Whenever I read any history of European democracies, I always get the impression that political oppression was a lot worse in the past than it is now, despite how bad it may appear.
I've always wondered if Europe's decline into totalitarianism was halted all on its own due to the natural "swinging of the pendulum" as they call it, or if it was due to American hegemony over the world, and the fact they basically had the whole of Europe under military occupation until the fall of the Soviet Union.
Is today's rise of totalitarianism in Europe simply the swinging of the pendulum, or is it due to the waning of power in the American empire, and therefore the return of Europe to its natural, equilibrium state?
It's never simply a question of either or. Europe slowly migrated on its own away from autocratic regimes but USA clearly put in a large effort to enforce this in the recent period.
What I would highlight is the tendency of any group to turn on itself in the absence of an external threat. And this could be the silver lining of the current events.
>Whenever I read any history of European democracies, I always get the impression that political oppression was a lot worse in the past than it is now, despite how bad it may appear.
I am reading Clark's Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia (<https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RI9PMM/>, and was surprised to learn of the extent of the freedom of the press in late 18th-century Prussia. A British visitor wrote that people were as free to speak as back home, citing a work that was very critical of the king in the context of Poland. During the Napoleonic wars, despite the existential threat to Prussia from France, at least four newspapers that celebrated Revolutionary France as the next step in human freedom were allowed to publish.
(I read that last part almost immediately after hearing of YouTube shutting down Russian state media channels. It's always preferable to counter propaganda with free speech. Even liars deserve the opportunity to speak. This is especially true when there is no formally declared war between the US and Russia.)
I was going to ask something similar. What I can think of is Poland and Hungary, potentially Belarus, maybe Turkey if you count that as European? (A very open question I think), and Russia itself.
Poland has issues, certainly. Hungary is under sanction from other parts of the EU because of Viktor Orban. Turkey has Erdogan. Belarus has been under the thumb of Lukashenko since a few years after gaining independence, and Russia is Russia but even under Putin it's probably less totalitarian than it was under communism. Honestly I think that (with the exception of that short period in the early 90s when everything looked like it was coming up roses) Europe as a whole is far less totalitarian now than it was for most of the 20th century. Certainly the decades post-WWII where communism held sway, by force, across vast swathes of the continent. Even with its current problems, Poland is far more free now than it was behind the iron curtain.
The OP posts this - "I always get the impression that political oppression was a lot worse in the past than it is now, despite how bad it may appear." which makes me think they have a very weird view and possibly not much knowledge of history. Because yes, it was far worse for far more people for a very long time.
> Poland is far more free now than it was behind the iron curtain.
it depends on what freedom you look at.
In Poland abortion has been banned, while
In 1920, the Russian Soviet Republic under Lenin became the first country in the world in the modern era to allow abortion in all circumstances
If you are a woman in Poland you're far less free now (not only because of the anti abortion laws). A friend of mine found out when she was pregnant that she had a risky medical condition and had to move to Czech Republic to be able to end her pregnancy.
In total, compared to Poland in the 1970s? I think that’s probably a discussion topic. I agree it’s not in a good place and it seems to be getting worse. As do my Polish colleagues!
It's not, because as long as they don't stop they're not getting in. Nothing indicates they are stopping, so saying it's an open question is disingenuous - we'll probably have to wait for the regime to die. Perhaps after that we can see some changes.
Not that much compared to the rising totalitarianism in e.g. Canada I'd say. Neither Poland nor Hungary are exactly totalitarian, they just happen to reject the demands of a vocal minority who do not agree with their rejection of globalism in favour of a form of nationalism. Political discourse being what it is these days any such rejection, let alone any support of nationalism is directly seen as proof of totalitarianism and all those -isms and -phobias. Given that both countries seem to be functional democracies with at least as reliable an electoral system as, say, the United States of America [1] and given their recent history of occupation by totalitarian regimes I think they're doing quite well in treading their path through the intricacies of European politics.
Now Trudeau in Canada, he is someone to look out for. He seems to have collected a clique of cronies around him who are al to willing to suspend civil rights when he feels his position is threatened. I all but assume the next election cycle will rinse the country clean of his ilk and restore confidence in the health of the Canadian state.
[1] ...where neither party seems to accept the outcome of the elections, whether those be national (Clinton disputes 2016, Trump disputes 2020) or state (Stacey Abrams still insists on being the true governor of Georgia)
Wow. This is beyond ridiculous. The trucker convoy interrupted international borders and ground a major city to a halt. Emergency powers were used for a limited time to clear it. They have since been rescinded. It is my understanding that such powers specifically to do not contravene Canadian civil rights, and the act used was constructed such that Parliament maintains power and must periodically renew them, not the individual PM.
The idea this counts as some sort of totalitarian escalation is bizarre and heavily partisan. The idea that the democrats contested the election in 2016 in a similar way to Trump's "big steal" narrative and actions is also nakedly fantastic.
The truckers caused disturbances for two weeks while Trudeau's lockdown measures caused disturbances for two years. Living in a country - Sweden - which followed a different path for a similar outcome in SARS2-related I can wholeheartedly say I would take the trucker's disturbance over Trudeau's any day.
Also, blocking bank accounts of people who donated to those truckers which was not in violation of any law whatsoever? Welcome to the new world. What little trust those people had in societal institutions will have been erased now.
> Sweden - which followed a different path for a similar outcome
Sweden which has around 1.7x the deaths per million as Canada?
Canada is not unique in its approach, many countries followed that path. In fact Sweden is definitely the outlier there. Singling out Canada for criticism is disingenuous.
> I would take the trucker's disturbance over Trudeau's any day.
So? I'd also take two weeks of crap over two years of pandemic. Guess what? We didn't get a choice about there being a pandemic and your comparison is more or less meaningless.
> Also, blocking bank accounts of people who donated to those truckers
Didn't actually happen.
Go have a read about it. One MP said that one constituent called Brianne had complained that they had their account locked, but refused to give further details. The list of donors was leaked by hackers, nobody by the name given by the MP had donated in the area he represented.
You speak like everyone who donated had their accounts frozen, but there's no real evidence it happened to even a single individual.
> What little trust those people had in societal institutions will have been erased now.
Those people that don't exist? You have fallen for right-wing screeching and propaganda, again.
> Sweden which has around 1.7x the deaths per million as Canada?
Also, Sweden which will have far fewer deaths and other damages due to 'collateral damage' from lockdowns.
With regard to your claim of bank accounts not having been frozen, that goes against most of the "evidence" I've seen as well as against what the deputy prime minister said [1], as well as against Trudeau's claims.
I would think twice before siding with the Trudeau regime, they will not go down in history as an example of Canada's vibrant democratic tradition.
Just you wait! I'll be right in the end! You'll see!
LOL.
Regardless, as I said, using the example of Sweden (an outlier in policy) to point to Canada as being specifically bad, is fallacious. Maybe Sweden will have a better set of outcomes. That doesn't mean Canada is uniquely bad. Their lockdowns and related covid measures have comparatively middle of the road in global terms.
And yes, they froze the accounts of some of the protestors engaged in illegal activities. They did not, as you claimed, freeze donor accounts. The article you linked to doesn't make that claim either, and simply says they would be able to freeze accounts linked to the protest, it doesn't give any more details than that about what actually happened.
Given that all your claims have been so hilariously wrong and obviously biased, I don't think I give a **** what you think about the Trudeau 'regime'. The reality is more or less bound to be the exact opposite.
You might want to change your media diet a little - right now it's heavy on the right wing talking points and not so good on objectivity.
>Just you wait! I'll be right in the end! You'll see!
You will. You already can. You actually have been able to see this for more than a year had you only opened your eyes - maybe your mask was in the way?
> LOL.
Strange sense of humour, considering the damages from those lockdowns:
- the National Bureau of Economic Research warned that increases in poverty caused by the lockdowns will cost more than 800,000 lives in the United States over the next 15 years due to higher poverty levels [1]
- Suicide rates have jumped dramatically over the past year [2]
- Dementia deaths between March and September jumped 13,000 as patients were left with little means of social interaction [3]
- San Francisco reported that deaths from drug overdoses exceeded COVID-19 deaths in 2020 [4]
- the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 475,000 excess deaths in the U.S. at a time when it was reporting 281,000 coronavirus-related fatalities. The difference is 194,000 additional deaths unexplained by normal mortality and COVID-19 combined [5]
All this while the lockdowns had little to no effect [6].
So, take that mask off your eyes and follow your own advice on your "media diet". Follow science instead of The Science™. Also, stop with that stupid "right wing" blather which you probably got from your "media diet" - or do you think countries like Sweden and Denmark are "right wing"?
I've always wondered if Europe's decline into totalitarianism was halted all on its own due to the natural "swinging of the pendulum" as they call it, or if it was due to American hegemony over the world, and the fact they basically had the whole of Europe under military occupation until the fall of the Soviet Union.
Is today's rise of totalitarianism in Europe simply the swinging of the pendulum, or is it due to the waning of power in the American empire, and therefore the return of Europe to its natural, equilibrium state?