NARCISSISM, POLITICS, DISLIKE OF FREEDOM. DECLINING POPULARITY OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY, PART 4

WHY IS CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERAL DEMOCRACY DECLINING IN POPULARITY?

“Freedom of expression is not freedom to lie, neither it is to act as one pleases.”

Modern liberalism in the USA and in the free western world which defines the characteristics of a dynamic and free society include many new issues such as freedom of expression of opinions, abolition of capital punishment, same sex marriage, transgender rights, reproductive rights for women, human rights, voting rights, government provided adequate living standards and health care rights. All these rights are guaranteed under the Constitution.

Constitutional democracy refers to the fact that the representatives of the government is elected and governs strictly according to the constitution, which is a supreme law that can’t be easily changed, modified or amended to fit the need of an individual or a group. Nobody is above the law and every person, no matter who they may be, is equal under the constitution.

So then, why are liberal constitutional democracies declining in popularity across the globe?

I believe, to understand the meaning of this question and to answer it better, we should first examine the creation, and the causes of its ultimate demise of the ancient Greek democracy.

For this, I found the book written by the Cambridge University classist Dr. Michael Scott, entitled From Democracy to King very helpful.

Ancient Greek democracy was created in Athens in the 5th century BC. And it was the direct result of advanced Greek culture, civilization, philosophy, economy and existence of a common cultural framework of that time. Every citizen of the city-state of Athens was required to directly participate and play an active role in governing by making new laws and controlling all the political process and peaceful transfer of power. Each year, 500 names were chosen from the citizens to participate in governing. Those citizens who would not participate will be fined.

But ancient Athenians definition of citizens was different. Only free men (not women, children and slaves) were considered citizens.

So, in ancient Greek democracy there was no election for representatives like in modern democracies, therefore it is called direct participatory democracy, while modern democracies are called representative democracy.

According to Cambridge University classicist Dr. Michael Scott, the collapse of ancient Greek democracy some 2,400 years ago occurred in circumstances so like our modern-day difficulties that they could be considered dark warning signals from the history.

I am not a political scientist, so I am not going to comment on the present-day difficulties we are facing and endangering our democracy. I will only recommend two interesting new books to those who want to know more about these events, written by the Harvard Government professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Zi blatt, entitled How Democracy Die and Tyranny of the Minority.

However, I would like to state that we are being bombarded and brainwashed with rampant commercialism, and with the absence of truth advertisements, deception and lies daily. This makes many of us believe the truth does not matter, and that lying is okay, because everybody lies.

In addition, our younger generation is addicted to the internet and social media, which are full of false information, lies, conspiracy theories and pseudo-scientific facts. I believe this makes them think that the truth and lies are not that important to differentiate and that it is okay to lie.