LIBERAL DEMOCRACY: What's at stake? What’s the crisis? What is the citizen's role in a liberal democracy?
On the day that the extremist far-right and the extremist far-left face off in the French legislative elections, the publication of this podcast seemed sadly appropriate. In the second round in many French constituencies, the public will be asked to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. For France's Jewish community the situation is existential: Are they to back the Hamas apologists of Jean-Luc Mélenchon or are they to support the heirs to the fascist Vichy regime of Philippe Pétain? Antisemitism is on the ballot paper. It is the only option on the ballot paper.
Whichever group of dangerous misfits the French vote for, the country's proud Jewish community is doomed. The far-left block, infected with October 7th denial syndrome and rejectionist Palestinianism are the immediate threat, inevitably leading the Jewish population to lend their votes to a pro-Putin political party established by a Holocaust deniar. However the cross-community tensions that Le Pen's party are bound to stoke will lead to increasing danger for French Jewry and an ungovernable country. And the implications for an independent Ukraine, soon to be abandoned by both France and a Trumpist USA, are too horrendous to contemplate.
And before the Jewish Agency call on French Jews to flee to Israel, the state of democracy in Zion is barely more propicious. Still reeling from Yariv Levin's attempted coup; still in fear of an anti-democratic stifling of the judiciary; democracy in Israel is on the brink. If it hadn't of been for Hamas’ barbarity, Israel would currently be in internal strife of the worst kind.
And as for the USA, what can one say? There is almost no-one to vote for.
One is almost inclined to ask global Jewry - and democrats worldwide- to flee to Britain. In our relatively benign election, the two main parties remain pro-democracy, pro-Ukraine and relatively welcoming to Jews. And the resultant increase in the Jewish population would ensure it stays that way.
If the only home of democracy left is Britain and its former Empire, we have literally given up on human flourishing.
Ok, enough now. I'm rather emotional writing this. It's all so sad. Pen down. Mic off. Daniel out.
This podcast was recorded prior to this week's events. Conversation 2 in the "Conversations in an Undemocratic Age" series features President of Section 1 Peter Biro and Section 1 Senior Fellow and Democracy Analyst Daniel Clarke-Serret.
In this instalment, we discuss why liberal democracy is under threat. We consider the urgency of the situation, the stakes and the nature of the crisis. We talk about the vulnerabilities of the liberal democratic order and delve in the question of whether “illiberal democracy” is a dangerous oxymoron. Finally, we explore why citizenship properly understood can forge a path out of the current mess.
Section 1 is committed to safeguarding liberal democracy for future generations and this video lays out our mission. Future conversations will explore the fundamentals of liberal democracy in greater detail (and will hopefully include better recording equipment from Daniel!)
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Liberal Democracy under Threat: A Section 1 Conversation