DEMOCRACY, now more than ever

As Independence Day, Pride month and the first 2024 presidential "debate" occurred this month, it’s hard not to think of the lyric from many blues and country songs: “You don’t miss the water ’til the well runs dry.”

This year's 4th of July was in the center of a pivotal moment. We’re still drinking from the spring of democracy. Danger lurks like a stroll through Death Valley.

As Anne Applebaum writes in the cover story in the June issue of The Atlantic, “Democracy is losing the propaganda war,” and it’s not just Russia coming back to interfere with disinformation spreading like cicadas. It’s also Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in a Red Sea Conspiracy, according to Seth Abramson, author of the book “Proof of Conspiracy.”

The results could be not just victory for one presidential candidate, but the loss of the democratic republic many Americans take for granted.

We could die of “thirst”

The jeopardy can’t be blamed solely on some voters being convinced that the nation can only by “saved” by a strongman. It’s also people who should know better, from long-time politicians to business leaders, all of whom see opportunities, not threats.

As made obvious by Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago in April –when he told oil executives he’d dump federal support for wind farms, electric vehicles and other programs opposed by the fossil-fuel industry in exchange for $1 billion – some big shots in Big Business may think it’s profitable to take part in such a financial arrangement: Give up democracy for more tax cuts, de-regulation and friendlier judges to let corporate crimes go virtually unpunished.

Such transactional compromises are illusory. Such leaders wouldn’t be accountable, so they’d be untrustworthy. Even a benign, “benevolent dictator” could unleash unintended consequences.

And elected officials who refuse to accept election results, juries or common values betray more than their oaths of office. They empower aspiring tyrants and – more importantly – enable the destruction of democratic norms. Further, such politicians tolerating hints of violence erodes what’s left of civility, encouraging authoritarians – for what? A campaign war chest? A job in what’s left of “self-government”?

Two observers separated by centuries offer insights about where we are and what we have.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, reflected on pivotal moments in our history, from the American Revolution and the Civil War to the Great Depression and World War II and wrote, “Our country once again faces a pivotal moment. The crises facing us are enormous. The consequences if we fail are unthinkable.

“As the nation moves rapidly toward oligarchy, the billionaire class exerts enormous influence over the economic and political life of the nation,” he continued. “While the rich become much richer, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and real, inflation-adjusted wages for the average U.S. worker have actually declined over the last 50 years. Never before have the 1% done so well, or enjoyed so much power.

“We cannot simply turn away.”

President Biden’s popularity has slipped, Sanders conceded, some because of attacks about inflation, which is a global phenomenon, some because of his policies concerning Israel and the war in Gaza.

“But let’s be clear,” said Sanders, Biden’s former opponent for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president. “Biden is not running against God. He is running against Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in American history whose second term, if he is re-elected, will be worse than his first. And, on his worst day, Biden is 1,000 times better than Trump.

“And there’s one other thing,” he added, “– retaining our democracy.”

Is democracy worth retaining?

About 190 years ago, French political scientist, historian and diplomat Alexis de Toqueville traveled the United States and wrote “Democracy in America,” marveling at a system set up to serve everyone.

De Toqueville wrote, “Democratic laws generally tend to promote the welfare of the greatest possible number; they emanate from the majority of the citizens, who are subject to error, but who cannot have an interest opposed to their own advantage. The laws of an aristocracy tend, on the contrary, to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of the minority.

“No political form has hitherto been discovered which is equally favorable to the prosperity and the development of all the classes into which society is divided,” he continued. “The only means … of inculcating the notion of rights, and of rendering it palpable, is to invest all the members of the community with the peaceful exercise of certain rights. Democracy brings the notion of political rights to the level of the humblest citizens, just as the dissemination of wealth brings the notion of property within the reach of all the members of the community. This is one of its greatest advantages.”

If U.S. democracy is applied and enforced properly, “everyone is personally interested in enforcing the obedience of the whole community to the law,” de Toqueville added. “Those who design to attack the laws must consequently either modify the opinion of the nation or trample upon its decision.”

So, in 2024 – with hindsight and foresight – what’s needed? What’s next?

Sanders put it concisely: “During this pivotal moment, we must do what Americans have always done when change is needed: We must stand together, organize and fight for the country we know we can become.”