Don't use that term for the RIGHTS Europeans have fought for, and which are only possible because we have democracies where the common good is not an empty phrase. That's the difference between having parliamentary representation of citizens and an oligarchy where people are hoping for "benefits" from their master, err..., employer.
I disagree with the vanishing. Democracies worldwide are under attack from antidemocrats. The US oligarchs. The Russofascists. The Chinese capitalist communists. To name only the biggest fish here.
They all see democracies as an obstacle in their power games. They are funding and supporting especially right wing parties with propaganda and fake news aiming at dividing the EU, to weaken it and to destroy it, the largest entity of western democracy in this world. BUT, democracy is not receding. It's bending like a tree in a storm. The more it is under pressure, the more do people realize how important it is. Strong civil societies can withstand such attacks. But it's not an easy task, no question.
But ironically, here in the EU, and seemingly in Canada and other places, the orange attacks kind of make it easier. Dump is the best helper to revive the silent majority, so to speak. By being so immorally disgusting, by being a vulgar, corrupt idiot, big-mouthed, and empty of moral values, and completely free of empathy, he shows everybody what we HAVE and don't want to lose.
When it comes to the global south, I don't know enough to have an educated opinion. Probably, it all has to start with grassroot campaigning and convincing people that these strongmen I listed are not the solution but the problem.
Isn't education the best weapon against propaganda? You can only brainwash people who are not aware of the facts, and are unable to differentiate between facts and fiction. The problem is when people have not learned critical thinking and self-reflection.
And I don't mean conspiracy theorists who probably think they were the best critical thinkers available. In a complicated world, simple answers are usually wrong. But understanding the complicated ones is often tiresome and hard. That's why conspiracy theories from UFO nonsense to antivaxxer lies are so en vogue in some circles. In the best case, they are simply misled into believing nonsense. In the worst case, they are purposely led away from more important issues.
What I mean is that the ability to reflect on information and weigh different sources against each other and come to an educated conclusion based on PLAUSIBILITY and KNOWLEDGE is the best antidote against brainwashing. Education!
Take the antivaxxer movement. Their ideas are backed by NO scientific evidence. RFK's agitation against measle vaccination, for instance, has led to an epidemic in the US. Children have died from a disease that was practically eradicated. Even more have permanent damage. But those numbers are CONCENTRATED within those who won't vaccinate their children. QED
Sure! I'm always curious to hear from other places. Although I'm not so sure that I myself are so impressed with my own skills. ;-)
That's the crux not only in your country. People seem to forget what's important, and with the advent of social media, the ways to get yourself lost in meaningless entertainment have exploded. Not that the mechanisms had changed. Even back 2 millennia ago, the Romans knew that "Bread and Games" will keep the poeple from rioting.
Only the media have changed, and maybe the attention span. Hence, a government that has the media in its hand can do bad things with them. Literacy rates are probably only one factor in this.
But I'm curious, what's the primary source of information for those people you are referring to? TV/Radio? Or their mobiles? And if so, how do they use the phones when they are illiterate?
That sounds a lot like this:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raiffeisen
(translate the German page into English, the English page is only about the banks)
During the industrialization, there were many initiatives like this for cooperative associations in Germany, along with social reforms and worker associations, aka unions. Germany is the land of cooperatives anyway. ;-) Which the Americans would call "socialist" (which it is not) because they are conditioned that you have to be "better than everybody else and fight alone" and not collaborate to make it better FOR everybody. But what happens there is that the individual is weak and is exploited by corporations who tell them that "SOSHALISM" is bad. Talk about propaganda by the ruling class...
For Germany (and, in similar ways, the rest of Europe), this is exactly what brought prosperity to the communities of farmers and also workers. Cooperate, bundle resources, knowledge, and money.
I think it's a great thing you are doing because poverty is best fought together.
@HarryMutt
If people we're not affected by the capitalistic mindsets, the world would be better. Our initiative is currently under a crisis where we have been forced away from the land we have rented for two years to do our activities. We're doing our best tj raise funds and purchase pur own land which would be a big step towards making our dream a reality. Your support via our gofund.me page would make a significant impact towards that goal.
If I knew the answer to that, I'd earn a Nobel prize.
I can only look back at our own history, and I have to tell you, it took a long time, and also many wars and conflicts. My country alone is the best example. Divided into up to 300 states, from small city states to large ones like Prussia, it was often the place of proxy wars between the big powers. Most notably the war of 30 years where they all fought on German soil, in volatile coalitions, and pretending it was about religion, which, of course, was an excuse to gain power. England, France, Austria, Sweden, and a few others who sent their armies. And as if this hadn't been bad enough, after that war, some of them just took a piece out of the cake and kept it. If that sounds familiar for you, well, I guess, there is a reason for it. Then, the first, nationalist, unification of Germany was a reaction to the Napoleonic occupation which led to nationalism all over Europe, which also fired up the wish for a strong and united Germany. And it was not a peaceful unification. Where this all led to in the 20th century can be read in history books.
Tribalism still exists in Germany, and in the whole of the EU, of course. But at least the latter is not a forced unification, although it was a reaction to the terrible wars before. Sometimes, reason does work.
Anyway, I think what you are doing is the right way. Convincing people to work together, that they have common interest to come together and put their stuff together. That the whole is more than the sum of its parts. All too often, this only happens with a negative narrative, "we against the others". But if it happens out of positive sentiments, "we, the people, together", it is a much more stable foundation to build on.
Better don't admire so much what they created. By today's standards, they were war criminals. And what they created was the foundation for colonialism, two world wars, and more than one genocide, also on the African continent.
Today's Germany has not much in common with what they imagined. Democratic, inklusive, pluralistic, not nationalistic like theirs. Not "we against them", or worse, the out-of-context misinterpretation of "Deutschland über alles" (which meant "a united Germany over the fragmented entity that was not a real nation like everybody else had one". Instead a country that is built on human rights, equality, not submission, cooperation, not confrontation. Flawed, and full of people who want back to the old ways of nationalism, racism, and imperialism. But they are a loud minority. The majority has long realized that real prosperity comes from cooperation, not wars. The people you listed would feel very displaced in this country which has values so far from theirs.
But those were the lessons from the unimaginable crimes that were committed in this nation's name.
Don't admire countries or historical people. Stay with being a human being with empathy for others and take from our history what suits your situation best. At least, we can serve as bad example, sometimes even as a good one.:-)
David August ❌👑
HarryMutt
Nuwagaba Gift
