The denigration of democracy into authoritarianism increases in risk when voters are poorly educated. For this reason, a democracy must have an informed and intelligent electorate. The 21st Century has ushered in the Information Age. Unfortunately, this has not changed human nature. Group think has been a reality of human interaction for time immemorial. Just as the Pharisees manipulated the people under Roman control, voters in a democracy can be swayed to atrocity. Mob rule has ultimately been a precursor to authoritarianism. Democracy will be tested as systems of checks and balances are stressed by any given regime. The United States is no different, just as humanity is no different. For this reason, a healthy and robust democracy must have an educated electorate.
Political gaslighting is like magic. It only works when you cannot see the misdirection. Critical thinking skills, combined with adherence to the scientific method, is necessary for an informed electorate. An electorate must have access to information and data; wisdom can never be in short supply. History has many cases and points showing the political effect of an agitated society. These societies, under group think, will be swayed into insurmountable destruction. This political agitation can very well lead to civil conflict and all out war.
The 19th Century saw the French Revolution. It was born from the status quo of an authoritarian monarchy. Louis XIV, the Sun King, ruled in a time when the bourgeois epitomized opulence. The majority of the French population was in abject poverty. The Age of Enlightenment uprooted this regime. The population no longer supported a monarchy that was ultimately endorsed by religiosity. French Nobility was endorsed and legitimized by the Roman Catholic Church. As age old concepts of fealty were disintegrated, society went into chaos. From the flames of revolution came a call to order. A political savior appeared in the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. The yoke of monarchy was soon replaced with the yoke of dictatorship. The French population rose up against the economic inequality of their nobility only to have a military general declare himself Emperor. If this was not bad enough, the French were whipped into a fervor. They soon turned the anger of inequality into the bloodlust for conquest. Europe became embroiled in war.
In the 20th Century, we witnessed World War II and the Holocaust. The German Weimar Republic was born out of the aftermath of World War I. The Kaiser was deposed militarily and a fragile democracy was installed. The stress of economic hardship allowed for the fomentation of anger to erupt into an acceptance of single party authoritarianism. The Nazi Party catalyzed the German people. They were desperate for economic and political salvation that the Weimar Republic could not or would not offer. From this, the Nazi Party moved to “purify” Germany and the rest of Europe. The World was soon at War after Germany began annexing foreign lands.
Of these historical anecdotes rose a European Union and United Nations. Systems of International Order were established out of the aftermath of nationalism. A Global order was established to bring a peace to a World that witnessed two devastating wars. Western Europe emerged with strong and stable democracies. Of this, Western Europe emerged with an understanding that the government must support the greater electorate; not simply the wealthy elite of society. Western Democracy has thrived from a healthy and educated population. It is this understanding that has driven huge investments in Education. Public education is widely available and their citizens do not go into massive debt like we see in the United States.
The United States is oft self-proclaimed as the “Greatest Nation on Earth”. It’s meteoric economic rise and military success has brought about a patriotism that can be seen as nationalistic arrogance. Others call it Manifest Destiny. It is wonderful to be patriotic and love one’s nation. It cannot, however, come at a zero sum game to other nations. Blind Patriotism is problematic Nationalism. The US likes to believe that it is immune to the faults of history. Unfortunately, the United States is not without issue.
“Remember the Maine!” The Spanish-American War was born out the sinking of the USS Maine. The American electorate was whipped into a fervor over the profiteering of competing newspapers. Information was trumped up to the point that the US Government went to war with Spain. This led to the US expedition into Empire. To this day, the United States has foreign territory that does not have formal representation in Congress. Puerto Rico is prime example. Furthermore, history has proven that US Executive Administrations have been apt to use disinformation to achieve its objectives. It is not fake news that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a false flag operation that led to escalation into the Vietnam Conflict. The US Voter has a history of being misled by propaganda in a way that is no different than other democracies have witnessed.
In the 21st Century we have seen the American Government embroiled in almost 2 decades of uninterrupted military expedition in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US was attacked by Al-Qaeda over its military presence in the Middle East. The attack of September 11th, 2001 brought about a collective patriotic rage in the American electorate that has allowed for 2 decades of endless conflict in the War on Terrorism. The US is still coming to terms with the manipulation of intelligence and propaganda that the Bush Administration used to invade Iraq. The United States is still occupying Afghanistan after Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda was killed in Pakistan. Of this, has the United States fallen prey to the education trap of democracy? How can the greatest nation on earth, and therefore its voters, fall prey to disinformation from the Government?
We are constantly being reminded in public of the “dumbing down of America”. This is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Conservative agendas derived from Republican control in Federal and State Government has seen drastic cuts in Public Education funding. Compared to other Western Industrialized Nations, the US is falling greatly behind in STEM. In addition to falling test scores and a failed nationalized testing system, Americans are going into massive amounts of debt for higher education. This debt cannot be gotten rid of even through financial bankruptcy.
The United States must take heed to the lessons of History. In an environment where good education is harder and harder to achieve; The US voter becomes more and more susceptible to manipulation. Government Propaganda is becoming the new norm and the idea of Fake News now runs rampant. Disinformation from Government and supportive private sources inundates social media and the networks continuously. The idea of good Journalism is under attack. This is essentially an authoritarian attack on the Freedom of the Press mandated by the US Constitution.
Where does this lead us? The United States of America must bolster its Public Education system. The health of our Democracy is at stake. We the People cannot be swayed into endless conflict, going trillions of trillions into public debt only to have our social services taken away to budget cuts. The rise in economic inequality in the United States could easily be predicted. False notions of “rugged individualism” is giving mandate to Conservatives to leave most Americans fighting for a smaller piece of the economic pie. This has led to further desperation for good Education. This desperation is leading to further insurmountable debt that other Western nations simply do not allow to take place. Accusations of “Socialism” denies the voter the opportunity to accept educational opportunity and freedom associated with Democratic Socialist Governments. Misinformation and the wounds of the Cold War lead to attacks that anything with Socialist is inherently Soviet Authoritarian Communism. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The idea that there are for-profit schools in this Nation is therefore an atrocity to the wellbeing of The People. Americans should enjoy the same benefits of Public pre-school to doctorate level education. Without this, American Government will inevitably slide into further Authoritarianism. We cannot allow World History to repeat itself in the United States of America. In a time when vaccination is up for debate, we must inoculate our Republic with strong investments in Public Education.