American democracy has survived a serious test — but it is weakened and delegitimized in the eyes of many
In the last four years, America has experienced the early stages of democratic backsliding. Like the authoritarians in Hungary, Poland, Turkey, India and other countries that used to be democracies, President Donald Trump has flouted both formal and informal restrictions on executive authority and used the power of the state to his advantage. While the traditions of the rule of law, division of power and checks and balances are more deeply embedded in the United States than in perhaps any other country, these ideals do not seem as unshakeable or well established as they were four years ago.
Donald Trump has undermined the integrity of American democracy by becoming the first president in US history to refuse to commit to the peaceful transfer of power and recognize the results of the election. He has flaunted the rule of law by using his power to commute the sentences of former aides and pressure foreign countries into digging up dirt on a political opponent and shredded American federalism by threatening to cut off federal funding to states and cities that refuse to conform to his agenda. He has made a mockery of America’s constitutional system, by abusing emergency powers to bypass the constitution, issuing executive orders at an unprecedented rate, rejecting congressional oversight of the executive branch and treating the power accorded to Congress by the Constitution as a matter of presidential courtesy, using the CDC as “the fourth branch of government” to unilaterally create new regulations and laws bypassing Congress. He has embraced crony capitalism, by profiting from his presidency and using the power of the federal government to pick economic winners and losers. The president’s assault on democracy extends far beyond the borders of the United States — for the first time since the Second World War, the US president not only refuses to lead the free world but continuously subverts America’s relationships with its allies and coddles dictators, just as technocratic authoritarian regimes are increasingly posing the greatest threat ever to open societies. …
Protection of even the most radical, pseudoscientific, and irrational ideas is necessary to prevent the distortion of truth
A typical defense of the freedom of speech focuses on the centrality of the free exchange of ideas to the pursuit and acquisition of truth. We need other people to tell us when we are wrong by criticizing our ideas, since the quest for truth is a self-correcting process based on learning from trial and the gradual elimination of error, a process of collective discovery based on the recognition of individual fallibility — something which is impossible when there is no freedom of expression. …
Why polls could be wrong — again
A Californian plans to vote after work in what she believes to be a close presidential election … The day is rainy and as she approaches the polling place she sees a long line. On the radio she hears that one presidential candidate has a substantial lead in other states. She says why bother and turns her car around and drives home. — Seymour Sudman
With one month left until the 2020 US presidential election, opinion polls have taken center stage. And as Joe Biden continues to maintain a sizable lead over his opponent, debates over pollsters’ ability to accurately display citizens’ views have resurfaced.There are many reasons why conventional polls, and the predictions of the social sciences in general, are incapable of precisely determining, let alone forecasting, public opinion, including problems involving the accuracy of sample sizes, the wording of questions and voters’ unwillingness to share their opinions. …
To make democracy work for everyone, we should apply the tenets of capitalism to politics
Free-market capitalism is the most successful economic system in history, as it has brought unprecedented prosperity and powered vast improvements in all aspects of human well-being.
However, in spite of capitalism’s success, the application of economic ideas to politics is limited — which is very unfortunate, for many of the challenges characterizing contemporary politics could be solved if we apply the principles underlying free markets, such as free competition and dispersal of power. …
How we should tackle climate change
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has recently unveiled his approach to climate change: his “plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice.” The plan calls for $2 trillion in government spending over four years and aims to set the United States on the path towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, rebuild infrastructure, create new jobs, invest in R&D and attain “environmental justice,” among other goals.
The proposal has already been dubbed by some observers the Green New Deal without the name — which Biden’s campaign has recognized as “a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face.”
There are many good things about Biden’s proposal: for example, it does not intend to ban nuclear energy or fracking (a technology used to extract natural gas), which experts see as essential to slowing down global warming. …
Will the U.S. experience a comeback of the “big government”?
The United States is living through an unprecedented crisis — epidemiological, economic and social.
Ongoing events, according to the emerging consensus, seem to have invalidated the concept of limited government. Media headlines proclaim the beginning of an age of big government, which is essential to shore up the economy, tackle climate change, promote universal healthcare, protect citizens, etc.
But the current crisis does not necessarily imply that the idea of small government should be thrown into the dustbin of history. Rather, it is proof that the power of the executive branch should be decreased, and regional and local authorities, private companies and individuals should be empowered. …
Data shows that we are living in the era of the Long Peace. Will it prevail?
When one takes a look at media headlines, it might appear as though the world is plunging into chaos. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, civil unrest, the threat of nuclear warfare, climate change, the revival of populism, nationalism, and authoritarianism, a “jobless” future, rising inequality, civil wars, terrorism, the Thucydides trap, hunger, poverty, and disease in developing countries — the list is endless.
With such headlines, it is not surprising that — according to a 2015 YouGov survey — only 6% of people in the United States, 4% of Brits and Germans, and 3% of the French believed that the world was getting better. This is all while facts show otherwise. On virtually all key dimensions of human life — such as poverty, health, literacy, etc. — the world is much, much better today than it was in the past. …
How the CCP covered up the coronavirus outbreak
As the world is grappling with COVID-19, restrictions on people’s movement have been lifted in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus originated. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is also promoting the ostensible superiority of the “China model” while vilifying the west, especially the United States. As the CCP continues to deflect blame for the outbreak of the virus on the United States, it is also painting western countries’ responses as chaotic and ineffective, and spreading conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus.
It is true that many governments and leaders around the world share the blame for not acting quickly enough to halt the spread of the virus, including President Trump. But the CCP cannot challenge an undeniable fact, in spite of the best efforts of its propaganda: the virus originated in China, and the CCP’s secrecy, tendency to suppress dissent and conceal the truth, as well as the cover-up of the outbreak are responsible for the global coronavirus crisis by depriving the rest of the world of precious days and weeks of preparation. …
Will AI validate Karl Marx?
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. — John F. Kennedy
Whereas the short-term impact of AI depends on who controls it, the long-term impact depends on whether it can be controlled at all. — Stephen Hawking
Humanity is on the verge of one of the most momentous developments in human history. Artificial intelligence algorithms and robotics are already revolutionizing almost every sphere of human endeavor. But will robots and algorithms replace all our jobs?
So far, Karl Marx’s prophecy has been proven wrong. The communist revolution has not occurred, the dictatorship of the proletariat has not been established and capitalism has not collapsed in advanced economies. But the advent of novel technologies may prove Marx right in the twenty-first century. …
Liberal democracies are more effective than dictatorships
The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked debates as to whether centralized governing systems, i.e. authoritarian regimes, are inherently more effective than decentralized liberal democracies. Are authoritarian governments better equipped to successfully tackle emerging crises?
The Chinese Communist Party is pushing the narrative of the superiority of the China model, while painting the responses of Western countries as chaotic and ineffective.
As Yun Jiang, a former Australian government official, told the Washington Post, “In the past week, the propaganda has really been ramping up, highlighting the dwindling new infections and contrasting that with the rising infection rate overseas … They’re trying to tell a positive story about China’s and the Communist Party’s management of the situation.” …
