Monday, December 09, 2019

RECLAIMING AMERICA: SUPPORTING GLOBAL DEMOCRACY


LONG WAY HOME:  RECLAIMING DEMOCRACY



SUPPORT GLOBAL DEMOCRACY

By Jack Random


Mark it post and save:  On November 28th President Donald Trump did the right thing.  He signed two bills establishing American solidarity with Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.  Curiously, he stated he was doing so out of respect for President Xi of mainland China when in fact it was directly contrary to Chinese interests.  It may prove a sticking point in the ongoing trade negotiations between the two economic giants. 
The truth is the legislation had veto-proof support in congress.  The president nevertheless should be applauded for standing up for democracy.  Only weeks before he signaled his support for a military coup in Bolivia – likely instigated and organized by the Central Intelligence Agency.  We have no way of knowing whether the agency acted on Trump’s direct orders or in continuance of long-standing policy but when he applauded the action he also forecast possible future operations in Venezuela and Nicaragua. 
In the contest between democratic and non-democratic forces, the president has not often sided with democracy.  He is proud to stand with the increasingly ruthless authoritarian President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines who disregards the rule of law, summarily executes accused drug dealers and declares war on the media.  He stands with President Recep Erdogan of Turkey who conducted one of the greatest purges in modern history and regularly imprisons political opponents on trumped up charges.  He stands with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, a strict authoritarian who suppresses opposition voices and controls all sources of political and financial power. 
When the United States of America praises dictators and gives generous support to authoritarian despots in every corner of the world, the incentive to build and strengthen democracy is lacking.  It is far easier to establish military rule or governance by the corporate elite and hold on to power with the strong arm of oppression. 
In recent years we have had opportunities to make great progress in the cause of global democracy but we failed to seize the day.  Because of our ill-advised alliances in the Middle East, we failed to provide adequate support of the Arab Spring.  We failed to support the rise of democratic movements in Latin America because they chose to couple democracy with a socialistic economy. 
Let’s be clear, America has long earned a reputation of hypocrisy when it comes to supporting democracy in foreign affairs.  Ho Chi Minh pleaded with the United States to support Vietnam against the French in the spirit of freedom and equal rights.  The United States under Harry Truman was not interested.  Imagine if we had accepted his offer of alliance and guided Vietnam on a path to democracy.  Millions of lives would have been spared.  If we had stood firm in our support of democracy, countless military and covert operations would not have been necessary. 
America’s history is stained with the support of despots, military juntas and dictatorships around the world.  We have given lip service to the cause of democracy when in fact we have supported our own economic and strategic interests.  We have been cursed with shortsightedness.   Had we built a coalition of republics we would be far better off today.  If we are to be the beacon of liberty that our mythology describes then we must alter our course.   
Unfortunately, we seem to be embarked on the same old course without the embellishment of good intentions.  According to the Global Democracy Index, a rating of democratic fulfillment by the Economist Intelligence Unit of the United Kingdom, the state of our democracy is in decline.  Far from the shining beacon on the hill, we are no longer considered a full democracy.  Rather, given the deterioration of our fourth estate, corporate dominance of our political process, declining participation in our elections and a general acceptance of anti-democratic practices – such as mass disenfranchisement – we are now considered a flawed democracy. 
We can question the methodology if we wish but the stone cold fact is that this nation, the very first sovereign republic on earth, should be rated by anyone as low as twenty-fifth on any list of democratic achievement should give pause to every citizen.  While we pay tribute to our founders and applaud Broadway shows that glorify them, we have betrayed the foundations of democratic government. 
Democracy does not exist in a vacuum.  It exists in a world where despotism, fascism, dictatorship, oligarchy and theocracy have taken control of governments and fight for ever more power and wealth.  For democracy to survive, democratic nations must join together and support each other to achieve economic prosperity and security for all our peoples.  Our trade policy should reflect our democratic values and our foreign policy should always encourage and defend the principles of democracy. 
I am not advocating war for democracy.  I am not advocating covert operations to overturn every dictator and despot in the world.  I am not advocating covert operations or military interventions at all.  As Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa once said:  “We wanted help; we did not want bombs!”  The boycott and divestiture of the government of apartheid South Africa was of immeasurable assistance in paving the road to independence.  That example should serve as a model for our foreign policy. 
We should establish an independent body – as unbiased as humanly possible – to rate governments on the scale of democracy.  Once we have improved our own standing to a fully functional representative democracy, we should invite all full democracies to form an alliance of democracies for preferred trade relations.  Each member nation would agree to impose no tariffs or other restrictions on trade with fellow nations. 
Member nations that are thriving economically should provide assistance to those nations that are striving to improve their democratic status.  Nations that discard democratic values or interfere in the democratic development of other nations should face targeted economic sanctions and trade barriers. 
Of course there will be instances where economic consequences impose hardships on innocent people.  Humanitarian considerations must always be a part of any democratic decision making.  But we must apply pressure on governments that oppress their people.  In the current state of affairs, despite strategic interests, the government of Turkey no longer meets the minimal requirements of a developing democratic nation.  Turkey should be expelled from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for its brutal oppression and democratic backslide.  Its leaders should be subjected to the stiffest penalties.  The same holds true for China and Russia. 
To the detriment of the world, we have chosen capitalism and Free Trade as the guiding principle of international relations.  We have created the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to support nations that adhere to and punish those that violate the mandates of Free Trade.  In doing so we have rendered human rights and democratic values secondary or even tertiary considerations.  This is a grave error that should be corrected. 
Democracy and human rights must be established in their rightful place as the foundations of international relations – at least from an American and western European perspective.  The omission of democratic values in trade agreements has virtually assured the decline of global democracy.  Reversing the polarity of Free Trade and human rights – one of which is the right of individuals to choose their government officials – will assure the rise of democracy and lead to the rise of Fair Trade.  The principles of democracy and representation of labor go hand in hand.  One encourages the other.  The IMF and the World Bank are powerful structures that can be reformed to reflect these new values. 
Attempting to establish such a framework for global affairs would meet with stiff resistance for it would threaten the long-established dominance of corporate wealth.  Any candidate for high office who proposes such reform would be attacked with the full force of corporate propaganda.  Any political party that adopted a Democracy First approach to international trade would find itself accused of every conceivable offense: corruption, fraud, extremism, terrorism, mob rule, radical economics, communism, socialism and anarchism. 
None of it would be true, of course, but that hardly matters.  When you threaten the core sources of international power, you will be tarnished by all means and methods.  Democracy is in fact the most radical and dangerous concept on the planet.  True democracy is a threat to the very foundations of global wealth. 
Of course, this is only a dream and will remain so as long as our own political system is dominated by two parties that both answer to the same overlords of corporate affluence.  Advancing global democracy is not possible as long as our government neglects its own democratic values.  This is not what the better of our founders intended. 
Granted, our democracy was flawed from its inception.  But the more enlightened of our founders knew it was a work in progress.  The better of them knew that women would one day be granted the right to vote.  They knew that slavery was an economically motivated abomination that would tear the nation apart.  They knew that the wealthy and privileged would attempt to control the masses by controlling the flow of information.  They knew that foreign nations would try to influence our elections and sway our electorate.  They knew that the press would be biased and politicians would be corrupt. 
They knew that the system they prescribed was seriously flawed but they trusted that those who followed them would be dedicated to the principles of democracy.  They trusted us to build upon their work.  They trusted us to correct their errors and make changes that would move the nation forward toward a more perfect democracy.  They had a dream and they placed that dream in our hands. 
It is up to us to take that dream and move forward.  Once we have repaired the damage to our own republic and fortified its defenses, we can begin to lead the world in progress toward the establishment of worldwide democratic principles. 
As the revolutionary founder Thomas Paine once wrote:  “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”  Let us not neglect that solemn responsibility. 


“United States Doesn’t Even Make Top Twenty on Global Democracy Index.”  By Andrea Germanos.  Common Dreams, January 11, 2019.   

Common Sense.  By Thomas Paine.  Circa 1776.   

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