The Chinese Communist party has apparently effectively ended
democracy in Hong Kong by casting out about all political dissidents under the rubric
of a national security law. Actual democracy might present a threat to
communism so they put it down. In the U.S.A. corporatism tends to act in a
similar manner curbing free expression. They just haven't gone so far as China
has because people still own guns in the U.S.A., unlike Hong Kong.
www.cfr.org/backgrounder/hong-kong-freedoms-democracy-protests-china-crackdown
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_development_in_Hong_Kong
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_control_in_China
The Democratic party sometimes seems to forget that the
American revolution occurred with a lot of shedding of blood, and that
organizational goons really do need to keep a certain distance from homes with
armed residents, and that is an inconvenience for politicians, CEOs and sundry
megalomaniacs seeking total control of a society.
President Biden recently said that no amendment is absolute,
in regard especially to the second amendment. The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard
hated the use of the word 'absolute' that was used prolifically in his day, by
certain Hegelians if I remember correctly. The word absolute has little
additional meaning in a phrase quite often- it is something of a distraction. A
constitutional amendment is ether meaningful and lawful or not. Some lawyers
feel they can just disregard the constitution and amendments as inconveniences
with work-arounds when they like.
It is surprising in a way to learn that many people aren't
really for democracy nor are aware of what it takes to sustain an actual
democracy. The Catholic Church may have some imperialist ambitions left over
from former times long ago, and some protestant clergy actually are for a
theocracy-even some conservatives, and I don't mean the one that returns with
the physical appearance of Jesus Christ.
Democracy can be defeated by mass social decadence
internally, by concentrated wealth so great that corporatism replaces it with
citizens being silent, materialist worker-bees not much different from a
communist government-fine for average, uncreative minions. It can be ended by a
spoilt citizenry that inherited it and forgot that it does requires defense and
an armed citizenry, sobriety and god sense.
A democracy should have classical sensibilities, modest
goals and plain laws such as everyone can understand. Equal protection of the
citizens, security of the nation itself with strong border control and
sustainable ecological economic governance. The Romans had a few laws that
everyone understand and that worked alright until the people developed bad
policies, too much wealth and foreign estates and the colonies grew up in
sophistication. The administration should not monkey with the judicial branch
and think about trying to pack an expanded court with Democrats and
corporatists. That would be another way to end democracy from the inside.