Richard Procida for BuzzFlash: The Global Collapse of America and Democracy

January 31, 2022

By Richard Procida

The central political struggle in world history is between authoritarian and democratic forms of government. For most of world history, people have lived under the rule of tyrants. Democracy will not survive unless we organize and demand it! I’ve decided to commit my later years to this cause because I will not allow democracy to die without a fight. 

Some want to whitewash the events of January 6th. They continue to tell the Big Lie, the same lie that instigated an insurrection. Even now, they are using it to justify restrictions on our right to vote, to undermine fair elections. Republican lawmakers across the country are gerrymandering districts and proposing and enacting laws that make it hard for people to vote. Some even propose allowing partisan party officials to overturn election results. Our democracy is still under attack.

Democracy is collapsing worldwide. America is not alone. Authoritarianism is on the rise around the globe. Our democracy is under attack by enemies both foreign and domestic. We may be coming to the end of an era of human freedom. The failure of democracy in the United States would severely impact democracy around the world. 

The brutal crackdown on pro-democracy movements around the world and the mass dissemination of disinformation by multinational media moguls and far-right extremists led to the rise of authoritarianism. Propagandists tap into racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural prejudices and use ideology and disinformation to manipulate and inflame people. Extremism and division are driving the assault on democracy just as they did on January 6th.

We are inundated with propaganda. We have all been exposed to disinformation and half-truths. In this information age, we must be critical of the media we consume. We must reject extremism, not because being moderate is the right thing to be, but because we are all being manipulated.

Authoritarian leaders at home and abroad are disseminating propaganda designed to undermine democracy. You may have heard some. I won’t repeat it. I will just say that America is a democracy. We have a flawed democracy, not a failed democracy. We have a democracy in need of repair. 

We must pass legislation to secure elections and protect voting rights.  We cannot have some States where the right to vote is protected and others where voting is suppressed. No State has the right to be a dictatorship, not in the United States of America, not in the Land of the Free!  We need national standards that ensure that every citizen can vote and that elections are fair and transparent. 

The struggle for liberty and democracy has never come easy. The recent failure to pass voting rights legislation in the Senate means we face a protracted struggle to save democracy. America’s grand experiment in democracy may be coming to an end. Americans must come together as a nation and demand free and fair elections with universal access to the ballot box for every American citizen.

Americas believe in democracy.  Both sides are worried about democracy in America. Legislation designed to protect and secure our democracy is popular. We can all agree that we need free and fair elections where every eligible citizens’ right to vote is protected and every citizens’ vote is counted

The right to vote is fundamental and sacred. Every citizen has the right to participate in the decisions of their government. This is the American way, a republic built upon the idea that “We The People,” rather than a king or dictator, should govern. 

We cherish and protect our constitutional right to vote because it is the basis upon which all our rights and freedoms depend. We must never allow our democracy to be overthrown and replaced with a dictatorship. We must reignite the world’s beacon of democracy lest we leave our children a world ruled by tyrants.

Richard Procida is an author and attorney and the founder of the Truth and Democracy Coalition. His book is one in a series entitled "Global Issues in Social Perspective."

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