Democracy depends on our support - From the Cluttered Desk with Keith Roulston

With election news dominating the airwaves lately due to the U.S. election next week and the possibility of a Canadian election any day now, I have to remember the quote of the legendary Winston Churchill, “Democracy is the worst form of government - except for all the others that have been tried.”

 

Democracy is based on the idea that the joint wisdom of the majority of citizens is superior to the wisdom of a minority - despite the fact that that minority is usually convinced about its own  wisdom. South of the border, Donald Trump is certainly convinced of his own wisdom. His familiarity with the American people, built on 14 years conducting the popular show The Apprentice, helped him get elected President in 2016, even though he had fewer total votes than Hillary Clinton, but more in enough states with electoral college votes.

 

By 2020, Trump’s  magic spell had diminished to the point he lost the election to Joe Biden, although he argues that he was cheated and led a rebellion on Jan. 6, 2021 to try to force Vice-President Mike Pence to accept illegal electoral college votes to have him retain power.

 

Despite top Republican officials declaring what he had tried to do made him unelectable, Trump easily won the party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election. In an early debate, President Joe Biden did not perform well, confirming for many voters the sentiment that, at 82, he was too old to be president. Trump, a mere four years younger, apparently was not too old.
Pressure on President Biden, as Trump took a solid lead in polling, grew stronger until he decided to withdraw and threw his support behind Vice-President Kamala Harris.

 

Support for Harris swelled to the point that she moved slightly ahead. Meanwhile, Trump survived an assassination attempt in which a bullet nicked his ear (and killed a man nearby) and another apparent attempt when security officials intercepted a man with a gun nearby.

 

And as the election approaches, the results are too close to call, experts say. Even though Harris promises programs to attract voters, millions stick by Trump, despite him being convicted of molesting a woman, and convicted of falsifying business records in connection with a pay-off to Stormy Daniels, a porn star who had a sexual encounter with him. He is also charged in connection with the Jan. 6 uprising and of retaining secret documents at his Florida estate, charges he hopes to throw out if re-elected.

 

Meanwhile, in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seems to have outlived his welcome. Party members have tried to convince him to retire as he trails badly in popularity. Meanwhile, opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, seems to have strong support, but one wonders if voters have examined what he stands for other than his virulent criticism of Trudeau. Have they thought of the consequences, for instance, of his promise to get rid of the carbon tax? Certainly it will be cheaper to fill up the gas tank of their car, but what will Poilievre do to improve the environment if the carbon tax is gone? And will he take back the regular payments that, for most of us, add up to more than the carbon tax?

 

Getting back to that Churchill quotation, it’s hard to have much faith in the voting public of either the U.S. or Canada right now. Have voters thought through what voting for Trump or Poilievre would mean?

 

One has to remember that Germany was originally a democracy when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933; then he steadily undermined democracy until it was reinstated by western democracies following the war. What if, despite Churchill’s wisdom, people decide to install a leader who does not believe in democracy? 

 

Tim Walz, vice-presidential running-mate to Kamala Harris, succinctly summed up the situation when he said, “The guardrails are gone. Trump is descending into madness.” Are the majority of U.S. voters ready to follow him? We’ll find out in another week.
The situation isn’t nearly as dangerous in Canada. People have stopped listening to Prime Minister Trudeau and jumped on board the Poilievre popularity train without really considering what that would mean in the form of government. What would it mean, for instance, with climate change: the greatest danger to the future of mankind?

 

The roots of democracy lie 800 years ago in the signing of the Magna Carta by King John, in Britain. The powers of democracy were widened with the signing of the U.S. Constitution by the leaders of the U.S. Revolution (even though some of these high-minded people were slave owners).

 

We are in a time of crisis! Can we count on voters to protect democracy? The next few months will tell.