democracy

Maybe don’t read this if you’re looking for a boost today. It’s possible that pessimism is as infectious as this virus, so feel free to back yourself quietly into your personal bubble of hope. No, really. You probably should: I’ve been thinking about the end of democracy.

Growing up as a kid in Canada, I figured we were pretty much the same as our neighbors to the south... Most of us spoke the same language, and watched the same TV shows. Our pop music heroes were the same. We played the same sports (well, sort of). And our political systems shared the core principle that governments are ultimately accountable to the will of the people.

But then I moved to the USA, where I came to see how different we are.

I choose not to share my political views all that widely, but I like to joke among friends that the right-wing Conservative party in my native Canada sits to the left of American Democrats. So, it’s safe to say I fall somewhere on the left-hand side of the political spectrum in the USA. But it’s OK with me if you don’t share my views. First, that’s because it’s all theoretical between us. I’m not a citizen so my opinions literally do not matter here: I can’t sign petitions, I’m not eligible to sit on a jury, and I don’t qualify to mark an X beside a candidate in any American election. But, more importantly, I don’t believe politics defines the whole person and, despite the divisive nature of politics in the USA, I think it’s a mistake to confer moral judgment based on party affiliation.

But I have begun to understand that things are a little different here. It’s hard to tell how different exactly because Americans are so reluctant to discuss it — unlike in Canada, where talking politics isn’t taboo, it’s sport. Sure, people get heated about various issues in Canada, but debates at dinner are the norm. I learned as a kid that it is OK to agree to disagree on politics because my mother and I mostly disagree. It’s something of a family tradition. My mom mostly disagreed with her mother, too. If you took politics and the weather off the table in the Great White North, we’d have nothing left to talk about except hockey. And I’m not such a hockey fan.

All that is to say, consider yourself warned: I’m going to go against typical American social behavior today and talk politics a little bit. So…

Not to be alarmist or anything, but am I the only one who’s starting to worry seriously about the future of democracy?

Let me paint a picture. The elected president of a hypothetical global superpower struggles mightily to govern during a global pandemic that far outstretches the capabilities of his inexperienced and chaotic leadership team. Said president is openly floundering and is finding himself compelled to deliver knee-jerk reactions to criticism from media who are reporting sensationalized headlines to a low-trust and frightened public. This hypothetical global superpower is a democracy. It is an election year. What happens next?

Around the world today, governments are assuming vast emergency powers that threaten the norms of democracy. These moves are justified in the face of the global pandemic threat. But there are no guarantees that the rules will roll back when the crisis is over. Like any of this, these changes could just slide into the new normal. At the end of March, Hungary passed legislation effectively ending democracy in that country. Populist prime minister Viktor Orban is now empowered to bypass the national assembly and can rule by decree for an unlimited period of time. The law also spelled out a five-year jail threat as punishment for those who publish information on the outbreak that is determined to be “false.” Elections have been postponed in France and Bolivia. Peru and Israel have granted their leaders sweeping new powers.

Meanwhile in Communist China, mass surveillance policies are being stepped up, with citizens being tracked by a mobile app that dictates their required quarantine level based on data indicating proximity to viral hot spots. Because that country has been one step ahead of everybody else throughout the crisis, global governments of all sorts are observing the Chinese response closely, seeking inspiration for their own next steps.

In the United States, the current thinking is that widespread testing is going to be one of the conditions required to put an end to this quarantine. By testing, the theory goes, infection rates can be carefully monitored and contact tracing protocols and rolling shut-downs can be introduced when needed to extinguish any potential infection hot spots. We’re a long way from having the logistics on that sorted out.

But American health officials have recently announced that part of the solution is the introduction antibody testing. These tests, which are imminent, will be able to distinguish the previously infected (and presumed immune) from those still at risk for infection. The Stallion has an appointment to get an antibody test on Monday. Apparently it takes 15 minutes and we’re both excited to see the results. There’s a chance he’ll come up positive. He had flu-like symptoms before all this started and we can’t help but wonder (hope?) it might have been a mild case of the virus. If it was, and the test shows he has the antibodies, that would mean there’s a good chance he’s immune to further infection and social distancing would no longer be needed. He could put himself on a plane right away and we could be together a week from now. For him, the rules would no longer apply: I’d have to rename him Superman.

With a positive test, he would be free to travel and shop and work like everybody used to a couple of months ago. But in parts of Los Angeles, people are getting fines for venturing out without masks. Stores are refusing service to people with bare faces. When a masked man walking a dog edged within my six feet of personal space this morning I found myself annoyed by his lack of consideration. If the result comes up positive, how would Superman communicate his new no-risk status until these restrictions begin to lift? Maybe the result needs to come with some sort of green-light indicator to allow him to prove he’s not a carrier. Some phone app or papers or bracelet or...

But then he’d have different rights than I would and that’s not fair and… Huh. That bit of good news escalated quickly to an ethically shaky place. I re-watched Blade Runner (the original) this weekend. The futuristic dystopia in the movie and the one I live in here and now are starting to merge.

Let’s get back to our hypothetical superpower where, in an effort to distract said low-trust and frightened public from the discomfort of quarantine and the specter of ill-health, the leader announces he is withdrawing funding from a global agency mandated to protect public health worldwide. He holds a news conference to show a promotional video intended to drive confidence in his government by tidying up the messy details of his actual response. He declares he has “total authority” to make key decisions during the crisis, regardless of what other officials have to say. He orders that relief checks issued to citizens by the federal treasury will bear his name to remind people where they came from. For months, he has been casting daily aspersions on the media, other government leaders, and scientific authority. And, he has made a point of mentioning, more than once, that mail-in ballots are a fraud – this, despite a recent commission appointed by his government failing to confirm that assertion. Remember, it’s an election year.

Last week’s debacle with the Wisconsin primaries was ugly. Citizens shouldn’t have to choose between exercising their democratic rights and their lives. Yet, there they were, lined up to cast ballots. Some of them, anyway. After that, Bernie Sanders finally resigned his fight for the Democratic party leadership.

As of today, sixteen other states and one territory (Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Wyoming and Puerto Rico) have either pushed back their presidential primaries or switched to voting by mail with extended deadlines. It seems like the right thing to do, especially looking back at Wisconsin.

But looking ahead, the date of the federal election is fixed while the timeline for this state of social distancing unclear. Every few weeks, some official or other stands in front of a microphone and extends this lockdown another few weeks. Currently in LA, we’re in this through May 15, at least. It used to make me sad to hear the new estimate, but I’m resigned to it now (I think that’s what acceptance looks like). It’s all a best guess and fixating on the estimated time of arrival does nobody any good. It’s like when you leave your home into rush hour and your GPS begins pushing back your ETA by a minute and a-half for every minute you spend on the road. Your destination gets further away the longer you spend trying to get there. We’re only now heading into our gridlocked commute. We have no choice but to continue pushing forward regardless. And at the moment, our estimated time of arrival so far has us arriving long before November 3.

But in our hypothetical superpower, what if the besieged leader chooses to test the limits of emergency powers available to him under a once-in-a-century global crisis? What if he decides the way to hold onto the presidency through an election period that will surely call into question his leadership choices during a very difficult time to govern, he chooses to discredit alternative voting mechanisms?

"Mail ballots — they cheat. OK? People cheat," the not-so-hypothetical Donald Trump told reporters on April 7. "There's a lot of dishonesty going along with mail-in voting."

And so if the global crisis continues through the run-up to the election — or if the virus strikes back with a second wave at that time — the next thing the leader of a hypothetical superpower could choose to do is rally his base to support him in delaying a “fraudulent” election by putting the democratic process on an indefinite hold. And suddenly, this hypothetical superpower is no longer a democracy.

This is an extraordinary time and I don’t know what the right answers are, but I’m concerned. What I do know is that these are shaky times for fundamental rights and what we do right now really matters.