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History selectors, pages, etc.
Can Democracy Survive In America ?
By islander
January 15, 2023 7:20 am
Category: History

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I sometimes wonder...As much as Americans have in the past always expressed their love for democracy, how many are actually in favor of it today? Teri Kanefield's blog gives us some excellent things to think about with regard to democracy and its history in our country. It's an excellent and informative read.

Heather's history lesson for today is in many ways related this question, also a very good read.

Both are excellent reads! 👍


Cited and related links:

  1. terikanefield.com
  2. heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

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Comments on "Can Democracy Survive In America ?":

  1. by Curt_Anderson on January 15, 2023 8:46 am
    Did you read what failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake said this past week? She said that if the Arizona election is not overturned and she is not installed as governor then America will become like Venezuela. What?

    First off, it’s places like Venezuela, where their leaders are installed rather than elected. It is the dictators who want elections overturned and ideally abolished.

    What is troubling is that Lake was a candidate that nearly half the state of Arizona voted for and apparently took seriously. There are a lot of these anti-democratic candidates running around fortunately, most of them seem to of lost. But it was too close for comfort.
    huffpost.com


  2. by HatetheSwamp on January 15, 2023 9:27 am

    isle,

    I'll have to read this in chunks. So far, I'm in the definitional part. Here's an item of interpretation that I struggle with:

    "The problem is obvious: Democracy requires a thoughtful, well-educated electorate, but even well-educated people are not equipped to understand the workings of the American legal system."

    I question the 'well-educated' part. Perhaps this will be clarified later on. What's the definition of 'well?" Certainly, Democracy demands thoughtful people. Having accumulated a decent amount of formal education, I know that many people with oodles of book larnin are extremely dysfunctional.

    Still, so far so decent.


  3. by Curt_Anderson on January 15, 2023 9:50 am
    This is an excerpt from Ms. Kanefield’s piece, which to some degree addresses HtS’s comment about an educated voting populace. I don’t think voters necessarily need to have a deep understanding of our legal system to be good citizens. Ideally, they should be able to look at issues and problems from the other person’s point of view.

    The Authoritarian Personality
    Political psychologists, in an attempt to understand the rise of fascism in the 1930s, defined what they call the authoritarian personality, also called the anti-democratic personality.

    Among other things, those with an authoritarian disposition are averse to complexity. In the words of political psychologist Karen Stenner, they prefer sameness and uniformity and have cognitive limitations. They are, to use her phrase, “simpleminded avoiders of complexity.”

    Diversity is a form of complexity, which is why right-wing authoritarians reject it.

    According to political psychologists, about a third of the population across cultures has this personality.



  4. by HatetheSwamp on January 15, 2023 10:16 am

    Diversity is a form of complexity, which is why right-wing authoritarians reject it.

    As opposed to left-wing authoritarian?

    From Word One, I expected self-serving sanctimony from the article. I'm committed to finishing it but, so far, I'm not disappointed.

    And, I'll point out that, in 023, it's the GOPs who are the party of openness and inclusion and tolerance and acceptance and diversity. It's the Dems who walk in lockstep and reject complexity.


  5. by Curt_Anderson on January 15, 2023 10:25 am
    HtS,
    After the portion I quoted, Kanefield wrote, "Those with authoritarian personalities exist on both sides of the political spectrum."



  6. by HatetheSwamp on January 15, 2023 10:33 am

    Correct. So, why isolate right-wing authoritarian personalities? Spew hate? Drip disdain?

    Teri strikes pb as being bright yet incapable of oozing loathing.


  7. by Curt_Anderson on January 15, 2023 10:43 am
    Because she was citing a study of political psychologists who were studying fascism in the 1930s.

    Btw, I have been watching episodes of Ken Burns' "America and the Holocaust". I wasn't able to watch the episodes on consecutive nights when it first was broadcast, but I've seen most of it.

    There are some parallels with what's happening today. I'll probably post about it.


  8. by HatetheSwamp on January 15, 2023 11:04 am

    I'm assuming that the parallels you see are not with the way the Dem Party had become dominated by a small number of powerful elites who allow no meaningful dissent even from within the party.


  9. by oldedude on January 15, 2023 11:22 am
    The mainstream right is much more loyal to the constitution than the left. You see this in the number of the left that has actually read about how our REPUBLIC was founded and the ups and downs we've had as a nation. Our kids know and understand why we're a REPUBLIC and not a democracy, and why that makes a difference in our lives here.

    As much as Suzi, or fluffy or whatever her name is, wouldn't dare touch the revolutions of Latin America which are mostly Marxist, Guevarain revolutions that are part and parcel to the Alinsky rules. Mostly because it would out her as a revolutionary.

    I find it interesting that the Right actually studies Alinsky, as well as the founders, the Constitution, and laws. As Sun Tzu said, "know your enemy better than yourself."

    It's also interesting the left here is so unknowledgeable about Alinsky, they get p1ssed every time they get compared to him. Even though they know absolutely nothing about the theory, or even his ideas.


  10. by HatetheSwamp on January 15, 2023 12:11 pm

    The punch line:

    "The burden is on those of us who can tolerate complexity to find a way to communicate with those who can’t. I am not suggesting that we “reach out” to people in the right-wing bubble...

    Exactly. As pb nailed it. Sanctimonious elf-serving lefty hate-twaddle.

    And, isle can't see that.


  11. by HatetheSwamp on January 15, 2023 12:35 pm

    OTOH, isle, nice article from Heather. Thanks.


  12. by HatetheSwamp on January 16, 2023 3:40 am

    It seems to me that Teri defines democracy as government only by people who share her views...to, bizarrely, the exclusion of everyone else. So the question is: Can the political dominance of what she believes survive in America?

    Just curious, isle. How do you understand what Teri means?


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