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Is It Possible For A Government To Outlaw Democracy And No One Notice? (Part One) Printer friendly page Print This
By Dallas Darling
Submitted by Author
Saturday, Feb 16, 2019

The world was horrified last year when Spain sent thousands of police clad in riot gear to Catalonia to prevent voters from casting ballots for independence. Declaring the vote unconstitutional, police attacked voters with batons, teargas, and rubber bullets. Later, Spanish authorities smashed their way into polling stations. There, they dragged voters away as they seized ballot boxes. Several pro-referendum leaders were arrested.

Hundreds of Catalonians, draped in blue and red and yellow stripped secessionist flags, were injured. Seeing police kick people, young and old, a voter, who had tried to cast her ballot, told the BBC that “Today, I’ve seen the worst actions that a government can do to the people of its own country.” Consequently, when a government outlaws democracy, only outlaws practice democracy. Or so you would think.

As democracies around the world face their twilight years, some are starting to ask if those same democratic governments can outlaw democracy and no one notices? Freedom House, a think tank, says yes. They not only warn that authoritarian rule is fast replacing democracies, but so is the practice of banning opposition groups or keeping alternative political parties at bay. Many have become politically imprisoned in their own country.

Freedom House also noted a “crises of confidence” in the U.S. and Europe where those democracies unduly favor incumbents or end term limits. The same goes for attacking journalists, purging voters, ensuring that small minorities legislate, and ignoring the separation of powers. Other issues were rigging elections and maintaining unequal access to public sphere when it comes to the freedoms of press, speech, ideas, and assemble.

Murdering The Term “Democracy”
One way democracy can be outlawed and the people not notice is by redefining the term “democracy.” This includes getting the people to re-interpret what they expect from democracy. Democracy, which literally means “Rule by the People,” is a system where citizens exercise power by either electing individuals from among themselves to represent them, or to rule directly in decision making powers and legislating laws.

But sadly, some democratic states have engaged their citizens in re-education campaigns to pervert the popular understanding of “democracy.” Along with enforcing narrowly defined parameters of public debate and the free exchange of ideas, they’ve employed unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control. The same goes for redefining democracy as an excessive devotion to a person or explicit ideology.

Some leaders in the U.S. and Europe have done just this by radicalizing their supporters with rabid nationalism, bigotry, and a fear of immigrants. Democracy is now a “virtue of violence” instead of one of openness and compromise-which is necessary for its survival. But the love of one’s country has not only stopped at the border. It’s stopped with a leader and political party too. Another thing that’s stopped is the idea of representing everyone.

Voting For The Opinion Manipulators 
Governments and those in power know that another way democracy can be outlawed is through the mass media and by making education free and compulsory. This, as long both are subject to the state’s regulatory powers. The objective is to form the voters of tomorrow by transmitting to them from childhood the thought patterns, values, and norms that the state wants them to adopt. States which include the U.S. and Europe.

Doing this, the state is able to form the opinion of voters. Since voters vote according to their opinion, their vote determines who’s in power, which is part of the state. Whoever controls public opinion then controls the reign of power. There’s many democratic states today that have mastered the control of public opinion. This includes the narrow political spectrum of debate found in systems with only two political parties and two ideologies.

An example of this is the debate over funding the border wall. Republicans maintain it saves lives. And yet, a Medicare for All plan would save many more lives. Another case was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Addressing a House Oversight Committee hearing. Her explanation of how American democracy was “fundamentally broken” due to infectious corporate monies went viral. But no major media outlets ran the video.

Nonconformists Need Not Apply
The fact that there exists several rival parties has little effect on democracies. Nuances of opinion will be permitted, and margins for maneuvering tolerated. But stray beyond these and there are rigorous censures to pressure the nonconformists back into the mainstream-or to discredit and completely isolate them. Consequently, voters remain ill-informed, less instructed, less critical, and more malleable and receptive to media propaganda.

They remain less critical too while their citizenry puts more trust in the government. Easily manipulated and deceived, they’re less likely to defend their autonomy. This include surrendering their basic rights and civil liberties in exchange for the government‘s protection and security. Some have even compared modern democracies to feudalism, where the state and property are the master and measure of all things.

An example of this are the preemptive invasions and permanent wars that Western democracies have pursued. This goes for building border walls that never do address the root causes of migration. There’s also the social arrangements which make it possible for someone who does very little that’s useful to amass a fortune of billions of dollars, while millions who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a abject existence.

F**k Freedom
Democracies can also face spikes in violence from the state and political groups-which today no longer stalk just the fringes of politics. In the U.S. and Canada, for instance, the authorities have arrested leaders before an actual protest even occurs. Judges have then charged them and the protesters with the same domestic or environmental crimes as terrorist groups. This includes the same harsh punishments.

Others worry that the rise in hate speech and acts of verbal and physical violence have become normalized. Consequently, many democracies no longer fear fear itself but the possibility of being beaten or killed. It’s also forcing people from the public sphere and utterly silencing them. Afraid to even “think” about or “criticize” the institutions which mask their political violence, they can’t begin to fight them-let alone resist.

Such fear was just witnessed at another Donald Trump rally. After the president berated journalists and attacked the press, he whipped the crowd up into a frenzy chanting “CNN sucks!” A Trump supporter then violently attacked a BBC cameraman yelling: “F**k the media.” Not only is this another step towards something much worse that will happen, but it overthrows and subdues all other the liberties of a nation, starting with free speech.

Voting Inequalities
Living in a democracy should guarantee that each citizen will be highly respected and valued as a person. This, because every vote counts. But there’s no guarantee. An irony of modern democracies are that elections, which are a big part of their appeal, do not reflect what is most appealing about them. Politicians may pitch for votes by making promises, but once in office those same promises are reversed. Call it voting inequality.

The gap between what’s promised and what’s actually delivered is only getting worse. It’s moreover kidnapped and held hostage by wealthy and corporate donors and armies of lobbyists, who are the ones that in reality legislate. Thanks to these donors and gerrymandering districts, elections are rigged and hardly free and fair. As a result, politicians offer only half of what democracy can provide-but not the whole.

This includes progressive ones that may have a better vision for democracy. Despite her push for a better tax code, a Medicare For All Plan, and a cleaner environment, Rep. Ocasio Cortez has to walk a tightrope. Even in her own Democratic Party. She’s already been warned that certain Democrats in New York, backed by wealthy and powerful donors, may redraw her district after the 2020 election. It even entails eliminating it.

Democracy’s Greatest Threat
The twelve Catalan secessionist leaders, charged with rebellion and scheduled to be sentenced to prison, aren’t the only ones. Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage. There are other ways that so-called democratic governments can charge and confine their citizens. Especially when one thinks of imprisoning the mind and preventing the spread of well-informed ideas and decisions. The same goes for emotions.

The leaders of such democratic governments know quite well who the real enemy is. Nothing is more dangerous to democracy than the people. That’s why they will always claim to serve the people while ruling directly in their place. What these leaders demand-and seize-from the people is legitimacy. They do not care about their worth or opinions. Always obedient to their keepers, but a clear and present danger.



Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John’s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.WN.com. You can read more of Dallas’ writings at www.beverlydarling.com and  www.WN.com/dallasdarling.



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