their hate and deliberate undermining of democracy: 

“Elon Musk accused of spreading lies over doctored Kamala Harris video”   https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jul/29/elon-musk-accused-of-spreading-lies-over-kamala-harris-video   “Doctored campaign video featuring US vice-president reposted by Tesla chief executive watched 128m times   ...   https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jul/29/elon-musk-accused-of-spreading-lies-over-kamala-harris-video”     

One of the problems with Musk’s claims of being pro-speech is the silencing of pro-trans voices and the banning of the term cisgender.

Further evidence of Musk’s duplicity comes from: 

“Elon Musk’s 20-year-old estranged daughter responded to his rant about her”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/27/elon-musk-estranged-daughter-anti-trans-rant   “On Thursday, the billionaire went on a disturbing anti-trans rant about Vivian Wilson, who legally dropped Musk’s name in 2022   ...   Musk, who controls a highly influential media platform, has a much documented history of promoting anti-trans views”      and   “Elon Musk’s trans daughter Vivian Wilson slams his anti-LGBTQ+ comments as ‘ketamine-fuelled haze’”   https://www.advocate.com/news/elon-musk-trans-daughter-vivian-wilson      and   “As a Father, Here’s What’s WRONG With Elon Musk”   https://youtu.be/tcfy2BCjG2M      

The leaders of our democracy need to speak out on these issues/risks. 

 

 

But the news isn't all bad. There has been some successful action for democracy as well. See:

“Resistance to Increasing Autocratisation”   https://blog.bti-project.org/2024/03/22/resistance-to-increasing-autocratization/     

Also worth noting is: 

“Democratisation and De-escalation”   https://blog.bti-project.org/2024/04/23/democratization-and-de-escalation/   “Identifying the drivers of political regression assists us in devising strategies to depolarize societies and end political violence.”     

 

 

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. 

 

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below. 

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”.

Copyright © Kayleen White 2016-2024     NO AI   I do not consent to any machine learning aka Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language model, machine learning, chatbot, or other automated analysis, generative process, or replication program to reproduce, mimic, remix, summarise, or otherwise  replicate any part of this post or other posts on this blog via any means. Typo’s may be inserrted deliberately to demonstrate this is not an AI product.     Otherwise, fair and reasonable use is accepted under Creative Commons 4.0 on an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike basis   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/