- cross-posted to:
- endlesswar@lemmy.ca
- cross-posted to:
- endlesswar@lemmy.ca
A new report has found serious concerns about the state of global democracy as more countries slip in democratic performance.
Global patterns show that democracy around the world continued to weaken last year, according to a new report.
The Global State of Democracy 2025, published by the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), analyzed democratic performance in 173 countries in 2024.
In the report, 94 countries — or just over half of those surveyed — showed a decline in at least one of the key democracy indicators between 2019 and 2024, the report said. In comparison, only a third made progress.
A few hundred years? You’re counting years in which large portions of the population could not vote and had essentially no rights. So, yeah, I guess ethnic diversity isn’t a problem when ethnic minority groups aren’t allowed to participate. Is that what you’re advocating for?
I said “ok” not perfect or even good. About as well as other governments in the world during the same time periods though.
No, I’m advocating for a strong federal government that’s able to go into Arkansas and force their dipshit state government to desegregate their schools. What are you advocating for? Because to me it just sounds like a bunch of tiny and more easily manipulated ethnostates.
I’m advocating for nations of people to have their autonomy and independence. I think that’s better than a strong, central state forcing integration.
For instance, I would advocate for the indigenous nations of North America to finally have their independence from settler colonialists. But, I suppose you wouldn’t support indigenous independence because that might mean the establishment of an indigenous “ethnostate.” No, it’s much better for a strong central government to force the indigenous people to allow non-indigenous people to move into their territory, become the majority and take over.
Civic nationalism, ok fine, ethnic nationalism fuck no, it’s insanity grounded in fiction that devolves into tail-eating fascist bullshit very easily.
Indigenous nations already are and should remain independent (admittedly our federal government has ignored that frequently throughout their history, but we’ve been wrong about a lot of stuff). I do have some cognitive dissonance around my beliefs that a) race and ethnicity are unscientific social constructs we really shouldn’t get too hung up on b) indigenous nations are sovereign and independent nations defined by a common genetic ancestry and there is a moral imperative to recognize them as such, but I think given the particular history and the fact that we have made treaties and other formal promises we are obligated to stand by it’s a special case.
Either way, I like and dislike some things about both, but if I’m choosing between DuBois’ racial integration and Garvey’s black separatism, I’ve gotta go with DuBois every day of the week. Ethnostates are bad for everyone, even historically marginalized people, and separatism is no treatment for authoritarianism or fascism because they will come for you eventually when they need fuel to keep their social bonfire going.
Race and ethnicity are not the same thing. Ethnicity is very real and it’s defined by shared culture, shared history, shared beliefs, shared language, etc. Outward physical characteristics, like eye, hair, and skin color, can also be a part of ethnicity, but only a part and I think those things are less important than all of the other characteristics that define an ethnic group. It’s socially constructed, sure, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real.
Race, on the other hand, is the idea that you can take those outward physical characteristics, group together arbitrarily all the people who share some or all them, and define these groups as racial subspecies of human. It’s nonsense, with absolutely no basis in what we understand about human genetics and taxonomy today. Humans are a very genetically homogeneous species. Despite our different outward appearances, we are all relatively genetically similar.
But that doesn’t mean our ethnic differences don’t matter. They do, inspite of our general genetic similarities. They matter because humans are very tribal, by our nature. We evolved to live in tightly bonded communities of like people.
You say that civic nationalism is ok but ethnic nationalism is not, but you can’t separate them. No civic system can be entirely culturally or ethnically impartial, and where there is ethnic diversity, the civic sphere will always be controlled by the dominant ethnic group. That’s why I advocate so strongly for ethnic independence, I don’t think any ethnic group should be dominated by another. I believe that every ethnic group, every nation of people deserves their autonomy and their independence.