I've been reading Anne Applebaum's "Twilight of Democracy," which I think is excellent.
There is a case to be made that authoritarianism is really the state of nature, the return to the mean without intervention, and that democracy is something that requires active defense and maintenance. It seems that the far Right is in the driver's…
I've been reading Anne Applebaum's "Twilight of Democracy," which I think is excellent.
There is a case to be made that authoritarianism is really the state of nature, the return to the mean without intervention, and that democracy is something that requires active defense and maintenance. It seems that the far Right is in the driver's seat on the Right, and that this perspective frames the world in a stark way of those who are patriots, and those who are degenerate traitors. Hence the affection for Putin and Orban. They perceive them as defending conservatism against the hoards. It doesn't matter if rights are being trampled, essentially martial law needs to be called to address the imminent threat of the Left. This is war, and they will do whatever needs to be done to achieve their aims. To stand on principle in this extremist environment is to make yourself irrelevant and an enemy of the Right. Being irrelevant or ejected from the tribe is the worst fate that many can imagine. To embrace extremism is to inject yourself into influence, power, and money.
I've been reading Anne Applebaum's "Twilight of Democracy," which I think is excellent.
There is a case to be made that authoritarianism is really the state of nature, the return to the mean without intervention, and that democracy is something that requires active defense and maintenance. It seems that the far Right is in the driver's seat on the Right, and that this perspective frames the world in a stark way of those who are patriots, and those who are degenerate traitors. Hence the affection for Putin and Orban. They perceive them as defending conservatism against the hoards. It doesn't matter if rights are being trampled, essentially martial law needs to be called to address the imminent threat of the Left. This is war, and they will do whatever needs to be done to achieve their aims. To stand on principle in this extremist environment is to make yourself irrelevant and an enemy of the Right. Being irrelevant or ejected from the tribe is the worst fate that many can imagine. To embrace extremism is to inject yourself into influence, power, and money.