Summary

The article reflects on the current challenges to American democracy and questions who will rescue it amidst internal and external crises.

Abstract

The United States, historically a defender of democracy worldwide, is facing a critical juncture as its own democratic principles are under threat. The article discusses the absence of global leaders to aid the US due to their own domestic issues, the controversial nature of the US electoral system, the impact of Trump's presidency on America's global standing, persistent racial tensions, and the mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic. It emphasizes the urgency for Americans to vote in large numbers to prevent the potential demise of their democracy, which could have ripple effects on democracies worldwide.

Opinions

The author believes that the US has historically intervened to protect democracy globally but now finds its own democracy at risk.
There is a concern that current world leaders are preoccupied with their own problems and unable to support the US in its current predicament.
The article suggests that the Electoral College system undermines the principle of democracy, as it does not always reflect the popular vote.
Trump's presidency is criticized for its similarities to dictatorial regimes, with allegations of corruption, greed, and unethical behavior.
The author points out that racial issues and police brutality continue to divide the nation, with the current administration accused of exacerbating these divisions.
The mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic is highlighted as a significant failure of the current administration.
The article expresses that the hasty replacement of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg could further jeopardize the integrity of American democracy.
The author appeals to Americans to vote in overwhelming numbers to ensure a clear mandate for democracy, which is not only crucial for the US but also for the stability of democracies around the world.

America Has Often Saved The World, Who Is Going to Save America Now?

The US has been the global moral authority and policeman of democracy since time immemorial. Who is going to save their democracy now?

Whenever there has been a threat to democracy anywhere in the world, America has come to the rescue. They were here in Europe when Nazi Germany tried to wipe out democracy, they were in Vietnam, in Afghanistan, in Iraq — anywhere where they thought — sometimes even incorrectly, that democracy was at risk. So today, I ask myself, who is going to save the US given that their democracy is seriously at stake?

World leaders are busy

This couldn’t have come at a worse time. With Angela Merkel stepping down in Germany, Emmanuel Macron helluva occupied with his own domestic issues in France, and Boris Johnson struggling to manage the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK, no one seems to be available right now to come to America’s rescue. So as we all watch in amazement, the largest democracy in the world is getting dismantled bit by bit right in front of our very eyes.

Indeed, a perfect storm seems to be brewing in the “Land of the Free”, soon to be re-baptized, the “Land of the Non-Free”. It all started with the 2016 US Presidential Election.

Electoral college versus the popular vote

In my little corner of Europe, I assumed that if Trump was named president, he must have won the popular vote. I mean that’s what democracy is all about, isn’t it?

I was surprised to learn that the Electoral College votes were what actually determined who the next president would be, not the popular vote. From that moment onwards, I wondered if anyone could call the US a democracy (but that’s a discussion for another time).

Trump’s reign

And then as was to be expected, Trump’s reign has been full of drama, unethical behavior, favoritism, and immoral actions. His behavior is strongly reminiscent of the most abhorrent of dictators that the US itself has sought to overthrow time and time again.

In 4 years we have moved from one drama to another, for one tell-all book to another — each detailing in bone-chilling details the inner workings of an administration paralyzed by corruption and greed and a president unfit to lead. The US has lost most of its credibility and standing in the world in 4 years of Trump than at any other time in history. At this stage, they can’t even regain their position as the moral authority or policeman of the world even if they wanted to.

The perfect storm

Adding to the perfect storm are the centuries-old race issues in the US. Time and time again, black people are killed by an over-militarized police force and murderers are rarely convicted or punished for their crimes.

Instead of trying to alleviate or solve the 400-year-old heated racial strife, Trump has chosen to side with racists and white supremacists and further sow division and hatred among Americans.

Pandemic pandemonium

And then there is the total and complete mishandling of the pandemic. As I write this, I realize that America has lost over 200 000 people to Covid-19. Some of the poorest countries in the world have done a better job in managing the pandemic than have the US.

There are countless other issues making the storm even bigger and bigger. The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the rush by Trump and his Republican cronies to confirm a new — probably ultra conservative justice — prior to the November 3 Presidential election might just as well be the final nail in the coffin of America’s democracy.

So who will save the US ?

So, who will save America’s democracy? Or maybe even the better question is: Does America want to be saved?

Maybe not. But here in the rest of the world, we need America to remain a democracy. Because you see, if America’s democracy can be so easily toppled, what’s to say that the authoritarians won’t come for our democracies too — for our rights — for our freedom of expression — for me to be able to write these words on a page without getting thrown into a prison cell.

Americans, please vote

Even if Americans don’t do it for themselves, we outside the US, need them to preserve their democracy for us.

This means that the spirit of the freedom fighters that wrestled America from British Loyalists needs to come to life again.

Americans need to vote and they need to vote in massive numbers. This election cannot be like any other — a narrow margin to victory for either Biden or Trump won’t be enough. There needs to be a landslide no matter what — in both the Electoral College and the popular vote. Without both of these, the air will quickly be sucked out of a perfectly deflated democracy and the US will plunge into fascism and authoritarianism.

If this becomes the new norm, we will see existing and nascent democracies the world over somber into autocratic regimes where our basic human rights will be rescinded. That would be a very dystopian world folks, not one I am sure many of us would like to inhabit. So Americans, please I beg you, go vote.

Thanks for reading my perspective.