Hidden Authoritarianism in Western Countries

[Whiteronin]

As I understand it, Western democracy is an illusion; the Western countries are ruled by the financial aristocracy. This works as follows: if a problem arises in society, the elite, represented by parliamentarians, passes laws to solve it; but these laws simultaneously serve another purpose—increasing the wealth and power of the elite. In particular, these laws are always aimed at suppressing small businesses, because small businessmen are less dependent on the government and can overthrow it.
I have a couple of examples, but I apologize for not fact-checking everything thoroughly; I hope someone here can help me with this:
1) I saw an interview on Euronews, in which it was said that agricultural subsidies in the European Union always help large agricultural holdings more than small farmers;
2) One blogger wrote about how laws aimed to combat global warming (greenhouse gas emission quotas) in New Zealand similarly benefit large agricultural holdings and lead to the ruin of small farmers.
Please comment my examples and suggest any others.

[BADecker]

Look at the foundational law in Great Britain. It's the Magna Carta. This document was an attempt by the people to do two things:
1. Keep government in its place to do the things government should
2. while allowing freedom for the people.

The Magna Carta still works, today. The only thing government has against it is to use words to play on the greed of common people so that the people don't use the Magna Carta any longer... even though they could.

In the US they did it different. They placed it right into the Constitution. But the same here. If the people don't look at what government is doing, they will be tricked out of the strength of their own Constitution.

In America, there now exists the Private Membership Association (PMA), even though privacy has existed all along. The PMA is simply the way that people forced government to remain in its place, government working with public things rather than private things.

People can use the PMA to do just about any not-harmful thing, and do it outside of government control. The PMA is a US thing. It's time for the people of the UK to strengthen their Magna Carta with a new form of it... a form that makes government hands-off the people, again. But the people can't do it if they don't wake up to the fact that protests are the wrong way to go about it.

[JeromeTash]

Exactly, western democracy is an illusion. I wish more and more people could see this. If you look at what is happening around the world with countries (especially former colonies) that have been trying to practice the so-called type of politics. It's all a mess. We have coups, unending civil wars, regimes built out of election violence, and malpractices, among other things.

There is a big divide between the common people and the political class in most countries around the world, and I believe we need a total reset.

[Hispo]

So if western democracy is so bad, then let us talk about alternatives.
China and Russia are the most visible alternatives to western democracy, which are pushed by the United States and Europe. There is not actual democracy in China and Russia, both are autocracies which crush all opposition in their territories.

I would rather to have a country which constantly changes of leader instead or turning into something like China and Russia are, countries where their leaders have intentions for perpetuate themselves the rest of their life in power.

Democracy is not perfect and also it is fragile, and it continues to be the best system of governance, specially if it is direct democracy instead of representative democracy.

[BADecker]

So if western democracy is so bad, then let us talk about alternatives.
China and Russia are the most visible alternatives to western democracy, which are pushed by the United States and Europe. There is not actual democracy in China and Russia, both are autocracies which crush all opposition in their territories.

I would rather to have a country which constantly changes of leader instead or turning into something like China and Russia are, countries where their leaders have intentions for perpetuate themselves the rest of their life in power.

Democracy is not perfect and also it is fragile, and it continues to be the best system of governance, specially if it is direct democracy instead of representative democracy.

Western Democracy is strong as long as it is supported by a real Republic. If it is not so supported, it becomes a Dictatorship.

[EluguHcman]

I have a couple of examples, but I apologize for not fact-checking everything thoroughly; I hope someone here can help me with this:
1) I saw an interview on Euronews, in which it was said that agricultural subsidies in the European Union always help large agricultural holdings more than small farmers;
2) One blogger wrote about how laws aimed to combat global warming (greenhouse gas emission quotas) in New Zealand similarly benefit large agricultural holdings and lead to the ruin of small farmers.
Please comment my examples and suggest any others.

That one is possible even in a nutshell. Governments creating empowerments on the Agriculture level, larger sectors will always be in demand to require more concentrations at the height of providing them with Agricultural amenities to support their productions because they believe the big factories or farms are the sustainable to make consumable or essential demands available for the communities at large.

So in the process small scales may be downgraded but whoever finding it worthless is making a big mistake because it is also one of those gradual processes that arrives to the big scales Agricultures.
They can of course provide for small scales of demands even though it can not sustain widely.

[Tipstar]

Anacyclosis is a theory put forward by Greek Philosopher Polybius years before the birth of Christianity.
The theory claims each society moves through a cycle of phases, between Kingship, Tyranny, Aristocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy and Mob rule.
Some are a bit more stable, some skips some phases or have variations but the fact that society changes and not always to good path is still true for all societies.

[BADecker]

Anacyclosis is a theory put forward by Greek Philosopher Polybius years before the birth of Christianity.
The theory claims each society moves through a cycle of phases, between Kingship, Tyranny, Aristocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy and Mob rule.
Some are a bit more stable, some skips some phases or have variations but the fact that society changes and not always to good path is still true for all societies.

If you keep your head screwed on, and your eyes and ears open, you can find a path through just about anything. Watch the movie Schindler's List - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108052/?ref_=nm_knf_t_2.

[Kelward]

You cannot remove class from any society and the political class and the super rich will do anything to remain at the top so there is always a collaboration between them to throw crumbs at the masses bellow to keep them happy. One of my uncles always says that " leaders makes laws and if the laws starts to go against them they will change such laws" it means that laws are actually meant to suit those at the top. Why do you think politicians will tell lies and do everything possible to enter power and stay as long as possible at the top? It is because they get to play gods over the entire people bellow them, even in the so called democracies you will still find traces of authoritarianism. Yet authoritarianism is very much present in underdeveloped countries than Europe and America.

[Whiteronin]

Exactly, western democracy is an illusion. I wish more and more people could see this. If you look at what is happening around the world with countries (especially former colonies) that have been trying to practice the so-called type of politics. It's all a mess. We have coups, unending civil wars, regimes built out of election violence, and malpractices, among other things.

There is a big divide between the common people and the political class in most countries around the world, and I believe we need a total reset.

Maybe you have views similar to mine, but I have one more question to clarify this: where, as you think, is more democracy now - in USA or Europe?

[Whiteronin]

A common situation is when candidate A promises something ugly regarding question 1, but something good regarding question 2. Candidate B promises something good regarding question 1, but something ugly regarding question 2. So the voters do not have choice.

For example, some candidates promise to supress gays, while others promise to supress homophobes; and when these candidates change each other, nothing changes, because both parties are rather spoilers serving the financial elite. This is clealy seen in case of USA and Poland.

[Whiteronin]

As far as I can see, Europe (in comparison to the USA) is close to USSR: it has more equality, but less freedom.
There is often some correlation between the authoritarianism and the equality: for example, in China there is a large middle class now. Maybe the explanation is that since China is a hightly authoritarian country, its rulers are not afraid of the middle class (while in the Western world the middle class could overthrow the ruling elites, because it has more civil rights).

[Oluwa-btc]

Exactly, western democracy is an illusion. I wish more and more people could see this. If you look at what is happening around the world with countries (especially former colonies) that have been trying to practice the so-called type of politics. It's all a mess. We have coups, unending civil wars, regimes built out of election violence, and malpractices, among other things.

There is a big divide between the common people and the political class in most countries around the world, and I believe we need a total reset.

As African and Nigerian, I will agree with your statement of the western democracy being an illusion.

The western democracy has never benefited us as Africans but rather suffocate us more with their international monetary fund and also world bank. The democracy was built so we as Africans can always fall back to them for help and aid but how long will you continually depend on a system which suffocates one to he's or her bone marrows?! I will say the same about the so call democratic election process,  they don't grow Africa.

Western Democracy is strong as long as it is supported by a real Republic. If it is not so supported, it becomes a Dictatorship.

Lmfao!! It's dictatorship when it's no longer benefiting the imperialistic cvnts  Maybe that is what every African nation needs,  a dictator like Putin and Ibrahim Traore who put his/her people first.

[Whiteronin]

https://www.politico.eu/article/friedrich-merz-is-right-to-reject-germanys-nuclear-phase-out-says-iea-chief-fatih-birol/

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s admission that Germany’s nuclear phase-out was a “serious strategic mistake” has won an emphatic endorsement from Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency.

For me, this is an example of not a mistake but rather a crime: the closure of atomic stations has lead to an increase of oil consumption and buying the oil in Germany, and in fact this means that Germany is now funding the Putin's war in Ukraine (exchange with Saudi Arabia). And it is very possible that the decision to close the stations was payed by the Putin's lobby (as an example, Gerhard Schröder has been working in Russia for a long time).

https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/two-thirds-germans-against-shutting-down-last-nuclear-power-plants-point-survey

Two thirds of Germans against shutting down last nuclear power plants at this point – survey

[bournekin]

As I understand it, Western democracy is an illusion; the Western countries are ruled by the financial aristocracy. This works as follows: if a problem arises in society, the elite, represented by parliamentarians, passes laws to solve it; but these laws simultaneously serve another purpose—increasing the wealth and power of the elite. In particular, these laws are always aimed at suppressing small businesses, because small businessmen are less dependent on the government and can overthrow it.
I have a couple of examples, but I apologize for not fact-checking everything thoroughly; I hope someone here can help me with this:
1) I saw an interview on Euronews, in which it was said that agricultural subsidies in the European Union always help large agricultural holdings more than small farmers;
2) One blogger wrote about how laws aimed to combat global warming (greenhouse gas emission quotas) in New Zealand similarly benefit large agricultural holdings and lead to the ruin of small farmers.
Please comment my examples and suggest any others.

o my gosh i actually totally could not agree with you more, the western world serves the rich and thats all to it. they never allow small business or normal working class people to succeed in life and if they dont it very rare. there laws are passed to support the suppression of people and tax them so they have nothing left for every day living. the government are there to serve the people but in reality there there to serve the rich and make them richer while the poor stay poor. sad isnt it but a sad reality 

[JeromeTash]

As far as I can see, Europe (in comparison to the USA) is close to USSR: it has more equality, but less freedom.
There is often some correlation between the authoritarianism and the equality: for example, in China there is a large middle class now. Maybe the explanation is that since China is a hightly authoritarian country, its rulers are not afraid of the middle class (while in the Western world the middle class could overthrow the ruling elites, because it has more civil rights).

One would really have to travel around the world to notice what is going on firsthand in order to get a well-informed perspective and not depend on what the media says. Very bad pictures have been painted about countries that do not align with the Western norms from media, movies, etc., and yet a majority of citizens do not seem to complain about their governance.

Let's pause a moment and think about this. How many times has the middle class overthrown the ruling elites in the Western World vs other countries around the world (I am talking about South America, Asia, and Africa)? Let's exclude countries that totally don't want western control (China, Russia, North Korea)
When you look at it critically, you will always notice that there is some form of Western influence in those overthrows, coups, civil wars, etc., while nothing of the same kind seems to happen in Europe and the US even when the citizens are not happy with the politician. The worst-case scenario is just a few riots and a couple of politicians resigning.

[Dunamisx]

As I understand it, Western democracy is an illusion; the Western countries are ruled by the financial aristocracy. This works as follows: if a problem arises in society, the elite, represented by parliamentarians, passes laws to solve it; but these laws simultaneously serve another purpose—increasing the wealth and power of the elite. In particular, these laws are always aimed at suppressing small businesses, because small businessmen are less dependent on the government and can overthrow it.

The time is coming that's all this will be a thing of story and the past, maybe the way we have cryptocurrency as an alternative asset and medium of exchange for goods and services could also prompt to the kind of leadership we will soon be having from the elite countries that think they have the whole power to subdue the world under them, we live in a free world but the word freedom is not truly given in many policies and so many countries may found in this same pattern of rulership instead of leadership, but I believe that very soon we will have a complete the centralization of power and everyone we independently control and take charge of a territory without the influence of the elite.

[Whiteronin]

As I have already mentioned, the authoritarianism in Western countries is mostly based on package voting, where each choice for the voters has both some good and bad decisions, and they can't separate them to vote for each point independently. For example, a frightening scenario of the near future is as follows: Trump dies or gets a dementia or becomes impeached by the US parliament, and the Americans choose a president of e.g. these two candidates - J. D. Vance vs Kamala Harris. A half of Americans will vote for Vance because they do not want transgenders in big sport, and another half will vote for Harris because they do not want the abortions to be prohibited. Possibly the choice will be even worse, because both candidates will not talk about cryptocurrencies (this will mean that they plan to forbid them), and they will promise to de-anonymise Meta and X (because people talk too much about politics in the social networks). Both choices will be terrible, and I am sure that the best vote in such situation will be NOTC, or, more exactly, spoiling the ballot.
The best thing Trump can do now, to prevent such a scenario, is the initiation of an all-US referendum with 4 proposals (each point will be voted separately):
1) Ending of "gender diversity";
2) Full legalization of abortions;
3) Legalization of cryptocurrencties;
4) Some declaration that the social network have all rights to make their users anonymous.

[programmer3666]

Questioning a decayed system of government is a bold thing to do, but saying democracy is fake is too far fetch and people can easily mistake that to being a socialist or a partial communist. without a doubt big and well established companies normally benefit more because they are financially equipped and have abundant resources!! which is a very real issue. But you can't deny the fact that western countries still have elections and to some extent free media and public debate. Clearly the system has some flaws and inequality exist as well, but that’s qyite different from a full authoritarian control.