Let them gather in their Raqqa's and Aleppo's.. -----Original Message----- From: Friam <friam-boun...@redfish.com> On Behalf Of glen Sent: Friday, February 4, 2022 9:16 AM To: friam@redfish.com Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Democracy in Name Only: endemic regime instability
Ha! That reminded me of this: California county on track to be run by militia-aligned group https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/03/california-county-controlled-by-militia-group I don't feel too sorry for Moty because my character alert bells went off a bit while reading his words ... like his objections are really just acoustic emissions. (Get off my lawn!) But I say Good Riddance. I'd be outta Shasta in a heartbeat. On 2/4/22 09:02, Marcus Daniels wrote: > As Omicron was ramping up Joy Reid said something along the lines of “Is > there a way to cut out a safe place to live these days [free from all the > anti-vaxxer crazies]?” > > That resonated with me. I think that’s a plausible way how life could be in > ten years. Some municipalities & companies, maybe some states, will appeal > to individuals that value, well, reason, and others will not. Then the > exercise becomes one of which brands are in some sense profitable. This > will of course deepen polarization, but over the course of several > generations the unprofitable approaches will die a desperate and lonely and > death. Some of the woke brands won’t make it, but neither will some of the > reactionary brands. It is not clear what will happen to the federal > government during this time, perhaps the kind of oscillation the author > imagines. The trick will be to insulate oneself from it until the political > power of the crazies is ground down by repeated failure and steadily > decreasing economic power. > > *From:* Friam <friam-boun...@redfish.com> *On Behalf Of *Steve Smith > *Sent:* Friday, February 4, 2022 8:32 AM > *To:* friam@redfish.com > *Subject:* [FRIAM] Democracy in Name Only: endemic regime instability > > Someone here is more likely than I to have actually read Ziblatt and > Levitsky's How Democracies Die > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Democracies_Die#:~:text=How%20Democ > racies%20Die%20is%20a,process%20to%20increase%20their%20power.> > > A recent article (behind a subscribe-wall) included the following quote: > > https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2022-01-20/ameri > cas-coming-age-instability > <https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2022-01-20/amer > icas-coming-age-instability> > > /America may no longer be safe for democracy, but it remains > inhospitable to autocracy./ > > /Rather than autocracy, the United States appears headed toward > endemic regime instability. / > > /Such a scenario would be marked by frequent constitutional > crises, including contested or stolen elections and severe conflict > between presidents and Congress (such as impeachments and executive > efforts to bypass Congress), the judiciary (such as efforts to purge > or pack the courts), and state governments (such as intense battles > over voting rights and the administration of elections). The United > States would likely shift back and forth between periods of > dysfunctional democracy and periods of competitive authoritarian rule > during which incumbents abuse state power, tolerate or encourage > violent extremism, and tilt the electoral playing field against their > rivals./ > > I found this characterization of our plight very compelling, if also very > disturbing. > > It seems as if we have "tumbled our gyros" but in a different mode than the > rhetoric about "Civil War" and "Descent into Autocracy" seem to suggest. It > also characterizes a lot of the aspiring/limping democracies we know of in > the world today up to and including extreme examples such as Russia which > fits the DINO (democracy in name only) label pretty well. > > This conception of the problem lead me to a very well written HS > student-essay by the same title: democracy-in-name-only > <https://hac.bard.edu/amor-mundi/democracy-in-name-only-2020-01-02>. > > Within this essay was a poignant quote: > > > In the words of Alexis de Tocqueville, > > /“A new science of politics is needed for a new world. This, > however, is what we think of least; launched in the middle of a rapid > stream, we obstinately fix our eyes on the ruins which may still be > descried upon the shore we have left, while the current sweeps us > along, and drives us backward toward the gulf.”/ -- glen When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. .-- .- -. - / .- -.-. - .. --- -. ..--.. / -.-. --- -. .--- ..- --. .- - . 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