Showing posts with label democracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label democracy. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 05, 2024

These Five Steps Turn Democracy into Dictatorship & Trump Is on Step Four

Nov 4, 2024 | From Democracy To Dictatorship Democracy is fragile.. and Donald Trump has a sledgehammer.

Thom Hartmann Programm : Inside Billionaires' Brazen Attempt at Fascism

Nov 5, 2024 | This is not how a democracy is supposed to work. The “demos” in democracy means “the people.” Democracies are supposed to fulfill the will of the people; add the protections for minority groups a republic provides and you have what the Founders called “republican democracy” and we refer to as a democratic republic.

Monday, November 04, 2024

Are Billionaires a Problem? | ARTE.tv Documentary

Mar 26, 2024 | The richest man in the world - Frenchman Bernard Arnault - is worth more than 200 billion euros. Around the world, the super rich are getting ever richer. Since money can buy power and influence. Are billionaires undermining democracy?

Saturday, November 02, 2024

Truth To Power: Why Elon Musk Is So Dangerous to Democracy

Nov 2, 2024 | The world’s richest man appears to be getting further and further out of touch with sanity every time he appears in public. But from his on-going attacks on the British government, his blatant promotion of hate speech through doctored algorithms on X (formerly Twitter), his financial interference through vote buying in the US elections, and his full-throated support for Donald Trump and the “Make America Great Again’ movement, Elon Musk appears to be not just the richest, but also most politically influential man on the planet.

Monday, October 21, 2024

Are Populists Destroying Democracy? In Conversation

Oct 21, 2024 | In this conversation, Dr. Kristian Niemietz, Editorial Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, talks with Nils Karlson, Founding President & CEO of the Ratio Institute, about Karlson's new book "Reviving Classical Liberalism Against Populism." Karlson defines populism through three key characteristics: simplistic solutions to complex problems, a rhetorical style that divides society into "us vs. them," and an authoritarian tendency that challenges democratic institutions. He argues that populism poses a threat to liberal democracies and explores its philosophical roots in continental European thought.

The discussion covers strategies for countering populism, with Karlson advocating for a revival of classical liberal principles. He emphasises explaining populist tactics to the public, securing and developing liberal institutions, and creating narratives that highlight the benefits of a liberal society. Karlson also stresses the need for classical liberals to engage more actively in cultural and political spheres, forming coalitions and supporting politicians who can effectively promote liberal policies.

Karlson addresses questions from the audience on topics such as property rights, the role of democracy in liberal thought, and the importance of family values in classical liberalism. He analyses current political trends and provides ideas for revitalising classical liberal ideas in the face of rising populist movements. This conversation is relevant for anyone interested in the future of liberal democracy and the challenges it faces today.


Friday, September 20, 2024

Authoritarianism v. Democracy: Francis Fukuyama on the Year of Elections | Amanpour & Company

Sep 19, 2024 | Democracy has undergone a major stress test this year, with nearly half the world's voting population heading to the polls in a time of democratic backsliding and growing extremism. Francis Fukuyama, senior fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute, joined Walter Isaacson to speak about the danger of taking democracy for granted, and -- following his recent trip to Ukraine -- how he believes the war there might end. Originally aired on September 19, 2024

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Musk Is Not Well Intentioned When It Comes to U.S. Liberal Democracy: Ed Luce

Aug 13, 2024 | he Financial Times' Ed Luce discusses what makes X and Tesla's Elon Musk a danger to democracy.

Saturday, July 27, 2024

Trump Tells Supporters They Won’t Have to Vote in the Future: ‘It’ll Be Fixed!’

THE OBSERVER: Former president implores Christian supporters to vote ‘just this time’, then ‘in four years, you don’t have to vote again’

Donald Trump has ignited alarm among his critics after telling a crowd of supporters that they won’t “have to vote again” if they return him to the presidency in November’s election.

“Christians, get out and vote! Just this time – you won’t have to do it any more,” the Republican former president said on Friday night at a rally hosted in West Palm Beach, Florida, by the far-right advocacy group Turning Point Action.

“You know what? It’ll be fixed! It’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote any more, my beautiful Christians,” he said with a slight shake of his head and his right hand pressed against the left side of his chest.

He added: “I love you. Get out – you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.”

Trump’s remarks – delivered not far from his Mar-a-Lago resort and home – were immediately met with consternation in some political quarters.

The constitutional and civil rights attorney Andrew Seidel, for instance, replied to video of Trump’s comments circulating on X by writing: “This is not subtle Christian nationalism. He’s talking about ending our democracy and installing a Christian nation.” » | Ramon Antonio Vargas | Saturday, July 27, 2024

Trump is such a dangerous man. Democracy will never be safe in his hands. In fact, it won't even last very long in his hands. – © Mark Alexander

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom | Reupload

MARK ALEXANDER: Until 9/11, the western world was largely ignorant of the religion of Islam, of its goals, of its aspirations. Indeed, even since 9/11, most people, and that includes our politicians, would not score very highly in a test of their knowledge on the subject. It should be obvious to all thinking people that our politicians are actually unaware, dare I say blind, to the dangers that Islam will increasingly cause us. It is truly a case of the blind leading the blind! That means to say, uninformed and unthinking politicians leading an ill-informed electorate. But this is what we have right now. The same can hardly be said of Muslims in the Islamic world, though; for their knowledge of Christianity far surpasses - even though much of their knowledge is quite distorted - any knowledge of Islam by the man in the street in the West.

As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. But what we often don't hear uttered is its converse: Ignorance is weakness.

The West is far weaker than it need be because of this ignorance of Islam, since Islam is our greatest enemy. The greatest enemy since Nazism and communism. I'll give you some good reasons why this is so. And none of them - absolutely none of them - are based on hatred.

Islam is the enemy of the West for a plethora of good, solid reasons, and if we wish to survive as a civilization, we are going to have to bite the bullet and deal, head on, with the issues these reasons raise. Let us begin...

First and foremost, we are dealing with a religion which does not recognize any separation of politics and religion, any separation of the political from the spiritual. For Muslims, life is one coherent whole: the political and spiritual both meld into one. This has always been so, and always will be. No re-classification of the religion into two separate parts is possible because of Islam's very nature.

In Islam, all power rests with Allah, the god of Muslims. The Qur'an, their holy book, is always taken literally. Those words are considered to be the actual words of Allah. Therefore, none of these words can be changed, for to change any of them would be tantamount to tampering with Allah's words. This would be a grave sin in their eyes.

For the same reason that the words contained in the Qur'an cannot be changed, they cannot, therefore, be re-interpreted either. So do not hold your breath for any kind of reformation in this religion, because it’s not going to happen.

In Islam, all power rests with Allah, and it filters down via his vice-gerents on earth to the people. Hence the great desire among Muslims to restore the caliphate. Contrast this with the Western model of government.

In the West, the ideal political system is democracy. In democracy, all power rests with the people, and they exercise that power at the polls. In a democracy, all power filters in the opposite direction from Islam. In democracy it filters up; in Islam, down! Herein lies the greatest barrier to the miscibility of the two worlds: the western world and the Islamic world.

Without digressing too much here, I should like to add that this is the main reason why George W Bush and Blair's venture into Iraq to bring democracy there was a grave error of judgment. We are now seeing the experiment failing before our very eyes. How can one bring democracy to a region of the world where the people who inhabit that region believe that all power rests with Allah, and where they believe that Allah has prescribed their way of life for them for then, for now, and for all time?

I would suggest that where such a dichotomy exists, the most sensible and prudent thing to do would be for us to lead our lives as we see fit, and for those people to be allowed to live their lives as they see fit. That way, there would be hope of some peace in this world.

But this is not what we have done. We have done the very opposite of this: We have entered the Middle East in the hope - the vain hope in my opinion - of bringing our way of doing things, our way of life, to them; furthermore, we have allowed millions and millions of Muslims into the West - and at the very time when Christianity, the religion which underpins the West, is greatly weakened anyway - which will only give us headaches for the years ahead. Why? Because Muslims who immigrate bring their hopes and dreams and aspirations with them, hopes and dreams of establishing Islam everywhere on earth. To Islamize the world is the main aspiration of the Muslim; and we have seen in France in the recent past the manifestation of aggression in its cause. For what happened in France was in no small part because of the Muslim's desire to establish Allah's caliphate here on earth. These were the first rumblings, the first roar of the lion! Expect more of this in the future, as Islam grows stronger and stronger.

Muslims, by and large, do not respect non-Muslims. How can they? Their religion does not allow them to do so. Their religion preaches that Muslims are superior to non-Muslims; indeed, they use the derogatory term infidel for us. This word to some Westerners might simply mean that they call us infidels because we are people who do not subscribe to their faith. This, after all, would be quite logical, since to us it simply means not fidèle, or not true to the faith. But this does not completely describe what Muslims mean by this term. To Muslims, to be called an infidel is an insult indeed. It has connotations of inferiority, backwardness, and even uncleanness.

You see, Muslims believe that Islam is the perfection of religion for man for all time. They call it ad deen al kamal, the perfect religion. In their eyes, people who have not yet submitted to the will of Allah are in a state of pre-Islamic chaos, a state known to them as jahiliyyah. To Muslims, all Muslims, the whole world is classified in two parts: that part of the world which has submitted and is therefore in the Islamic state known as Dar ul Islam, or 'the House of Islam'; and that part of the world which has yet to submit and is therefore in a pre-Islamic, chaotic, jahiliyyic state known as Dar ul Harb, or the 'House of War'.

The 'House of War' is the part of the world which has yet to be taken over, and must at some point be taken over in the future. We, I am sorry to inform you, are in the 'House of War'. So we can expect anything at anytime.

Some people would ask why we were able to go for quite a long time without problems with Muslims. The answer to that is a simple one indeed. First of all, there were relatively few Muslims living in the West, so the ones that did live here were not powerful. Secondly, Muslims living in the Islamic world were, for the most part and for many years, poor by anyone's standards. This all changed with the Oil Embargo of the 70s - a time when the price of oil on the world markets soared. As a result of this, the Islamic world became rich and empowered. Money is power; and it talks loudly. In recent years we have seen evidence aplenty of Islam being on the move. I tell you now: If we do not find a way of clipping its wings here in the West, we shall lose our democracy, and we shall be in deep, deep trouble.

So the trouble we will have with Muslims will not come only from without, but in the future we can expect trouble from the Muslims within. The millions of Muslims living here in the West will not integrate, because it is not in their worldview to do so. It is also forbidden them by their very own Prophet Himself, the Prophet Muhammad. He forbade Muslims even to befriend infidels. He also exhorted them to kill us. And he certainly told them that they should live separate lives, and dress and behave differently, so that they could easily tell themselves apart.

No Western politician is going to be able to change these facts, for facts they are indeed. Moreover, as Islam will grow here, their numbers will become greater and greater, and they will be able to use our democratic system to outvote us and introduce their form of government based as it is on their beloved Shari'ah, or Quranic laws. How do you propose we shall be able to stop them? We shall be outnumbered, and as the outcome of democratic elections depends on the number of votes cast, we shall be able to do nothing about it. This time will come quicker than we might think, because so few babies are being born to infidel families.

The only thing left for people to do, will be to fight. Inevitably, at some point, civil war will ensue. If the political process fails people, then this will be all that will be left for them: civil war, guerre civile, Bürgerkrieg, call it what you will.

But one thing I can assure you, no politicians' sweet talk, posturing, or manœvring, will get us out of this one without conflict at some point in the future.

One of the biggest problems for the West is its devotion to the concept of freedom of religion. This is a lofty concept indeed, an ideal; but this devotion blinds people to one important reality: To the reality that Islam is not just a religion, but a political system, too. Indeed, it is more of a political system than anything else, and it is, in addition, a political system diametrically opposed to our own. It abhors freedom of choice, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of anything that we so cherish. The only thing one is free to do in Islam is become a Muslim, and submit to the will of Allah.

These two systems are totally immiscible, and unfortunately, we have imported this immiscibility right into the heart of the West; and to our own great disadvantage, and to the disadvantage of our long-term peace and security. What, I ask you, will the Americans do when the ever-growing Muslim population in America starts wanting to tinker with the Americans' beloved Constitution? When Muslims will see their way clear to supplant the Constitution with Shari'ah law?

Questions like these are the ones we should be grappling with NOW. To wait until the time comes would be foolish indeed.

Wake up to the harsh realities of life in the twenty-first century! We've got some collective thinking to do if we wish to save ourselves from darkness. Perhaps we shall, indeed, be forced to think about having to re-classify Islam as a political system first and foremost, a political system immiscible with our own, and one whose advance needs to be forestalled. This may be one of our only sensible alternatives. Since to give complete, unhampered freedom to Islam to grow here in the West is tantamount to digging our own graves.

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

This essay first appeared on this blog very many years ago. On April 20, 2007 to be precise. It was read right across the world, bringing in thousands of readers/visitors.

I am re-publishing this important essay today, because its message is as important to the free world today as it ever was. Our politicians are still as ignorant and naïve about Islam, its nature and its intentions, as they ever were. Until this changes, the future of the Western world is very much imperilled, lies very much in the balance.

With all the resources available to our politicians today, there really is NO EXCUSE for their IGNORANCE on matters relating to Islam. The mere fact that they do nothing about the growth of Islam here in the West shows me, and should show you, that our leaders are craven. They can hide behind political correctness and wokery/wokeism as much as they like, but the hard fact remains that they are CRAVEN. They are scared stiff of dealing with the thorny problem of Islam, problems which they themselves have created for us, the people. Do you really want your children to grow up in a society which lacks the freedoms which you yourselves have enjoyed? Is this truly acceptable to you? If not, then it is high time that we hold our political representatives to account. – © Mark Alexander


This essay first appeared here.

Saturday, February 03, 2024

The Biggest Electoral Year in History: Will Democracy Survive 2024? | DW News

Feb 3, 2024 | 2024 is the biggest electoral year in history, with people heading to the polls in dozens of countries. This is DW’s preview to the most consequential elections of 2024 across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas – and what they mean for the health and future of democracy. Correspondent Rosie Birchard speaks to DW experts on Taiwan, India, South Africa, Mexico, the EU and the US.

Friday, December 15, 2023

Chainsaw Politics: Cutting Down the Democratic Establishment? | To The Point

Dec 14, 2023


Die deutsche Version dieser Sendung kann man auch ansehen. Klicken Sie bitte hier. Der Name der Sendung heißt „Politik mit der Kettensäge: Wird das demokratische Establishment zerlegt?“

Thursday, December 07, 2023

Nancy Pelosi: Republicans Have Placed Democracy in Jeopardy

Dec 7, 2023 | On the day former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announces his retirement from Congress, fellow California representative Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi tells MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell that she would rather talk about what is at stake in 2024: our democracy.

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Katherine Stewart on Far-right Ideology and Its Threat to Democracy | The Warning Podcast

Nov 20, 2023 | Steve is joined by Katherine Stewart, an American journalist and author to discuss Far-right ideology and its threat to democracy, extremism in the American right and how this will impact the 2024 election


WIKIPEDIA: Claremont Institute »

Sunday, November 19, 2023

Islam: Democracy vs Theocracy | #shorts

John Anderson talks to Niall Ferguson about this.

My essay on this very topic written in April 2007 here.

Sunday, October 29, 2023

Since the Heinous Hamas Terror Attack on Israel, Germany Is Experiencing a New Dimension of Hate for German Values, for Democracy and for Germany

MARK ALEXANDER: In Germany — and in all probability elsewhere in the West, too — many residents despise the German/Western way of life. They bring their children up to despise the Western way of life, as well. For such people, Germans and other Westerners are considered to be infidels. A concept difficult for the secular, Western mind to grapple with.

I, for one, warned of this phenomenon more than twenty years ago in my book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age. It was like whistling into the wind! Many simply didn’t want to hear the message. They didn’t want their comfortable lives disturbed by uncomfortable facts. They preferred to sing Kumbaya instead. But facts are facts, however people want to spin or slice them. I said it then and I will repeat it now, Islam and democracy are totally incompatible. One is either a Muslim or one is a democrat. One cannot be both a devout Muslim and an ardent democrat. No Sir! This is not possible. Period!

I wrote an essay on this way back in April 2007. I reposted in March 2017 here and in August 2021 here.

At last, the mainstream media (MSM) are beginning to wake up. It has taken a while, but it is happening – slowly. For instance, today, I see that BILD in Germany are ahead of the curve and are reporting about this phenomenon in various languages.

In German, they have an article entitled, Deutschland, wir haben ein Problem!. The same article appears in English under the title, Germany, we have a problem!

The same article also appears in Turkish here, in Russian here, and in Arabic here.

Happy Reading!

© Mark Alexander

Wednesday, August 09, 2023

The Corporate WAR with Democracy

Aug 9, 2023 | Oligarchs have overthrown democracy & are at war with you.


Matt Kennard’s new book: Silent Coup: How Corporations Overthrew Democracy »

Double Down News can be supported here.

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Juan Carlos: The Rise & Fall of Spain's Scandalous King | From Francoism to Democracy | Real Royalty

Feb 8, 2023 | In this exclusive documentary, Juan Carlos de Bourbon, for decades one of the most popular and powerful monarchs of Europe, reflects on his life. Born to a royal family in exile, following the proclamation of the second Spanish Republic, his childhood was shrouded in uncertainty. He was educated under the benevolent tutelage of Franco, who selected him to be head of state, bypassing his own father. It was expected he would continue Franco’s own authoritarian regime. Instead, he introduced reforms that began the transition to democracy. In 1981, he played a pivotal role in ending a coup and is seen as one of the founders of Spanish democracy.

But his life has also been controversial. He was implicated in the tragic death of his younger brother, killed in a shooting accident and in recent years, the Spanish royal family has been beset by scandals. What does he think about these events?


Friday, December 30, 2022

How Neoliberalism Threatens Democracy

May 25, 2016 | Neoliberalism, warns Professor Wendy Brown, has created a form of reasoning in which human beings are reduced to their economic value and activity, and in which all fields of human activity are treated as markets and institutions, including the state, are increasingly run as if they were corporations. This logic is even applied to activities with no connection to wealth creation, such as education, dating, or physical exercise, which are increasingly governed according to market rules. People are treated in this schema, as units of human capital who must constantly tend to their own present and future value.