I believe it will be possible for the Trump regime to avoid prolonged involvement or mission creep in Venezuela simply by not caring about the outcome. They don’t need Venezuela’s heavy oil that is difficult to extract and refine. They don’t care for democracy or legitimacy at home, why would they expend energy seeking it elsewhere?
The news headlines and public attention will move on to the next brutal circus and Venezuela will be left to descend further into chaos.
You write: “Democratic legitimacy is not an idealistic luxury that can be overlooked by powerful people; it is itself a component of power.” If only the people in power in Washington fully understood that. If they actively work against democratic legitimacy in their own country, how can they hope to apply its lessons in another land?
In addition, even if it were possible to reinstate democracy in Venezuela, and, say, Machado became president, any association or cooperation with the Trump administration would be utterly toxic. He is a destabilizing force everywhere and under MAGA what sane country would trust the US right now?
I believe Mr. Fukuyama has put the problem very clearly. A couple of thoughts came to me as I was absorbing his comments.
Perhaps the most salient is my sense of our history. After 250 years of practice, we are hardly in a position to tout the value of democracy to anyone outside our borders given that a bit under half of us have just re-elected to the highest office in the land a man who doesn’t believe in it.
In thinking this, I also often ponder how new we are at the whole idea. It took us something like four thousand years of what we call civilization to even try democracy on any kind of scale larger than a village, and another two thousand before a bunch of white guys in weird suits and funny wigs designed a country based its principles.
At the age of nearly 81, I could have talked to a man who fought in our Civil War. And a man who fought in the Civil War could have talked to a man who fought in the Revolutionary war and thus could have been present to hear George Washington’s first inaugural. We are truly Novus Ordo Seclorum, and for all our practice of it we clearly have yet to solidify our own democracy tp the extent that at least we continue to elect presidents who wish to maintain Novus Ordo Seclorum. So why anyone would expect a doddering old man who doesn’t believe in democracy and his loyal myrmidons to enable one in another country is quite beyond me.
What these people are very good at is destruction. Their capacity for building anything outside of a right ring media echo chamber whose primary purpose is the spreading of disinformation and lies is utterly unknown, but hardly promising.
I believe it will be possible for the Trump regime to avoid prolonged involvement or mission creep in Venezuela simply by not caring about the outcome. They don’t need Venezuela’s heavy oil that is difficult to extract and refine. They don’t care for democracy or legitimacy at home, why would they expend energy seeking it elsewhere?
The news headlines and public attention will move on to the next brutal circus and Venezuela will be left to descend further into chaos.
You write: “Democratic legitimacy is not an idealistic luxury that can be overlooked by powerful people; it is itself a component of power.” If only the people in power in Washington fully understood that. If they actively work against democratic legitimacy in their own country, how can they hope to apply its lessons in another land?
In addition, even if it were possible to reinstate democracy in Venezuela, and, say, Machado became president, any association or cooperation with the Trump administration would be utterly toxic. He is a destabilizing force everywhere and under MAGA what sane country would trust the US right now?
I believe Mr. Fukuyama has put the problem very clearly. A couple of thoughts came to me as I was absorbing his comments.
Perhaps the most salient is my sense of our history. After 250 years of practice, we are hardly in a position to tout the value of democracy to anyone outside our borders given that a bit under half of us have just re-elected to the highest office in the land a man who doesn’t believe in it.
In thinking this, I also often ponder how new we are at the whole idea. It took us something like four thousand years of what we call civilization to even try democracy on any kind of scale larger than a village, and another two thousand before a bunch of white guys in weird suits and funny wigs designed a country based its principles.
At the age of nearly 81, I could have talked to a man who fought in our Civil War. And a man who fought in the Civil War could have talked to a man who fought in the Revolutionary war and thus could have been present to hear George Washington’s first inaugural. We are truly Novus Ordo Seclorum, and for all our practice of it we clearly have yet to solidify our own democracy tp the extent that at least we continue to elect presidents who wish to maintain Novus Ordo Seclorum. So why anyone would expect a doddering old man who doesn’t believe in democracy and his loyal myrmidons to enable one in another country is quite beyond me.
What these people are very good at is destruction. Their capacity for building anything outside of a right ring media echo chamber whose primary purpose is the spreading of disinformation and lies is utterly unknown, but hardly promising.