Over the past few years, I have noticed that very few things alarm the Western Establishment as much as the perceived weakening of their cherished democracies and the rule of law. Alarm bells over democracy and the rule of law tend to ring loudest in the Western Anglosphere and the dark citadels of the European Union, and criticism tends to be directed at countries unwilling to wholeheartedly embrace the liberal/leftist worldview the aforementioned bastions of freedom and progress promulgate.
On the surface, democracy is designed to be a system of rule by laws, not individuals. Democracy is supposed to use the rule of law to protect the rights of its citizens, maintain order, and limit governmental powers. In theory, all citizens within a democracy are equal under the law. Perhaps most importantly, no one may be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, ethnic group, or gender. It is a human-centered form of government with no space for the transcendent.
This form of governance is desirable and appealing to the average modern person, and why not? People in the West have surrendered their spiritual and moral compasses and have allowed themselves to be utterly steeped in a limited humanistic and materialistic worldview. They have allowed themselves to be conditioned to believe in the goodness of our current democracies and the rule of law to the same extent Pavlov conditioned his dogs to believe bell-ringing signified mealtime.
All of this even though lived experience informs people that, contrary to what the system claims to do, democracy and the rule of law actually assaults citizens’ rights, creates chaos, and increases governmental powers.
The time to re-examine our conditioned assumptions regarding the weakening of democracy and the rule of law has come. Rather than grow apprehensive, we should begin to view all alarm bells the Establishment ring as signals that something Good might actually be occurring.
On the surface, democracy is designed to be a system of rule by laws, not individuals. Democracy is supposed to use the rule of law to protect the rights of its citizens, maintain order, and limit governmental powers. In theory, all citizens within a democracy are equal under the law. Perhaps most importantly, no one may be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, ethnic group, or gender. It is a human-centered form of government with no space for the transcendent.
This form of governance is desirable and appealing to the average modern person, and why not? People in the West have surrendered their spiritual and moral compasses and have allowed themselves to be utterly steeped in a limited humanistic and materialistic worldview. They have allowed themselves to be conditioned to believe in the goodness of our current democracies and the rule of law to the same extent Pavlov conditioned his dogs to believe bell-ringing signified mealtime.
All of this even though lived experience informs people that, contrary to what the system claims to do, democracy and the rule of law actually assaults citizens’ rights, creates chaos, and increases governmental powers.
The time to re-examine our conditioned assumptions regarding the weakening of democracy and the rule of law has come. Rather than grow apprehensive, we should begin to view all alarm bells the Establishment ring as signals that something Good might actually be occurring.
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