Heather Cox Richardson wrote a cogent blog about how Democracy is Under Siege Around the World.
Writing two days ago (Feb. 19, 2021), she said, “President Biden told the Munich Security Conference that Democracy is under assault around the world. Biden said 'We are in the midst of a fundamental debate about the future and direction of our world. We’re at an inflection point between those who argue that, given all the challenges we face — from the fourth industrial revolution to a global pandemic — that autocracy is the best way forward, they argue, and those who understand that democracy is essential — essential to meeting those challenges.'”
Meanwhile, 61% of Americans say they are optimistic about the next four years, she writes.
“In contrast to Democrats and Independents, who are optimistic about the future, 65% of Republicans say they are pessimistic about it…”
“Republican state lawmakers are attacking the expanded access to voting put in place in 2020, especially mail-in voting. Although there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in 2020, and repeated studies have shown voter fraud is vanishingly rare, 33 states are considering more than 165 bills to restrict voting, more than four times the number from last year. These bills are intended to stop mail-in voting, increase voter ID requirements, make it harder to register to vote, and expand purges of voter rolls.”
It's not just in “other," "third world" countries around the world that powerful leaders are working to replace democracy with other forms of government that ensure that they remain in power, but even within our own 50 states deterrents to Democracy are working to undermine the most important foundation to democracy to stay in power--The Right to Vote.
Even though President Trump has been kicked out of office by a majority of citizens, Republicans are now working overtime to write and pass numerous laws that will effectively make it MORE difficult for US citizens to vote in the future, thereby decreasing the size of the Voting Electorate, and increasing the odds that Republicans can maintain or increase their number of seats in state legislatures, the US Congress and the US Senate.
One battle was recently won on January 20, 2021, but the fight for the future of America’s democratic system of government is just getting under way.
LINK to original article by Heather Cox Richardson
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