Tag Archives: Democracy

Donald Trump, Government, Politics, Society, United States

The election of Donald Trump is a blow for liberal democracy

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President-elect Trump has openly challenged the liberal and democratic openness of government. It’s a stance that will have wide-reaching consequences in the West.

Intro: How democracy can now fix itself, if at all, is a dilemma that will not be easily solved. But, if it is to survive, it must find a way

THE ELECTION of Donald Trump as President of the United States, still so raw for so many people, has repercussions that may well extend beyond the two main candidates and their two parties. The outcome of this bitterly fought contest may even have plunged western systems of government into an existential crisis from which they may not recover.

Mr Trump’s electoral triumph was rooted in his attacks on the ideals, laws and institutions on which his country is based. His contempt for democracy, for that is what it seems to be, is one shared by more than 60 million people who gave him their support.

Since the declaration of Mr Trump’s victory, the sporadic outbreak of demonstrations that have followed across the US would probably have happened no matter the events of recent days. The participants have no-doubt been emboldened by one of Mr Trump’s more recent tweets which has blamed the skirmishes on “professional protestors” who have been “incited by the media”. Such comments contradict the apparent unifying tone Mr Trump gave in his victory speech.

Questioning a free speech and the right to assembly goes against the spirit of the first amendment of the constitution, one which President-elect Trump supposedly prizes so highly. But against the irascible and bad-tempered nature of his campaign it should not come as a surprise.

Despite the protestors having spread from state to state for four nights in a row, with a few isolated incidents of violence, describing them as “revolutionary” would be an overreaction, even though this has been one of the most heated weeks in US political history.

The anger expressed in these demonstrations, however, is indicative of a serious concern facing not just Mr Trump and his administration, but also countries around the world who follow a similar system of government.

Winston Churchill, Britain’s wartime prime minister, famously said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others, but even he could not have foreseen the deep fault lines that are now being exposed within western democratic models of government. In the context of the US election, if it can longer prevent a situation as unconscionable as a serial liar, misogynist and racist wrestling control of the most powerful elected office in the world, is democratic governance not failing us?

The obvious consequence is that division will grow more pronounced as the political establishment drifts further apart from an angry and disenfranchised electorate.

The West has long cherished its free and democratic ideals. Yet, the Trump campaign vociferously rejected vast swathes of the supposed liberal order. Mr Trump rallied against globalisation, international security conventions and worldwide trade deals, while he has also openly challenged and questioned the impartiality of judges and the electoral process.

The millions of people who agreed with Donald Trump’s stance have ensured that the core institutions that allow democracy to function are now very much under threat.

How democracy can now fix itself, if at all, is a dilemma that will not be easily solved. But, if it is to survive, it must find a way.

 

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Britain, China, Economic, Foreign Affairs, Hong Kong

China should honour its promise of free and democratic elections in Hong Kong…

HONG KONG

For more than two decades, China’s Communist Party rulers have relied on the rapidly rising prosperity of the masses in an economic boom that has been effective in marginalising any dissent there may have been over their dictatorial rule. Given this rising affluence, the Chinese people have appeared content to do without the need to fight for democracy and liberty.

But the tide has changed, as events in Hong Kong have shown. Sustained protest is being made against the determined approach of the Beijing government to control elections to Hong Kong’s 70-seat legislature by screening and vetting all candidates. This implies it will merely reject those candidates it does not like.

The disruption caused by the tens of thousands of protestors – who have blocked main roads and shut down parts of the business district – presents a challenging if not severe dilemma to Beijing.

The Chinese government could suppress the protests, but if it does so in the violent and intemperate way it suppressed the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, it will not only draw worldwide condemnation but severely damage Hong Kong’s economy. Through trade and commerce Beijing earns a lot of money from Hong Kong and will be determined that this position is maintained.

If it allows the protests to continue, it risks the same pro-democracy movement spreading to its mainland and cities, a fear which has been countered by the government’s shutting down of social media networks.

For the moment, Beijing seems to be relying on Hong Kong’s police to contain the demonstrations and to gradually reduce them with mass arrests, while keeping the People’s Liberation Army and its tanks in their barracks.

This is an opportunity for the Chinese government to show that it is a mature country fit to play a leading role on the world stage. It can demonstrate this by treating the protestors with respect. The agreement signed when Britain handed the colony to China promised democratic and free elections. That pledge should be honoured.

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Arts, History, Human Rights, Philosophy, Society, United States

Quantum Leaps: Thomas Paine…

THOMAS PAINE 1737 – 1809

English born political philosopher, Paine not only invented the term ‘United States of America’, he inspired the revolutions both there and in France. He was forced to flee from England when he tried to do the same thing there. Awareness of his importance in the formulation of the American constitution and the American ‘way of life’ is pivotal to understanding the entity that is modern day America.

Having emigrated to the New World in the early 1770s, Paine became editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine and published one of the first essays calling for the abolition of slavery. With the beginning of the American Revolution, Paine made himself famous by publishing his book Common Sense. In it, he argues against the notion of a ruling class, insisting that government and society must be kept distinct. Independence for the American colonies, Paine argued, was both morally and practically justified. He continued to write and publish pamphlets throughout the War of Independence in support of the revolution.

Thomas Paine was a philosopher, political activist and revolutionary. As a political theorist he advocated that ‘the proceeds of land and property tax should be invested in a welfare system’.

Thomas Paine was a philosopher, political activist and revolutionary. As a political theorist he advocated that ‘the proceeds of land and property tax should be invested in a welfare system’.

After the success of the war for American independence, Paine went first to France and then to England. In response to Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, Paine wrote and published The Rights of Man, his seminal treatise on democracy and republicanism. According to Paine, all men are born with equal rights. The necessity of social living however, can bring about situations where we impinge on the rights of others. Moreover, we may not always have the means to protect our rights from others who do not respect them. Consequently, it is necessary to develop the state and a constitution in which individual rights are encoded as civil rights, enforced by the state on behalf of the individual. The only morally acceptable constitution is that of the democratic republic in which citizens are granted the further right to vote in order to choose their own leaders. It is just this right, to choose one’s leaders, that the hereditary monarchies of France and England deny to their people and provides justification enough to abandon them as immoral constitutions.

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The British Government, in response, charged Paine with treason, causing him to flee back to France. With Paine gone, the government quashed the British revolution before it had a chance to gain momentum. In France, Paine was at first welcomed and given a seat in the National Convention. However he was later imprisoned and only just escaped execution.

Paine developed his ideas on civil rights and justice in his Agrarian Justice. He argues that a state is predicated on the basis that it makes its citizens better off than they otherwise would be without the constitution. But, he finds, many of the poorest people in the civilised societies of Europe are in a worse state than so-called ‘uncivilised’ Native American Indians. The inequity has much to do with land and property ownership, a privilege Paine suggests should be taxed since the generation of wealth that makes it possible requires the support of society. The proceeds of land and property tax should be invested in a welfare system, access to which is a right of every citizen.

In 1802 Paine returned to America, but it was not to be a happy homecoming. In the Age of Reason Paine had argued against both atheism and Christianity in favour of a deism which rejects any appeal to divine revelation. Rather, the belief in God is claimed to be intrinsically reasonable, a logical conclusion to the question of why anything exists at all. Paine rejects both organised religion and the Bible’s portrayal of a vindictive, vengeful God. Unfortunately for Paine, America was resolutely Christian and frowned upon his religious writings, despite his previous service to her. Though he remained in the United States for the rest of his life, he died in obscurity.

Paine’s work is characterised by a rare integrity that rails against political oppression, organised religion and poverty. Despite the massive influence of his early writings he remains a philosopher who, curiously, is now rarely mentioned.

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