“Our Democracy” and Its Enemies

“Our democracy” is the rule of the many by the few who assume that they know what is best. Not best for the many, necessarily, but best for those parties (themselves included) whose well-being they put above the well-being of others. The “best” is often anchored in — or justified by — “the science”, which is a cherry-picked set of beliefs to which the few can point as “proof” of the rightness of the edicts imposed on they many.

About half of the many agree with the few. Their reasoning (usually implicit) goes like this:

  1. America is a democracy.
  2. The majority should rule in a democracy (except when I am in the minority).
  3. Democratically elected leaders (and their minions) are therefore entitled to rule (as long as I am in the majority).
  4. I trust them to do what is right because they follow “the science”. And they care about “the people” because they are especially solicitous of “oppressed” groups.
  5. Anyone who opposes democratically elected leaders (and their minions) is therefore an enemy of “our democracy”.
  6. Opponents of “our democracy” are “fascists” and “Nazis”.

Sometimes the shoe is on the other foot. Such reasoning isn’t monopolized by adherents of the party and policies that were (barely) voted down in November. (NB: The party’s policies are nowhere near death, thanks to Democrat office-holders and their minions, “news” outlets, etc.)

But similarity of reasoning doesn’t mean similarity of beliefs. There are significant substantive differences between the proponents and opponents of “our democracy”. I won’t bother to detail those differences. If you’ve been paying an attention to “news” and real news over the past two decades, you know what they are. You also know that the differences aren’t just differences of opinion; they are differences of fact.

The real — and strongest — enemies of “our democracy” are the facts and the real science that yields them.