Berlin.
The mob from Brazil’s capital shocked the world. Democracy is also being eroded in Western countries. Even in Europe.
There are disturbing images that come from the Brazilian capital. A mob driven by destructiveness storms the parliament building, the presidential palace and the seat of the Supreme Court. Window panes are shattered, computers cut short and small. the rioters are openly demanding that the army intervene and want to use violence to reverse the election of their right-wing populist idol Jair Bolsonaro, which was lost in October.
The scandal from Brazil has an impact on the whole world. If democracy topples there, that’s it rainforest endangered in the Amazon. The dense forest areas bind large amounts of carbon dioxide – they are the green lungs of the blue planet. The newly elected President Lula has promised to stop deforestation, which has progressed far under Bolsonaro.
Like Bolsonaro, Trump had flirted with a military coup
The scenes out Brasilia seem like a déjà vu from the darkest days in the US capital Washington. On January 6, 2021, angry supporters of President-elect Donald Trump marched through the Capitol. Like Bolsonaro, Trump had flirted with a military coup if the election didn’t go his way. Both heads of state continued to heat up the political climate.
In both Trump-America and Bolsonaro-Brazil, primal democratic principles have been unhinged. Democracy is temporary rule. Election losers acknowledge their defeat. Changes of power bring a breath of fresh air, prevent them constipation of the political establishment, prevent autocratic tendencies and are the opposite of dictatorship. The political opponent is not an archenemy. The competition of ideas is the oxygen for a western-style republican system.
Respect for state institutions is melting, the willingness to use violence is increasing
Also the USA, whose democratic constitution was adopted two years before the French Revolution in 1789, are not immune to repeated attacks on their own political stability. This includes not only the Trump years in the White House. The multi-day circus in the election for Speaker of the House also shows: A radical minority of Republicans, led by ardent Trump fans and election deniers, is taking the majority of the party hostage.
The increasing aggressiveness in politics is favored by social media, which are increasingly becoming echo chambers of partisan milieus. The political one discourse, which is looking for intersections for a compromise, gives way to a merciless culture war. Conspiracy theories are booming. Respect for state institutions is melting, the willingness to use violence is increasing.
Even MEPs can become weak when lured by financially strong states
Excesses like now in Brasilia or on January 6, 2021 in Washington are in Europe not to watch. But there are also tendencies to undermine democracy on the “old continent”. The allegations of corruption surrounding the Greek MEP Eva Kaili show that MEPs in Brussels can also become weak when lured by financially strong states.
In addition, individual countries in Eastern Europe have a structural problem democracy – at least as it is understood in the West. Poland’s national-conservative governing party PiS tried to rein in the judiciary. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán curtailed press freedom and handed his followers EU subsidies.
All of this underscores the fact that democracies cannot be guaranteed forever – they have become vulnerable. the Citizens should be aware that freedom is a precious commodity. Of course it isn’t.
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