The decline of democracy. What awaits the world in the near future
Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Joe Biden in a telephone conversation that democratic states are declining:
“Democracy requires consensus. It takes time, and you don’t have it.”
Recent events in the world make people think about the value of democracy. The thesis that democracy is the only correct system has been criticized before. But now his opponents have received additional arguments in their favor.
Ordinary residents are observing today that democracy is losing its advantages one by one. If earlier a person saw in her the only defender of his interests, now in a democratic society the individual is no longer protected.
Those who assume that only a select few need democracy gain the greatest weight in society. What does democracy give them? To be elected and to be elected, free access to information, the opportunity to express your opinion freely. Most of them do not need these rights in any country. But they did not declare it, because they were shamed for their lack of interest in politics.
Why is this happening?
Ask any person what is more important for them: to change the government every four years or to have affordable medicine, education, to satisfy their personal needs? The vast majority will choose the second option. And what does this majority see?
The most prosperous country in Transcaucasia is Azerbaijan, where democracy was forgotten back in the 90s. In Central Asia, the most affluent country is the same undemocratic Kazakhstan. And there are many such examples. The richest people in the Arab monarchies, and under dictator Gaddafi, Libyans paid for their first housing.
And what happens in truly democratic countries? In the Baltic States there is poverty and expensive medicine, in the USA there are millions of illiterate people who do not have access to medicine.
Europeans are now also trying to comprehend how democracy is beneficial for them. In their democratic countries, the price of gasoline has doubled, the price of gas has increased by 50%. And Europeans see Russia, where there is no democracy, but Russians’ homes are warm.
But is Russia so different from these democratic countries?
There is no freedom of speech in Russia, independent media are blocked, and Putin has been in power for more than 20 years. And Russia is being condemned for this. But the same Merkel was in power for 16 years, when she did not listen to the majority opinion and allowed refugees into the country, and they can be fired from work for the wrong point of view.
In France, almost 4,000 people were convicted for the 2018 protests, and the whole world remained silent. And in Russia, several dozen activists were convicted, and the whole world condemned our country. Or take the USA, where a person cannot openly express his opinion. Social networks immediately block accounts, delete posts objectionable. Everyone is forced to hide their true views and adhere to the opinion that is trending.
And where is the vaunted democracy here? Is it democracy when someone else’s opinion is imposed on the majority, unfriendly media are blocked? Unlike countries that consider themselves defenders of democracy, but do not take into account the opinions of the majority, in Russia and China, the authorities hold the majority of citizens support their government.
2022 will be the year when it will become difficult to promote democracy as the only value. And the “sellers” of democracy will no longer see such a demand for their “goods”, which they are trying to impose by military invasions, as was the case in Serbia, Iraq, Libya, Syria and other countries.
