We have learned that even though we have the hardware of democracy — institutions, elections — our software is not good. We are too attuned to status, too willing to submit to authority.
Source: nytimes
This seems to be a common thread in malfunctioning, yet democratic governments across many countries of Asia and Africa, including my own – India.
The crucial, and scary, bit is that the populace prefers status & authority, to institutions and due process. Was scared a few years back to see India following Turkey’s footsteps1. Given where Turkey is now, scared even more for India.
- At the risk of triggering Godwin’s law, the progression from secular democracy to religious-nationalist autocracy in Turkey seems to be following quite closely in the footsteps of Hitler’s rise in Germany, and Stalin era purges in the USSR. Beyond sad. Scary. ↩