“The system of liberal democracy aimed to strengthen the protection of human rights, particularly to prevent the abuse of democratic voting to violate the rights of individuals who found themselves in the minority,” writes Tomasz Sakiewicz in the latest issue of the magazine “Gazeta Polska.”
Democracy itself, devoid of tools provided by limiting principles, can prove to be just as dangerous to humanity as a totalitarian regime.
The most well-known example here is undoubtedly Nazi Germany. Hitler seized power in democratic elections and immediately began to restrict the rights of citizens of other races and political opponents, introducing terror and censorship. In the end, he abolished democracy altogether. A similar path was taken by the French Revolution. It began with the convening of the Estates-General, or parliament, but ended in great terror against opponents. Ultimately, power was seized by a monarch, who narrowly avoided establishing a new dynasty. However, it must be acknowledged that Napoleon softened the terror and brought freedom to some nations.
The idea to limit the distortions of democracy gave rise to the Christian-democratic movement. Limits based on basic natural rights emerged, and voters and politicians were given guidance on what principles to follow in politics to prevent democracy from becoming a caricature of itself. However, in the 1990s, the Christian democratic movement fell into a deep crisis. The constraints stemming from natural rights and the Christian tradition of Europe began to be slowly replaced by a leftist-liberal revolution. Political correctness and the broadly understood concept of gender entered the politicians’ code of conduct. The principles of democracy were constrained by the ideologues of the new revolution, who gradually introduced censorship in academia, culture, and media. The institutions of the European Union became the ideal bodies for enforcing these new rules. They have a weak democratic mandate but gain increasing advantage over member states. In the name of “EU principles” – liberal democracy – they impose their rules, often against the democratic will of individual nations. The strongest players exploit the veil of liberal democracy, cynically pursuing their interests.
Adding a piquancy to the matter is the fact that decisions of EU institutions often result from the game of intelligence agencies and lobbyists from completely undemocratic or even totalitarian states. This applies to various aspects of life, including the left’s favourite topic, ecology. As a result, production from “ecological” Europe began to move to countries that cared less about the issue.
Today, it is evident that Europe, as well as the USA, is flooded with a rebellion of people who, for various reasons, have had enough of the liberal-leftist revolution and want democracy to be based at least on common sense. However, it won’t be this rebellion that ultimately finishes off the leftist current of liberal democracy. It will be its own defenders. In the name of defending this system, they begin to persecute their opponents, introduce increasingly brutal censorship, and shamelessly attempt to influence election results. Regardless of who wins this battle, the victor will no longer be a liberal democrat. The current situation in Poland further ridicules the principles of this system, where judges, prosecutors, and even officers with roots in communist totalitarianism are recruited to defend liberalism. It’s rather the end of illusions. Liberal democracy remains only the defence of the interests of those who appointed themselves its prophets. Nothing new in the history of revolutions. See you, gentlemen, in other epochs when people forget a little.