Did We Forget Our Democracy Is Still Under Threat? - The Bulwark

[Nevilledog]

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Sarah Longwell
@SarahLongwell25
I would like us to remember that our democracy was recently attacked and is still very much under threat. It feels wild to just kinda move on.

Did We Forget Our Democracy Is Still Under Threat? - The Bulwark
Complacency is an inherent weakness of democracy.
thebulwark.com
7:30 AM · Apr 22, 2021

https://thebulwark.com/did-we-forget-our-democracy-is-still-under-threat/

Old joke: An old fish and a young fish pass each other. The old fish says, “Fine water today, isn’t it?” The young fish replies, “What’s water?”

This, I have learned in hundreds of hours of focus groups, is how many Americans think about democracy—or more accurately, don’t think about it. Democracy is the system we have, and have inherited, but most of our experiences with any of the alternatives are so remote that we view democracy as the default state. As something that just is.

That isn’t to say that Americans don’t think about politics. Oh, do we. Probably more than is helpful. We have, as a people, some pretty out-there opinions and preferences and expectations about politics.

But mostly when we think about politics, we think about the results we want. These choices are often framed in terms of personalities. Certainly, this phenomenon isn’t limited to the United States: Jeremy Corbyn, Boris Johnson, Bibi Netanyahu, Emmanuel Macron—the list of personalities that more or less define political divides in democratic societies is long and diverse.

Sometimes the results we want are framed not as people, but as policies: higher taxes or lower taxes, more environmental regulation or less, strong national defense or retrenchment. Maybe having policy preferences is civically healthier than having preferences merely for certain individuals over others. Or maybe character is destiny and policy is transient, so choosing the better person is the way to go.

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[PortTack]

1. I haven't forgotten..and I don't think any woke Dems have. If anything we've stepped up the

Pace...donating and posting to twitter and other platforms to bring awareness