A wonderful article. Thank you - hadn't heard about this except through you.
*Democracy is not synonymous with liberty or sovereignty. A major part of the reason why this type of thing is even happening in Germany, is due the misunderstanding that democracy is a magical word that means something magical it does not mean. To paraphrase: "In theory the people decide, but the internationalist (a supra nationalist state, in fact - nationalist to its core) is behind it all."
Political prisoners may be be banned from travel and other dangerous undertakings of those who express wrong thoughts and opinions and ideas, and this may be perfectly in-line with the "democracy" of a particular place. A majority of people who do not belong to a nation, as well as many of those who do belong to a nation, given voting privileges, can vote in people who like Bolshevism, promote Bolshevism, and enact Bolshevism. That's democracy.
When we speak of our rights being removed by force or threat of force, we should speak of removal of liberty and sovereignty. It is not necessarily that democracy is failing. It's doing what democracy does - which is reflect those who make up the democratic body.
Thank you so much for the kind words and your insightful comment.
You're absolutely right, and I appreciate you making that distinction so clearly. I do use the term "democracy" a bit loosely, mostly as it's marketed to the masses: as some kind of sacred guarantee of freedom, fairness, and self-determination. But as you rightly point out, democracy in itself guarantees none of those things.
Your formulation, that democracy can very well coexist with tyranny, so long as the tyranny is popular or procedurally legitimized, is exactly the kind of nuance we need to bring back into public debate. Liberty, sovereignty, and the integrity of a people are not automatically protected by ballots and parliaments. And history shows us many examples of majorities voting away freedom, whether knowingly or not.
A wonderful article. Thank you - hadn't heard about this except through you.
*Democracy is not synonymous with liberty or sovereignty. A major part of the reason why this type of thing is even happening in Germany, is due the misunderstanding that democracy is a magical word that means something magical it does not mean. To paraphrase: "In theory the people decide, but the internationalist (a supra nationalist state, in fact - nationalist to its core) is behind it all."
Political prisoners may be be banned from travel and other dangerous undertakings of those who express wrong thoughts and opinions and ideas, and this may be perfectly in-line with the "democracy" of a particular place. A majority of people who do not belong to a nation, as well as many of those who do belong to a nation, given voting privileges, can vote in people who like Bolshevism, promote Bolshevism, and enact Bolshevism. That's democracy.
When we speak of our rights being removed by force or threat of force, we should speak of removal of liberty and sovereignty. It is not necessarily that democracy is failing. It's doing what democracy does - which is reflect those who make up the democratic body.
Thank you so much for the kind words and your insightful comment.
You're absolutely right, and I appreciate you making that distinction so clearly. I do use the term "democracy" a bit loosely, mostly as it's marketed to the masses: as some kind of sacred guarantee of freedom, fairness, and self-determination. But as you rightly point out, democracy in itself guarantees none of those things.
Your formulation, that democracy can very well coexist with tyranny, so long as the tyranny is popular or procedurally legitimized, is exactly the kind of nuance we need to bring back into public debate. Liberty, sovereignty, and the integrity of a people are not automatically protected by ballots and parliaments. And history shows us many examples of majorities voting away freedom, whether knowingly or not.
Thank you again for enriching the discussion.
Thank you, Dan. Enjoying all your work!