At times the broad-brush conclusions on the frailties of liberal democracies and the insurmountable challenges they face may sound alarmingly astute, but they aren't. They're more like analytical impositions on indigenous and very different political realities. Yes, there are common denominators, and yes, liberal democracy's inherent deficiencies are manifested in similar ways around the world. But it's a stretch to discern a pattern where the evidence of one is flimsy.
The young are democracy's hope (except in the U.S.?)
Who says younger people are politically disengaged? It’s an oft-heard stereotype among older generations in countries such as the UK. In South Korea, more than 51% of the population is 45 or under, according to the 2020 census, and it was mainly they who spontaneously streamed out of offices and workplaces on to the streets of the capital last Tuesday to stop what opposition politicians called a constitutional coup. They are too young to remember the last time the army took charge – it was 1979, after the assassination of the military dictator Park Chung-Hee. South Korea has been a parliamentary democracy since 1987. They aim to keep it that way.
The articles I've flagged above, one from a top Israeli news organization and the other from the Observer in London, reflect the challenges democracies face around the world. As the Haaretz piece explains, when people cite a "crisis of democracy" they mean many different things; some of these crises are worse than others, but all are alarming if you believe in democratic self-rule. The Observer's editorial is a heartening reminder that young people globally are leaping to democracy's defense, and points to one of the key videos from Seoul, South Korea, where a young woman grabbed the barrel of a soldier’s rifle and asked the soldier, "Are you not ashamed?" There's one notable exception to the youth-fueled pushback against authortarians. "Democracy in America, that shining city upon a hill, is in peril," warns the Observer. "Who will seize the rifle barrels in Washington DC?
Relentless lies, still amplified by mainstream journalism
Donald Trump gave his first network interview since the election and spread falsehoods about immigrants, the Affordable Care Act and — of course — the 2020 election.In an interview that aired on Sunday’s Meet the Press, Trump gave his usual bluster and ignored some important facts.
I'm not pointing to the massive coverage of NBC News' much promoted Trump interview, in which he said, among other things, that he still wants to prosecute the people who investigated – and exposed his central role in – the Jan. 6 insurrection. Instead, I point to this Rolling Stone catalog of (just some) of the endless lies the next president spewed to a hapless journalist who barely pushed back. Let's be clear. Big Journalism never stopped doing stenography for the most prolific bullshitter in American political history. As the "exclusive" NBC interview showed, it's still journalistic business as usual. Media malpractice is still the norm.
...Americans who care about our democracy have to recognize the needs of, and respect the agency of, low-income and middle-class Americans. This means breaking with decades of neoliberal, trickle-down economic policies. Policies that have disempowered and disconnected us from each other and hollowed out communities and the American dream while consolidating power for billionaires. It means learning from another New Yorker, Franklin Roosevelt, who enacted policies that gave all Americans a fighting chance to succeed.
I strongly recommend that you listen to this (not too long) speech – or read the transcript – by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. It's a master class in explaining why so many workers don't like the neo-liberals who've controlled Democratic politics for so long – and what can be done to reclaim their attention and support.
How I put this together
This newsletter is a compendium of the reporting and commentary that best explains the America's political, economic, and social conditions – and, most important, how we can find a way back from the dark days ahead. You will rarely find anything here from the New York Times or Washington Post or any of the other Big Journalism companies that failed us so completely during the 2024 elections and are now sucking up – even more than usual – to Donald Trump, his cult, and corporate oligarchs. My focus will be on smaller, more honorable outlets (and individuals). I hope you'll support them with your attention and your money. For more details, please read my About page.
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Alon Pinkas
