The Rise of Authoritarianism in Eastern Europe - Pt 1/2 The Barricade

[rcmrcm]

What would one expect for anyone who invites in the United States and Canada, democracy? Hahaha

[KarlStephanNeufeldt]

The core term this discussion is missing is 'rule of law'. The speakers fail to look at their concepts versus rule of law.

[MathUDX]

The whole concept of "authoritarian... -ism" has already struck me as one of those vague, cynical phrases used as a generic pejorative for "government we don't like". The premise seemed to start from neoliberal governments maximizing freedom, and everything else is some kind of authoritarian deviation. There are very clear and distinct differences between the politics of governments like Cuba and Poland.

[MathUDX]

"Elected in a democratic matter" <- this phrase is completely ridiculous to me after reading Aristotle. Elections are an oligarchic institution and always have been. You can have as many parties and candidates as you want but at the end of the day elections select for the well-off in society before even a single vote is cast. It's time to finally put the fiction of democratic elections to bed and think a little harder about what rule by the people means.