Never take Democracy for granted
The January 8 riot attack on Brazil’s National Congress shows the consequences of choosing corrupt, populist, and fearmongering leaders.
T he international far-right movement has attempted to put Democracy on its knees in two of the largest countries in the world in the space of two years.
January 6, 2021, is known as the day far-right supporters of former US President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol to overturn the election of Joe Biden in favour of their favourite populist tradesman¹, and failed.
January 8, 2023, will be known as the day far-right supporters of former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the National Congress to overturn the election of Lula in favour of their favourite populist retired soldier², and failed.
Those who may have thought that the January 6 attack on the US Capitol was a one-off event couldn’t have been more wrong. Trump and Bolsonaro have set a new practice³ that, no doubt about it, other far-right leaders will copycat in the years and decades to come.
Let it once more be a lesson to everyone, in the US, in Europe, in South America, and around the world: Never take Democracy for granted. Always cherish it. Always keep it alive. Always remember the sacrifices of those who fought for it before. And more importantly always keep populists, libertarians, far-right politicians, and extremists of all sorts away from power.
They divide to conquer. They polarise to demonise their opponents. They seek chaos to be seen as saviours. They make use of the cult of personality to brainwash and control people’s minds. They are the Pied Pipers of Hamelin who play their magical pipes luring their radicalised followers towards the path of destruction and eventually leave them bearing the consequences of the destruction.
To keep Democracy alive and strengthen it, we must educate.
We must teach history without bias.
We must teach critical thinking.
We must explain right and wrong.
We must show how to spot fake news.
We must explain the consequences of choosing corrupt, populist, and fearmongering leaders.
We must explain the difference between Democracy and dictatorship.
We must explain why freedom of speech, press freedom, and freedom of thought, belief and religion is important.
We must explain the rights and duties of every citizen.
We must explain the power of the vote.
We must instil empathy for others.
Some of us may have prejudices against others based on their race, gender, sexuality, religion, disability, nationality, social status or wealth. It is natural to be afraid of what we don’t know and don’t understand, but we can and we must learn to make the necessary efforts to understand our fellow human beings.
We can strive gradually to become more compassionate.
For a more harmonious society, we must eliminate those poisoned stereotypes and biases, forget about the differences that divide us, and cement our Democracy into the grounds of our communities instead.
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▪ Text: This piece was first published in Europeans TODAY on 9 January 2023.
▪ Cover: Screenshot Globo News. | 8 January 2023.
