People around the world are losing their freedom, and democracy is in decline all over the world for the 16th year in a row, according to a new report by Freedom House. The number of people living in societies that are considered free has declined by 25,7% as political freedoms have eroded.
Bad countries are getting worse, but over the last few years, we`ve also seen democracies getting worse, Amy Slipowitz, who is one of the authors of the report said.
Factors such as undermining the rule of law, attacking media freedom, perverting elections, and discrimination and mistreatment of migrants were internal issues impacting the functionality of existing democracies, the report found.
The US received a score of 2 out of 4 in the category of equal treatment of minority groups in light of its recent policies on asylum seekers. Only 25 countries improved in their freedom scores overall, and some of the most significant increases occurred in Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Ecuador, and Honduras.
The decline is not reversing, but there are still signs that this can be reversed because «there are so many places where people are risking their lives to demand freedom.» The protests in Myanmar and Sudan are examples of how people fight for democracy to persist.
«I think despite these crackdowns and pushback, there is still a very strong demand for democracy,» Slipowitz says. «I do expect that it`ll continue because ultimately, people do have a desire to live freely. So I think the key will be how democracy`s proponents can support these people, and global collaboration is really key to this.»
The difference between communist China and the United States is that the United States is one nation under God. The communists in China don`t believe in religion and God, so people in China believe in communists.
«If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under,» Ronald Reagan once said. He also said that America is the moral force that defeated communism and all those who would put the human soul itself into bondage.
What would Ronald Reagan say today, as the Democratic world is backsliding, also known as autocratization, democratic decay, and de-democratization, which means a gradual decline in the quality of democracy and the opposite of democratization?
If unchecked, democratic backsliding results in the state losing its democratic qualities, becoming an autocracy or authoritarian regime. The democratic decline is caused by the state-led weakening of political institutions that sustain the democratic system, such as the peaceful transition of power or free and fair elections.
Although these political elements are assumed to lead to the onset of backsliding, other essential components of democracy such as infringements of individual rights, especially freedom of expression, question the health, efficiency, and sustainability of democratic systems over time.
Since 2001, there are more autocracies than democracies in the world, and as a result, the «third wave of autocratization» is accelerating and deepening. In addition, apart from the transition to autocratization, democratic backsliding may also lead to authoritarian regressions, revolutions, to hybrid regimes as they enter political «grey zones.»
During a national crisis, there are unique risks of democratic backsliding. It can occur when leaders impose autocratic rules during states of emergency that are either disproportionate to the severity of the crisis or remain in place after the situation has improved.
Democratic backsliding occurs when essential components of democracy are threatened, and examples of democratic backsliding include;
Free and fair elections are degraded;
Liberal rights of freedom of speech, press and association decline, impairing the ability of the political opposition to challenge the government, hold it to account, and propose alternatives to the current regime;
The rule of law (i.e., judicial and bureaucratic restraints on the government) is weakened, such as when the independence of the judiciary is threatened, or when civil service tenure protections are weakened or eliminated.
An over-emphasis on national security as response to acts of terrorism or perceived antogonists.
Democratic backsliding can occur in several common ways, and you can see it in many places on this planet even today. Backsliding is often led by democratically elected leaders, who use «incremental rather than revolutionary» tactics.
It is difficult to pinpoint a single specific moment at which a government is no longer democratic, given that this process of decline manifests «slowly, in barely visible steps». Ozan Varol uses the phrase stealth authoritarianism to describe the practice of an authoritarian leader (or a potential authoritarian leader) using «seemingly legitimate legal mechanisms for anti-democratic ends….. concealing anti-democratic practices under the mask of law.
Together with Juan Linz, Levitsky and Ziblatt developed and agreed upon their «litmus test», which includes what they believe to be the four key indicators of authoritarian behavior. These four factors are; rejection (or weak comment to) democratic rules of the game, denial of the legitimacy of political opponents, toleration or encouragement of violence, and readiness to curtail civil liberties of opponents, including media.
Varol describes the manipulation of libel laws, electoral laws, or «terrorism» laws as tools to target or discredit political opponents, and the employment of democratic rhetoric as a distraction from anti-democratic practices, as manifestations of stealth authoritarianism.
We can also see strategic harassment and manipulation during elections, and this form of democratic backsliding entails the impairment of free and fair elections through tactics such as blocking media access, disqualifying opposition leaders, or harassing opponents.
This form of backsliding is done in such a way that the elections do not appear to be rigged and rarely involve any apparent violations of the law, making it difficult for international election monitoring organizations to observe or criticize this misconduct.
For example, Hitler gave a speech to the Reichstag in support of the Enabling Act. The decline of the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany is one of the most infamous examples of democratic backsliding.
(The enabling Act of 1933, was a law that gave the German Cabinet, most importantly, the Chancellor, the power to make and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or Weimar President Paul von Hindenburg.)
Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to enact the Reichstag Fire Decree. The decree abolished most civil liberties including the right to speak, assemble, protest, and due process. Using the decree the Nazis declared a state of emergency and began to arrest, intimidate, and purge their political enemies.
By clearing the political arena of anyone willing to challenge him Hitler submitted a proposal to the Reichstag that would immediately grant all legislative powers to the cabinet. This would in effect allow Hitler`s government to act without concern for the constitution.
The world we live in today is very similar to the 30s, and the most important and serious issue is inequality. Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson have investigated the effect of income inequality on the democratic breakdown.
Studies of democratic collapse show that economic inequality is significantly higher in countries that eventually move towards a more authoritarian model.
In addition, political polarization, racism and nativism, and excessive executive power have alone or in combination provided the conditions for democratic backsliding.
The 2019 Annual Democracy Report of the V-dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg identified three challenges confronting global democracy:
«Government manipulation of media, civil society, rule of law, and elections»,
rising «toxic polarization», including «the division of society into distrustful, antagonistic camps», diminishing «respect for opponents, factual reasoning, and engagement with society» among political elites, and increasing use of hate speech by political leaders, and
Some countries move toward democracy, while other countries move away from democracy. Just take a look at the West and you will see it on the way to being a wild wild west. Man people are claiming that the United States is the last hope. Ronald Reagan said, «if we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth».
«Democracy is worth dying for because it`s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man».
On August 23, 1984, Ronald Reagan said; «Without God, there is no virtue, because there`s no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we`re mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we`re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under».
But the separation of church and state was never intended to separate public morality from public policy.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shinybull.com. The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided; however, neither Shinybull.com nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities, or other financial instruments. Shinybull.com and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
The Hate Trump Media Mob is always negative about Trump, but a lot of CEO`s is the opposite. One of them is CEO Robert Unanue who spoke to Fox about the future of capitalism and socialism.
Its founder of his company Goya Foods, Prudencio Unanue Ortiz, migrated from Spain, in the 20th century. Now, the family is the 170th richest family in the U.S, and the company is the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the U.S.
In July 2020, Goya Foods Robert Unanue visited the White House and pledged one million cans of Goya chickpeas to food banks, saying «Americans are truly blessed to have a leader like Donald Trump.»
The comments sparked some negative reactions and calls for a boycott of Goya Foods, which in turn sparked counter-boycotts in support of Goya. On 7 December 2020, Robert stated that Ocasio-Cortez was named employee of the month after her boycott call led to a 1000% sales spike.
The family supported Michelle Obama in 2012 with MyPlate, an initiative to encourage Hispanics and African Americans to eat a balanced meal. 30 – 40% more Hispanics and African Americans voted for Trump in Florida alone. Trump must have done something right.
What`s being said today is similar to what Ronald Reagen said in the ’80s. It`s about capitalism, communism, freedom, prosperity, and religion. It`s a big surprise to me to see what Reagan said in a speech called «Evil empire» on 8 March 1983.
The most interesting thing is that Reagan talked about the American experiment in democracy. Experiment? Was 6 January 2021 the beginning of the end of that experiment? Time will show……
The speech is so interesting, so I want you to take a few minutes and read and judge for yourself. Here is a part of the speech;
RONALD REAGAN, “EVIL EMPIRE SPEECH” (8 MARCH 1983)
…..So I tell you there are a great many God-fearing, dedicated, noble men and women in public life, present company included. And yes, we need your help to keep us ever mindful of the ideas and the principles that brought us into the public arena in the first place. The basis of those ideals and principles is… a commitment to freedom and personal liberty that, itself is grounded in the much deeper realization that freedom prospers only where the blessings of God are avidly (mispronounces and corrects himself) sought and humbly accepted.
[9] The American experiment in democracy rests on this insight. Its discovery was the great triumph of our Founding Fathers, voiced by William Penn when he said: “If we will not be governed by God, we must be governed by tyrants.” Explaining the inalienable rights of men, Jefferson said, “The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.” And it was George Washington who said that “of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”
[10] And finally, that shrewdest of all observers of American democracy, Alexis de Tocqueville, put it eloquently, after he had gone on a search for the secret of America’s greatness and genius–and he said: “Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the greatness and the genius of America. America is good. And if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” [Applause]
[11] Well, I’m… [Applause] ..Well, I’m pleased to be here today with you who are keeping America great by keeping her good. Only through your work and prayers and those of millions of others can we hope to survive this perilous century and keep alive this experiment in liberty, this last, best hope of man.
[12] I want you to know that this administration is motivated by a political philosophy that sees the greatness of America in you, her people, and in your families, churches, neighborhoods, communities–the institutions that foster and nourish values like concern for others and respect for the rule of law under God.
[13] Now, I don’t have to tell you that this puts us in opposition to, or at least out of step with, a–a prevailing attitude of many who have turned to a modern-day secularism, discarding the tried and time-tested values upon which our very civilization is based. No matter how well-intentioned, their value system is radically different from that of most Americans. And while they proclaim that they’re freeing us from superstitions of the past, they’ve taken upon themselves the job of superintending us by government rule and regulation. Sometimes their voices are louder than ours, but they are not yet a majority. [Applause]
[14] An example of that vocal superiority is evident in a controversy now going on in Washington. And since I’m involved, I’ve been waiting to hear from the parents of young America. How far are they willing to go in giving to the government their prerogatives as parents?
[17] Well, we have ordered clinics receiving federal funds to notify the parent’s such help has been given. [Applause] One of the nation’s leading newspapers has created the term “squeal rule” in editorializing against us for doing this, and we’re being criticized for violating the privacy of young people. A judge has recently granted an injunction against an enforcement of our rule. I’ve watched TV panel shows discuss this issue, seen columnists pontificating on our error, but no one seems to mention morality as playing a part in the subject of sex. [Applause]
[19] Many of us in the government would like to know what parents think about this intrusion in their family by the government. We’re going to fight in the courts. The right of parents and the rights of family take precedence over those of Washington-based bureaucrats and social engineers. [Applause]
[20] But the fight against parental notification is really only one example of many attempts to water down traditional values and even abrogate the original terms of American democracy. Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. [Applause] When our founding fathers passed the First Amendment, they sought to protect churches from government interference. They never intended to construct a wall of hostility between government and the concept of religious belief itself. [Murmurs of agreement, Applause]
[21] The evidence of this permeates our history and our government. The Declaration of Independence mentions the Supreme Being no less than four times. “In God We Trust” is engraved on our coinage. The Supreme Court opens its proceedings with a religious invocation. And the members of Congress open their sessions with a prayer. I just happen to believe the schoolchildren of the United States are entitled to the same privileges as [Continues over applause] Supreme Court Justices and Congressmen.
[22] Last year, I sent the Congress a constitutional amendment to restore prayer to public schools. Already this session, there’s growing bipartisan support for the amendment, and I am calling on Congress to act speedily to pass it and to let our children pray. [Applause]
[24] Senators Denton and Hatfield have proposed legislation in Congress on the whole question of prohibiting discrimination against religious forms of student speech. Such legislation could go far to restore freedom of religious speech for public school students. And I hope the Congress considers these bills quickly. And with your help, I think it’s possible we could also get the constitutional amendment through the Congress this year. [Applause]
[25] More than a decade ago, a Supreme Court decision literally wiped off the books of fifty states, statutes protecting the rights of unborn children. Abortion on demand now takes the lives of up to one and a half million unborn children a year. Human life legislation ending this tragedy will someday pass the Congress, and you and I must never rest until it does. [Applause] Unless and until it can be proven that the unborn child is not a living entity, then its right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness must be protected. [Applause]
[29] Now, I’m sure that you must get discouraged at times, but there you’ve done better than you know, perhaps. There’s a great spiritual awakening in America, a [Applause]…a renewal of the traditional values that have been the bedrock of America’s goodness and greatness.
[30] One recent survey by a Washington-based research council concluded that Americans were far more religious than the people of other nations; 95 percent of those surveyed expressed a belief in God and a huge majority believed the Ten Commandments had real meaning in their lives, and another study has found that an overwhelming majority of Americans disapprove of adultery, teenage sex, pornography, abortion, and hard drugs, and this same study showed a deep reverence for the importance of family ties and religious belief.
[31] I [Applause]…I think the items that we’ve discussed here today must be a key part of the nation’s political agenda. For the first time, the Congress is openly and seriously debating and dealing with the prayer and abortion issues–and that’s enormous progress right there. I repeat: America is in the midst of a spiritual awakening and a moral renewal. And with your biblical keynote, I say today, “Yes, let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.”
[32] Now, [Applause]…obviously, much of this new political and social consensus I’ve talked about is based on a positive view of American history, one that takes pride in our country’s accomplishments and record. But we must never forget that no government schemes are going to perfect man. We know that living in this world means dealing with what philosophers would call the phenomenology of evil or, as theologians would put it, the doctrine of sin.
[33] There is sin and evil in the world, and we’re enjoined by Scripture and the Lord Jesus to oppose it with all our might. Our nation, too, has a legacy of evil with which it must deal. The glory of this land has been its capacity for transcending the moral evils of our past. For example, the long struggle of minority citizens…for equal rights, once a source of disunity and civil war is now a point of pride for all Americans. We must never go back. There is no room for racism, anti-Semitism, or other forms of ethnic and racial hatred in this country. [Long Applause]
[34] I know that you’ve been horrified, as have I, by the resurgence of some hate groups preaching bigotry and prejudice. Use the mighty voice of your pulpits and the powerful standing of your churches to denounce and isolate these hate groups in our midst. The commandment given us is clear and simple: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” [Applause]
[35] But whatever sad episodes exist in our past, any objective observer must hold a positive view of American history, a history that has been the story of hopes fulfilled and dreams made into reality. Especially in this century, America has kept alight the torch of freedom, but not just for ourselves, but for millions of others around the world.
[36] And this brings me to my final point today. During my first press conference as president, in answer to a direct question, I pointed out that, as good Marxist-Leninists, the Soviet leaders have openly and publicly declared that the only morality they recognize is that which will further their cause, which is world revolution. I think I should point out I was only quoting Lenin, their guiding spirit, who said in 1920 that they repudiate all morality that proceeds from supernatural ideas–that’s their name for religion–or ideas that are outside class conceptions. Morality is entirely subordinate to the interests of class war. And everything is moral that is necessary for the annihilation of the old exploiting social order and for uniting the proletariat.
[37] Well, I think the refusal of many influential people to accept this elementary fact of Soviet doctrine illustrates a historical reluctance to see totalitarian powers for what they are. We saw this phenomenon in the 1930s. We see it too often today.
[38] This doesn’t mean we should isolate ourselves and refuse to seek an understanding with them. I intend to do everything I can to persuade them of our peaceful intent, to remind them that it was the West that refused to use its nuclear monopoly in the forties and fifties for territorial gain and which now pr-proposes 50 percent cut in strategic ballistic missiles and the elimination of an entire class of land-based, intermediate-range nuclear missiles. [Applause]
[39] At the same time, however, they must be made to understand: we will never compromise our principles and standards. We will never give away our freedom. We will never abandon our belief in God. [Long Applause] And we will never stop searching for genuine peace, but we can assure none of these things America stands for through the so-called nuclear freeze solutions proposed by some.
[40] The truth is that a freeze now would be a very dangerous fraud, for that is merely the illusion of peace. The reality is that we must find peace through strength. [Applause]
[41] I would a-[Applause continuing]…I would agree to a freeze if only we could freeze the Soviets’ global desires. [Laughter, Applause] A freeze at current levels of weapons would remove any incentive for the Soviets to negotiate seriously in Geneva and virtually end our chances to achieve the major arms reductions which we have proposed. Instead, they would achieve their objectives through the freeze.
[42] A freeze would reward the Soviet Union for its enormous and unparalleled military buildup. It would prevent the essential and long overdue modernization of the United States and allied defenses and would leave our aging forces increasingly vulnerable. And an honest freeze would require extensive prior negotiations on the systems and numbers to be limited and on the measures to ensure effective verification and compliance. And the kind of a freeze that has been suggested would be virtually impossible to verify. Such a major effort would divert us completely from our current negotiations on achieving substantial reductions. [Applause]
[43] I, a number of years ago, I heard a young father, a very prominent young man in the entertainment world, addressing a tremendous gathering in California. It was during the time of the cold war, and communism and our own way of life were very much on people’s minds. And he was speaking to that subject. And suddenly, though, I heard him saying, “I love my little girls more than anything–” And I said to myself, “Oh, no, don’t. You can’t — don’t say that.” But I had underestimated him. He went on: “I would rather see my little girls die now; still believing in God than have them grow up under communism and one day die no longer believing in God.” [Applause]
[44] There were…There were thousands of young people in that audience. They came to their feet with shouts of joy. They had instantly recognized the profound truth in what he had said, with regard to the physical and the soul and what was truly important.
[45] Yes, let us pray for the salvation of all of those who live in that totalitarian darkness–pray they will discover the joy of knowing God. But until they do, let us be aware that while they preach the supremacy of the State, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on the earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world.
[46] It was C.S. Lewis who, in his unforgettable “Screwtape Letters,” wrote: “The greatest evil is not done now…in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint. It is…not even done in concentration camps and labor camps. In those, we see its final result, but it is conceived and ordered; moved, seconded, carried and minuted in clear, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice.”
[47] Well, because these “quiet men” do not “raise their voices,” because they sometimes speak in soothing tones of brotherhood and peace, because, like other dictators before them, they’re always making “their final territorial demand,” some would have us accept them at their word and accommodate ourselves to their aggressive impulses. But if history teaches anything, it teaches that simpleminded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly. It means the betrayal of our past, the squandering of our freedom.
[48] So, I urge you to speak out against those who would place the United States in a position of military and moral inferiority. You know, I’ve always believed that old Screwtape reserved his best efforts for those of you in the Church. So, in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride–the temptation of blithely..uh..declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.
[49] I ask you to resist the attempts of those who would have you withhold your support for our efforts, this administration’s efforts, to keep America strong and free, while we negotiate–real and verifiable reductions in the world’s nuclear arsenals and one day, with God’s help, their total elimination. [Applause]
[50] While America’s military strength is important, let me add here that I’ve always maintained that the struggle now going on for the world will never be decided by bombs or rockets, by armies or military might. The real crisis we face today is a spiritual one; at root, it is a test of moral will and faith.
[51] Whittaker Chambers, the man whose own religious conversion made him a witness to one of the terrible traumas of our time, the Hiss-Chambers case, wrote that the crisis of the Western world exists to the degree in which the West is indifferent to God, the degree to which it collaborates in communism’s attempt to make a man stand-alone without God. And then he said, for Marxism-Leninism is actually the second-oldest faith, first proclaimed in the Garden of Eden with the words of temptation, “Ye shall be as gods.”
[52] The Western world can answer this challenge, he wrote, “but only provided that its faith in God and the freedom He enjoins is as great as communism’s faith in Man.”
[53] I believe we shall rise to the challenge. I believe that communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last–last pages even now are being written. I believe this because the source of our strength in the quest for human freedom is not material, but spiritual. And because it knows no limitation, it must terrify and ultimately triumph over those who would enslave their fellow man. For in the words of Isaiah: “He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no…might He increased strength. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary.” [Applause]
[54] Yes, change your world. One of our founding fathers, Thomas Paine, said, “We have it within our power to begin the world over again.” We can do it, doing together what no one church could do by itself.
[55] God bless you, and thank you very much. [Long Applause]
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shinybull.com. The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided; however, neither Shinybull.com nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities, or other financial instruments. Shinybull.com and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
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