Boris Johnson: any democracy should look to his case and ask if it is enabling machiavellian leaders

By Dilip -

Blaming the failings of an entire political culture on the moral deficiencies of one leader might make us feel righteous, but most of us know that the rot goes rather deeper than one flamboyant character. The fall of Johnson could be taken as a historical juncture to be built upon and not just in the UK. Some have argued that the political debate preceding the Brexit referendum was a nadir; that public hopes and fears were cynically exploited by politicians who did not even believe the substance of their own messages.

Bye Bye Boris

Johnson’s premiership fell because it seemed to recognise no distinction between what is true and what is politically expedient. Once that distinction ceases to matter, democratic discourse becomes unsustainable and political communication becomes a matter of permanent decoding.

Integrity depends upon binding structures, such as codes of conduct and ethics committees. It also relies on a cultural commitment by politicians and citizens to call out intentional deceit, corrupt practices and hateful speech. The fall of Johnson is a good moment for explicit reflection on how far any democracy is prepared to tolerate, and even reward, machiavellian tendencies....

https://theconversation.com/the-fall-of-boris-johnson-any-democracy-should-look-to-his-case-and-ask-if-it-is-enabling-machiavellian-leaders-186597


George Monbiot: It’s democracy v plutocracy - this is the endgame for our planet / Tom Engelhardt: Life in This Literal Hell


England's greased piglet runs out of grease


The rotting carcass of English conservatism (+ the certifiable lunacy of the American variety)


The American Judiciary is 'pro-life' and loves guns. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition


TOM ENGELHARDT: A World at the Edge


Alfred McCoy: The crumbling delusion of Washington's endless world dominion


In 1953, the Republican Party overthrew the Iranian Government; in 2021 it used the same techniques against the elected US President


Capitalism + lies = mass death / America’s Second Civil War is Underway


Tom McTague: The Decline of the American World


Donald Trump: Democracy’s mirror image? By Philip Manow / David A. Bell - Fascism or Caesarism?


Hedges: The Age of Self-Delusion


How With This Rage. BY CHRIS HEDGES (2005)


CHRIS HEDGES - The execution of Julian Assange: He exposed the crimes of empire; and that can't be tolerated



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