The OLD Philosopher – John M. Miller
The greatest threat to democracy in the 21st century is ill-informed, reactionary voters. The Brexit vote in Britain is Illustration No. 1 of that sad reality.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron made a disastrous mistake in asking British voters to decide whether to exit or to remain in the European Union. He incorrectly assumed the electorate would certainly have the wisdom to vote to stay in the EU.
Cameron did not take into account the necessity of showing a restive British people why they must continue to support and strengthen the EU. European union has been and shall continue to be a long and laborious process. Reactionary nationalists and blue collar workers assumed it would be to their advantage to leave, and by a 52% majority they expressed their democratic opinion in the Brexit ballot.
The result has been chaos. For three years Britain has tried to right the ship of state, but that has not happened. Cameron promised to step down if the Brexit vote passed. Theresa May followed him as prime minister, and she has been a most inept leader of Parliament. Now she has resigned, and the Conservative Party is thrown into a tailspin over who shall replace her as leader of the Conservative Party.
This continuous uproar has been devastating to the UK. Because of massive unrest, many Britons favor another Brexit vote. But Brexit has fomented the most explosive constitutional crisis Britain has ever known. What party or parties shall control Parliament is not unclear. Who the next Prime Minister shall be is up in the air. If it is Boris Johnson, the UK will have a Donald Trump with scarily similar hair. Everything is a dismaying mess.
Illustration 2. In 2016, reactionary American nationalists and blue collar workers elected Donald Trump. The USA has faced growing chaos ever since.
Millions of American voters believed that “Make America Great Again” was a great slogan for a bright future. It was not. Its meaning has never been spelled out, because the sloganeer is incapable of explaining it.
It is evident to other millions of Americans that the 2016 presidential election has turned into a political catastrophe. But most of the Trump voters still imagine that he is an excellent president, if for no other reason than that he never ceases to tell us so.
There are other nations around the world that also are having serious problems in attempting to maintain their democracies. Many of them are moving toward autocracy.
Fortunately for the UK, there are no signs of an autocratic takeover by anyone. Unceasing chaos is their current crisis.
The USA is not nearly as fortunate in facing possible intimations of autocracy. The executive overreach of Donald Trump should alarm every citizen, yet it doesn’t. Americans are not experiencing politics as usual. We are enveloped political turmoil such as the nation has never seen. We shall surely survive, but at what cost?
Informed voting is the most important duty of citizens in a democracy. Carefully pay attention to the issues between now and Nov. 3, 2020. Democracy itself is at stake.
John Miller is Pastor of The Chapel Without Walls on Hilton Head Island, SC.
More of his writings may be viewed at www.chapelwithoutwalls.org.