Flickering Democracies

In the USA, the UK, and France, as well as in other European countries such as Hungary, politics has forgotten that it is the art of the possible. It has become the art of deception and denial. Candidates choose the journalists who can interact with them and spin lies or disinformation. Every political party wants power, but none want responsibility.

The average voter has lost faith. They no longer read the programme and instead vote for a candidate they can relate to, forgetting the needs of the country and the world.

For too long, extreme parties have tried to ease their way into the mainstream. Now, in France, for the second time in a decade, we face a mainstream party against the far right in the presidential election.

Fascists always promise the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and offer an easy way to solve difficult problems. The reality is that no one has all the answers, and policies of this kind would cause severe problems.

France has a choice between two candidates without a proper project. The mainstream party wants us to vote against the far right, but does not have a strong vision; it offers a hotchpotch of borrowed, tired plans that will never see the light of day. The far right does have a vision, but it is a vision of racism and solutions that cause conflict and put populations against each other.

I have to vote, for philosophy rather than for violence and hate. We need a better choice.

I have seen Brexit and its broken dreams, Trump and his march on Washington, and now Europe is on the brink of war and could slide into chaos. In African countries, famine is coming as Ukraine can no longer feed the world.

Strange times. The flickering light of democracy is still enchanting, but I fear the darkness of dictatorship.

When dictators do not deliver, they kill their opponents.