@dreamingbohemian
Until liberal democracies remember what principles liberal democracy is founded on they are going to have problems.
Let's see, what were some of the principles and 'truths' that liberal democracy was founded on?
Black Africans were property and could be tortured and worked to death
Women had no political or civil rights
Only wealthy white men had full voting rights and political power
Indigenous people everywhere could be slaughtered and colonised
Those are also the roots of liberal democracy. Those beliefs have never fully disappeared -- indeed, this is the world that all those Trumpists want to maintain. At heart, what they are fighting for is the ongoing dominance of white men over everyone else.
So I would rather say, until we all acknowledge the historical reality of liberal democracy and its ongoing legacy, we will have problems.
I think we do have to examine the reality of that legacy. But ultimately isn't that just the principles being demonstrated? Material reality is catching up.
FWIW, I also think we have similar outstanding questions to answer on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And I do think in time that will happen.
Adam Curtis's Hypernormalisation (which is on BBC iplayer) talks about the subject and if you are in the UK and haven't seen it, its worth a watch. It is heavy and hard work though as a documentary.
The problem comes back to the idea of sheltering and protecting the public from unpleasant and unpalatable issues as they are controversial. Its an infantalisation of the people into a 'good versus bad' type narrative (for political reasons - and a 'hollywoodification' of the world) rather than a more accurate picture of the world and how things aren't that simplistic and that bad things do happen (and sometimes the US and rest of the west is responsible for them).
The US as somewhere which is strangely disconnected to the rest of the world and a large percentage of the public having very little idea of the world outside is a big factor in its inability to process (and accept) reality.
These issues and criticisms are all connected to hyper capitalisation in one way or another. There's lots of people with vested interests and the 'communism' thing thrown about by Trump in this context is a very very important one to keep your eyes on (whilst also noting here Trump's ironic admiration for certain elements within the Chinese State).
The world isn't a simple nor pleasant place.
I find whats been fascinating about the last year or so has been the levels of denialism that we've had. People trying to draw attention to issues and problems have been so frequently been put down as 'hysterical' or 'scaremongering'. It does seem that as a nation the UK has conditioned itself to be unable to see incoming threats and to take them seriously when appropriate. Just read MN. People have been saying for years that Trump had the potential to start a civil war and would do so if it suited him personally. Or how people said in early Feb last year covid would come to the UK and the crisis would be long lasting. Sure things haven't panned out as bad as they may have, but sensible moderate suggestions based on quantifible data and historical events were dismissed outright. Its almost as large parts of our society have become unable to cope with the mere idea of disaster / national crisis and that leaves us even more vulnerable to the consequences of those crises when they do actually happen and unable to cope with.
I find the whole subject utterly fascinating, but I also think that the principle of the truth being the fabric of liberal democracy and what its strength is. Even those who believe most in the system acknowledge its not an ideal system by any means but its the one thats better than the alternative. Its the best system we've got.
What we have to examine going forward in both the UK and US is just how liberal and democratic are countries are and ways in which this can be changed. I do think that the way the systems both work (two party states) are a HUGE part of the problem. And one that obviously the two main political parties in both countries have a vested interest in ignoring and dismissing.
My ultimate point is we should be having these deep and meaning conversations about what is liberal and democratic and we shouldn't be shying away from when it gets a bit difficult and hard. We shouldn't be saying its an all or nothing situation where things are either good or bad. We should be self critical, and in that self critism looks for ways to improve things and move forward. But it has to be truly self critical and not cherry picking the bits we approve of and pretending the bits we don't like don't exist. We have to be much more aware of the circumstances of the things at the bottom of the chain rather than turning a blind eye. We have to have the capacity to identify risks and harms. (And thats where poor representation of those who have experience of the bottom of the chain is problematic as we reduce our capacity to see harm). And ultimately diversity isn't just about identity its also about economics and I think thats the one thats providing hardest for us to come to terms with as societies with high levels of normalised inequality.
/ puts away the soap box.