Democracy, oligarchy, and demagoguery
Democracy, oligarchy, and demagoguery Nothing is as it seems in the midst of decadence Carlos Ramalhete Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash In order to “save democracy”, the leading candidate in the next French elections, Marine Le Pen, had her political rights suspended. A short while ago, the same happened to the leading Romanian candidate, Calin Georgescu. The former Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, also a leading candidate, also had his political rights suspended by the Supreme Court. Attempts to do the same to Donald Trump didn’t work that well, and despite a shocking case of lawfare that managed to turn one accounting trick into dozens of felony convictions, he was reelected President of the US. What do all those cases have in common? It’s not just a matter of political incumbents persecuting their political opponents. The same tale about “protecting democracy” was used in all of them for a reason. Those who support the accusers really believe that t...