The rights that we take for granted—freedom of speech and association, economic freedom, personal safety and privacy, equality before the law, and property rights—are all under the dangers of the rising hard-right, which is not the traditional conservative movement that prevailed during the post-war era. All these rights that are bestowed upon us—dwindling in a lot of countries—are attributed to liberalism and liberal democracy. In the third decade of the 21st century, the very essence of its ideology and philosophical notions is being questioned. But why? Has it failed the very people to whom it promised prosperity? Or are we just too ignorant to have these values and better ourselves in the days of medieval feudal society?
At its peak in 2012, there were 43 countries identified as liberal democracies; not surprisingly, in 2023, there are only 32 countries—11 countries less. Just recently, Israel was reclassified as an electoral democracy, and other countries are going downhill, like India, as per the V-Dem Institute, “an electoral autocracy.” These classifications are not mere terminologies for fear mongering; in actuality, the rights of millions of people are just getting snatched away under the eyes of the institutions that are supposed to “serve as the guarantors” of the very values that are not being treasured by the ruling class in many societies. This trend is not confined to a certain region or culture; it’s a global trend. It is our hypocrisy that we keep getting distracted by insignificant, meager distractions, making the vast majority unable to enable their intellectual beings to identify the regressive phenomenon. This is the very weakness of liberalism that the dangerous hard-right is using: distraction through the means of technology, which has made it easier for their perilous fringe ideas to be mainstream.
There is a common connotation among all these buffoons, since they have nothing substantial to offer. They start off by drawing out the minority in society, may it be cultural, religious, or linguistic. After that, they say the governing “liberals” are redistributing the resources of the state from “the majority” to “the minority,” which for any sane individual would be sheer absurdity. However, why does this message resonate with the vast majority of the working class? They are the supporters of Trump in the US, Marine Le Pen in France, and Modi in India, but why?
The focal reason why a lot of people are being swayed by the populists is evident—poor economics. In countries classified as beacons and preservers of liberal democracy, such as the United States of America and others, a particular trend prevails: concentration of wealth. In the third quarter of 2023, 66.9% of the total wealth of the United States was owned by the top 10% of the earners, and the disparity is clearly distinguishable. Moreover, with 37.9 million people in poverty, the masses are clearly in misery. While the upper strata enjoys special treatment through extensive lobbying, relief from banks, a lack of accountability, and checks and balances by respective institutions, The current system has formulated two contradictory ways of living—one for the successful and the other for the periphery of society (99% of the people, even if you don’t want to identify with it, you are the 99%). Rather than dilly dallying, a key liberal value that is blamed for exacerbating economic inequality is individualism and market freedom, which lead to policies that promote a more deregulated environment and are detrimental to SMEs. Two, privatization: more state enterprise shifting to profit maximization, shifting resources from economically weaker sections of society. Thus, the aforementioned liberal policies are fundamental to the vast majority of people, who, in actuality, are worse off than better off.
The future is yet to come. The trend could take a turn for the greater good, I hope.
