Ed India going down the Dictatorship road fast...

[grunion]

I see in today's newspaper that Rahul Gandhi has been expelled from Parliament and arrested. Another blow to what remains of democracy in India. Modi has been stepping up his clampdown on dissent and arrest of opposition leaders prior to the next Parliamentary election cycle.

 

[dudalb]

India is no longer a democracy. End of Story.
And to me, the scareist thing of all is that Modi has nukes and some of his stated polcies goals would bring him into direct confrontration with Pakistan.

 

[The Atheist]

I see in today's newspaper that Rahul Gandhi has been expelled from Parliament and arrested. Another blow to what remains of democracy in India. Modi has been stepping up his clampdown on dissent and arrest of opposition leaders prior to the next Parliamentary election cycle.

I feel bloody sorry for the sensible minority in India - things there will continue to get worse.

 

[grunion]

It is very disturbing. I have spent a lot of time in India over the years and have many friends and associates there. It is hard to draw direct parallels to the MAGA cultism that has taken hold here in my homeland but Modi takes hold of the same base emotions and twists them and twists them like Trump. Formerly reasonable people lose all reason and succumb.

India was never a perfect democracy but it was the biggest democracy in the world and was working pretty well considering what an ungovernable amalgam India was. Of course I suppose that same statement could be made about the US. Hopefully not the same fate.

The world is going through a pretty sick time right now.

 

[dudalb]

And once again:That many of MOdi's supporters are viiolently anti Muslim leaves a strong possiblity that India will get into a confrontration with Pakistan, and the nukes will fly.

 

[Trebuchet]

India is no longer a democracy. End of Story.
And to me, the scareist thing of all is that Modi has nukes and some of his stated polcies goals would bring him into direct confrontration with Pakistan.

And the same is happening in Turkey and Israel, and, if Trump gets back in, the USA.

 

[grunion]

And the same is happening in Turkey and Israel, and, if Trump gets back in, the USA.

Also add strong anti-democratic trends and movements in:
Hungary
Poland
Czech Republic
Brazil
Venezuela
Serbia
Nicaragua
Mali
Thailand

For some of these the anti-democratic trend is reversing but as a whole, especially considering the increasing autocracy of the anti-democratic majority nations it adds up to a very bleak time for global democracy indeed.

I do not think Modi is an idiot and therefore do not think he will launch nukes. That would clearly be the end of his power.

 

[dudalb]

I thnk countries with a strong long term democracy are in a better position to survive then countries with a younger Democratic postion.
Waht is sinteresting is that some of these Anti Democratic movements are on the left end of the specrum...Venezuela for example.

 

[Susheel]

I thnk countries with a strong long term democracy are in a better position to survive then countries with a younger Democratic postion.
Waht is sinteresting is that some of these Anti Democratic movements are on the left end of the specrum...Venezuela for example.

Why would you think Leftism is antithetical to Democratic movements. Most of the democracy activists being hounded, harassed, and oppressed by the Indian government come from the Leftist tradition.

 

[Trebuchet]

It's not so much a matter of left/right as authoritarianism vs libertarianism. That's a small L libertarianism, not the USA political version whose proponents actually tend toward authoritarianism.

 

[dudalb]

Why would you think Leftism is antithetical to Democratic movements. Most of the democracy activists being hounded, harassed, and oppressed by the Indian government come from the Leftist tradition.

SOme leftism is, some isn't.
Marxism fomr the way Marxist behave when they get control, might claim to like democracy but when in power they junk it.

 

[Trebuchet]

SOme leftism is, some isn't.
Marxism fomr the way Marxist behave when they get control, might claim to like democracy but when in power they junk it.

Again, it's authoritarianism coming to the fore.

 

[Lukraak_Sisser]

IMO in each case the populists, be they from the left or the right follow the same path

1: Identify a problem in society: Unequal wealth, unemployment, losing traditional values etc
2: Promise to fix that where all the other 'elite politicians divorced from the people' don't
3: Realize the promises are impossible due to realism
4: Blame 3 on: the jews, the woke, capitalism, socialism etc
5: Once in power remove democratic institutions to be free of the influence of 4
6: Crash and burn the country.

 

[arthwollipot]

SOme leftism is, some isn't.

It's almost like "leftism" is a dumb term with no real meaning, isn't it?

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

It's not so much a matter of left/right as authoritarianism vs libertarianism. That's a small L libertarianism, not the USA political version whose proponents actually tend toward authoritarianism.

The problem with libertarian/anarchist movements is that they all advocate for systemsbof government that will devolve to authoritarianism. The great irony is that systems that don't allow for a controlling mechanism don't have the resillience to resist a dictator.

 

[dudalb]

It's almost like "leftism" is a dumb term with no real meaning, isn't it?

More like it is a term that has a really broad meaning.

 

[Silly Green Monkey]

So broad a meaning to be self-contradictory, in fact.

 

[Susheel]

More like it is a term that has a really broad meaning.

That's probably because the predominant rhetoric on Left-Right dynamics on this forum seems to be dictated by those with a very limited and narrow vision of socio-political realities in other countries.

I mean...you guys think Clinton, Obama, and Pelosi are leftists.

 

[Susheel]

duplicate

 

[dudalb]

That's probably because the predominant rhetoric on Left-Right dynamics on this forum seems to be dictated by those with a very limited and narrow vision of socio-political realities in other countries.

I mean...you guys think Clinton, Obama, and Pelosi are leftists.

By American political standards..yes.
And yes, every country has different standards. That is not going to change.