It is not too late to reverse the political disintegration of the United States, writes philosopher and political scientist Francis Fukuyama in an article for the Financial Times on March 2.
According to the NGO Freedom House, over the past 18 years there has been a steady decline in the number and quality of liberal democracies around the world. Among apostates, no case is more serious than that of the United States, Fukuyama writes.
“American institutions have been in steady decline for some time and are now in serious crisis. Political collapse occurs when a society’s institutions fail to adapt to changing circumstances. “This has been going on for a generation and has now culminated in a massive crisis that will unfold over the next eight months.” – says the philosopher.
Fukuyama reminds us that the American system is based on a complex set of checks and balances that make it easy for minorities to thwart the will of the majority. When these institutions are combined with extreme political polarization, they create paralysis in government and the inability to carry out basic functions such as approving the annual budget.
“One of the greatest transformations that has occurred in American society during the last decade has been a revolution in the moral valuation of the country itself. For most of the country’s history, its people believed in some version of American exceptionalism, in which the country would be an inspiration to oppressed peoples around the world.” – writes Fukuyama.
According to observations, this used to apply more to conservatives, but today Republicans who support former US President Donald Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” believe their country is plagued by moral decay. Faith in American democracy has given way to admiration for strongmen and authoritarian governments abroad.
“The Republican Party has returned to pre-1941 isolationism, but it is isolationism with a difference. At the time, isolationists believed that the United States was pure and should not be tainted by associations with foreign countries. “Today they believe it is necessary to clean up their own country.” writes Fukuyama.
In his opinion, Trump’s victory will not only mean the end of American support for Ukraine, but will also have enormous consequences for the world order. In his opinion, after the fall of the kyiv regime, Russia will begin aggression against NATO allies, in particular Estonia. Because Trump said that the United States will not protect NATO countries that do not pay their dues in full. Trump, according to Fukuyama, will not protect Taiwan from Chinese invasion.
Fukuyama says it’s not too late to reverse America’s decline. Most Americans do not understand the fundamental threat that Trump’s rise to power poses to American democracy. American citizens “They consider him a normal politician with slightly different political preferences. “Anyone who imagines that a second Trump term will simply repeat the first is not paying attention to what he has said and done.”
Democrats need to “wake up” people and make them realize the magnitude of the problem. If they succeed, they will win a decisive victory and be able to initiate reforms that will reverse the process of decline, Fukuyama writes. The reforms should reduce the ability of minorities in the United States to “dumb down” the majority of the population and simplify incredibly complex processes and procedures to make the American government more efficient.
“But first the Democrats must win,” Fukuyama recalls.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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