A
confluence of events is brewing which could result in a dramatic political
make-over in the US and Europe with global implications. The upcoming 2016 US
presidential elections are a wide-open free-for-all between probably Democratic
candidate Hillary Clinton and any one of several GOP candidates. Despite the GOP’s
relentless and unending delusional commentaries on all topics, as the old adage
goes, “If you say it often enough people will think it’s true.” And because Ms.
Clinton is not universally liked amongst Democrat registered voters, the
Republicans have an excellent chance of snagging critical votes, enough to install
a closet hardliner or even a moderate who can be ‘turned’ into one. Should the
GOP capture the highest office, it would mean the stark possibility of a
massive rollback of laws created to protect US citizens from corporate and
governmental malfeasance and converting the country into a de facto
fascist-lite country with highly restrictive democratic choices.
A similar
trend is emerging through Europe particularly France where center-left and
rightwing candidates like Nicolas Sarkozy and Marie Le Pen, respectively, have
grained enormous ground for the 2017 spring president elections. The heinous
attack on the Charlie Hebdo office by radical militants and the heated issue of
immigration and lack of social integration of first and second generation
European-born citizens of Muslim backgrounds fuel this trend. A newly elected
Republican US president will give powerful political and psychological impetus
to the right-leaning candidates of other democratic countries. Even if rightwing
candidates fail to secure the highest office, they will certainly have a
powerful influence on their respective country’s domestic and international
policy matters.
The
forerunner and poster boy of the 21st century autocrat operating under
democratic law is none other than Russia’s Vladimir Putin. He and his oligarch
minions rule the country like an autocrat under the guise of a democracy whose
laws are not worth the paper they’re written on. This Putin leadership model
might be emulated by any future rightwing western head of state.
Coming
full circle, Putin has proven with disturbing effectiveness how outrageous
propaganda can be successful. Recent Russian propaganda has followed the
lead of earlier Republican propaganda tactics whose screaming lies have
convinced more than enough highly educated people of their point of view
despite hard and plentiful evidence to the contrary. Additionally American
right-wingers evoke religion with the same ferocity as the Mideast militants
they abhor. Their political diatribes, often with strong religious undercurrents,
are a ruse to justify diluting the freedoms of its own citizens with draconian
laws which makes them prisoners in their own countries.
In the
past robust and prosperous economies kept the darker political forces in the
dungeon. However the additional component of terrorism in these home countries
give the perception on that only the right can deliver a “law & order”
policy to halt future attacks. As proven it doesn’t. The USS Cole and 9/11
attacks occurred under the Republican watch.
This
additional control will be enhanced and enforced by the increasingly insidious
role of mega-corporations. Not only do these corporations have overwhelming economic
influence, they have security and “crowd control” roles via in-house or
outsourced private security firms. This makes CEOs de facto warlords renting
out “guns for hire” who are not subject to the same laws as government security.
They’re essentially a ‘shadow army’ where “the normal rules don’t apply” and
persecution against civil rights violations is an expensive lost cause.
This is
not a doomsday scenario rather a critical historical shift in the definition
and real-life operation of democracy in which a loosely aligned cabal of
hardliners worldwide are creating autocratic policies under the protection of
democratic laws.
Copyright Indo-Brazilian Associates LLC 2015. All rights reserved.
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