By TARSUS GENUS*
The current stage of decline of liberal democracy no longer convinces anyone
1.
Within the normal standards of representative democracy and the standards of respect for the minimum rules of a political democracy recognized as legitimate in the 21st century, it can be said that Donald Trump won within the rules of the game. Liberal democracy is becoming increasingly difficult to be accepted universally and to be applied coherently, based on its “founding” ideas and its assumptions of Enlightenment reason. Its current stage of decadence no longer convinces anyone.
Precisely because of this failure, majorities are created that are not “unconscious” in relation to those humanistic goals, but are active in — militantly — exterminating them completely, in order to enjoy the other side — that of the dominant — in an existence without protection, ruled by anger and resentment. This is, to use a Hegelian formula, the “new spirit of the people” of the majority of the American nation, formed by many wars, the production of torture courses abroad and the use of unlimited violence to subdue peoples and consolidate hegemonic interests.
At dawn, I looked for some text that could support me in reflecting on the new catastrophe of the century. I am one of those who thought that the election of Kamala Harris, by a democratic political majority in American society, could offer good support for the fight against neo-fascism, which is emerging in every corner of the planet. When Hitler and Mussolini came to power, the idea that the specter of communism “was haunting Europe” was strong enough to cause movements of condescension towards Nazi-fascism on the rise in the hegemonic capitalist countries.
I am one of those who thought that if the majority of the American people were not subjugated by the “Trumpist” farce of fascism and if Kamala Harris were to win, this would help us — worldwide — to strengthen the fight against the culture of right-wing extremism that is currently rampant on the planet. The imperial-colonial foreign policy of the United States, in the event of a victory by Kamala Harris, would not be fundamentally different from what Donald Trump is and will be for the rest of the world, but the American “civil nation” could play the same historic role that the majority of the American people played at the end of the Vietnam War. It helped — at that time — the victorious global solidarity that led to the defeat, in a boiling Asia, of the greatest military power in the world.
The article collected was written before the count (Narbon, 20224): “Donald Trump is close to the presidency of the United States. His voters do not care that he is racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, authoritarian, sexist and a convicted criminal. In fact, they voted for him for this reason. White, Protestant America can’t stand the diversity that roams the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” Undocumented Latino immigrants are also unsympathetic to their compatriots. “The lifeboat is too full and could sink if it takes on more people. Men resent the growing influence of women, and gun lovers can’t stand the idea of restrictions being imposed, despite 600 shootings a year.”[I]
In the gray morning of my vision, impacted by Donald Trump’s victory (which certainly brings American liberal democracy and its “rule of law” very close to the bottom), I do not risk an opinion on the long-term historical consequences of his victory, but I only intend to contribute to the formation of a minimum common sense on the left about this defeat of liberal democracy. To better understand the new situation and contribute to this reflection in the field of the left, I register two impressions: one about Brazilian national issues, in this context, and another about the external importance of Kamala Harris’ defeat.
2.
Insecurity in general, social, military and in the public sphere, has become a central issue in modern politics, here and throughout Latin America, which makes me think of two problems: if the Lula government does not decide which Immediate Public Security Plan will be implemented, early next year (in addition to the constitutional reforms that will take at least three years to be approved and implemented); and if the government is unable to find an acceptable and legitimate destination for the fiscal framework (absent any other proposal that can be approved by the National Congress), the same victory as Donald Trump — with the same fascist and reactionary sense — could occur here in Brazil starting with the 2026 elections.
The external repercussions of Kamala Harris' defeat are clear to the naked eye, in two directions: one of an economic nature, with the strong return of American protectionism, which could help to redesign China's alliance system outside the African continent and, on the other, interfering even more aggressively to use the military "Keynesianism" of the "Bush era", with high growth rates in the military industry - in terms of equipment, weapons and other inputs for sustaining long-term wars - strengthened with new technologies for the military sector.
The new world that awaits us is as far from the farcical utopia of the “American way of life” as it is from the ideas of social democracy, heroically built in the last century.
*Tarsus in law he was governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, mayor of Porto Alegre, Minister of Justice, Minister of Education and Minister of Institutional Relations in Brazil. Author, among other books, of possible utopia (Arts & Crafts).
Note
[I] NARBON, Rafael. The problem is not just Donald Trump. Madrid, November 6, 2024.
Available in stock here.
the earth is round there is thanks to our readers and supporters.
Help us keep this idea going.
CONTRIBUTE
