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Peter Schaeffer's avatar

Your preferences don't matter. My preferences don't matter. What matters is what works. If democracy yields government paralysis, then democracy will die. Let me use an example. Several Chinese governments tried (and failed) to eliminate the scourge of Opium. They failed. The communists used firing squads. They succeeded.

Singapore has a democratically elected government. Singapore is frequently described an an 'authoritarian democracy'. Singapore uses hanging. The bottom line is simple. Liberal governments don't survive, even if we want them to.

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Travis's avatar

Liberal governments don't survive is quite the statement. How sure are you in % terms this is correct?

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Peter Schaeffer's avatar

Yes, we have numbers. See "NEW REPORT: Global Freedom Declines for 17th Consecutive Year, but May Be Approaching a Turning Point" (https://freedomhouse.org/article/new-report-global-freedom-declines-17th-consecutive-year-may-be-approaching-turning-point). Quote "WASHINGTON—Global freedom declined for a 17th consecutive year in 2022 as 35 countries suffered deterioration in their political rights and civil liberties, according to a new report released today by Freedom House". Freedom has come to mean men pretending to be women so that they can cheat at sports. It's over.

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