U.S. democracy is in grave danger, a new Economist report warns, Amanda Erickson.

“Democracy is in under siege around the world, according to a new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The annual Democracy Index tracks the health of the world’s governments. And the results for 2017 are depressing. In 89 countries, democratic norms look worse than they did last year, the report’s authors write. Just 4.5 percent of the world’s residents live in fully functioning democracies, down from 8.9 percent in 2015.

That precipitous drop is thanks, primarily, to the United States…”

A Socialist in Canada

Foreign Policy Books:

Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville and Henry Reeve.

Healing the Heart of Democracy, Parker J. Palmer.

The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels. Jon Meacham.

The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, Robert B. Reich.

The Guardian World News

Amanpour & Co. with Christiane Amanpour. Fascism and Human Rights interviews. April 7, 2022: Scroll to: Bosnia-born Dunja Mijatovic–the human rights commissioner for the Council of Europe and Author Jason Stanley talks about fascism and the dangerous spread of autocracy. November 11, 2023: A new report says U.S. democracy is backsliding. A look at why and the dangers of polarization.

Threat to Democracy, Fareed Zakaria interview with Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham.

Interview with Masha Gessen begins at [10:40:42]

Fareed Zakaria: Columns and Global Public Square on CNN

Cultural Complementarity, Hector E. Garcia,

“…All humans see only a small part of reality, which brings about a sense of insecurity (this is one of the assumptions of CC). Our tendency is to subconsciously allay anxiety by acting as if what our group sees in our time is all of the true reality; consequently, all other groups must be totally or partially wrong. Since all groups are doing the same, conflict easily develops and grows. We then try to validate our position, and often our aggression, by showing current and past evidence for that position. This is not difficult for any group to do since the present and the past hold multiple facts and human errors to pick from and take offense. (The time I have spent as a consultant has taught me that you can usually select from an abundance of facts to validate most positions you want to sell). Parties in conflict will continue to assign fault to each other until the more powerful one puts an end to the never-ending argument by exercising its power; as a victor, it will acquire the credibility to gain support for its position…” READ MORE

The American polity is cracked, and might collapse. Canada must prepare, Thomas Homer-Dixon.

“The U.S. is becoming increasingly ungovernable, and some experts believe it could descend into civil war. What should Canada do then?… Once a hardline doctrine is widely accepted within a political movement, it becomes an “infrastructure” of ideas and incentives that can pressure even those who don’t really accept the doctrine into following its dictates. Fear of “true believers” shifts the behaviour of the movement’s moderates toward extremism. Sure enough, the experts I recently consulted all spoke about how fear of crossing Mr. Trump’s base – including fear for their families’ physical safety – was forcing otherwise sensible Republicans to fall into line…” READ MORE

renovations after surviving the worst of covid, devorah major. (Posted in Personal Growth/Poetry)