When people say stuff like this, are they being hyperbolic or do they actually mean it? How long is the democratic tradition in the US that is collapsing?
We just had a candidate openly try to steal the last presidential election and face no real consequences as a result. In fact, it likely strengthened his position. 10 years ago I would have thought the end of American democracy was extremely unlikely, now though we're only a few small steps away and that bridge could be crossed at any point.
This isn't some outlier event either, democracy has been receding around the world for years. I really, really hope the trend reverses itself, but am scared at how real the threat is.
I don't think we were even remotely close to somehow Trump remaining on as president.
> democracy has been receding around the world for years
I am skeptical. Majoritarian democracy in the US has only really existed for 40-50 years and I perceive it as continuing to expand both here and abroad.
That’s pretty naive to think Trump wasn’t even close to remaining on.
If enough states had sent contested election results (eg a county or state’s election board is tied in approval or does not approve the results because of one die-hard) then the matter would have gone to the house of reps.
How many of those reps voted not to certify the election results? Now, in the event of contested state results, each state in the house of reps would get one vote. There’s more red states than blue states…how many unscrupulous representatives, who already voted not to certify the results, would it have taken to grant Trump the election?
For what it’s worth, many of the key states in the election had narrowly certified election results. In some cases it came down to a single individual who could have flipped the other way, and the results would have been contested.
You do not realize what a narrow path democracy treads. The anti-democratic forces do understand this, and the last few years have been empowering to them.
And that’s an easy scenario that doesn’t even take into account the very real possibility of political violence - don’t forget that people showed up to the US capitol with weapons and tools for kidnapping.
Honestly I find your take to be either naivety, denial, or willfully obscuring the truth to promote anti-democratic goals.
Let's not pretend these are comparable challenges.
> our rapidly collapsing democracy keep sabotaging our efforts.
When people say stuff like this, are they being hyperbolic or do they actually mean it? How long is the democratic tradition in the US that is collapsing?