Can Democracy Save Us From Fascism
Yeah, probably. But it’s going to require a lot of work.
If white nationalism is the greatest threat to democracy (as Mark Sumner suggested over at Daily Kos), then does it logically follow that democracy is the single greatest shield against white nationalism?
Before answering this question, we ought to ask a different question: is white nationalism the greatest threat to democracy? No. Probably not. Much like an orchestra, there are different instruments by which an ensemble comes together. Democracy is an ensemble. Rather, our representative democracy is an ensemble.
I would wager that there is no “single greatest threat” to democracy. Others have suggested different “single greatest threats” such as: money in politics (i.e., lobbying), voter apathy / indifference, fear and centralized opinions, legitimately fake news, poor education outcomes, polarization, voter suppression, gerrymandering, executive branch overreach, Democrats, Republicans, communism (anti-communism being the bedrock of neo-conservatism), capitalism, socialism, Donald Trump, and American’s themselves. This list is not meant to be exhaustive as much as it is supposed to be all encompassing of the various instruments by which a democratic ensemble comes together. Or, rather, the opposite of the above mentioned things.
