The Ancient Adage of Democracy’s Fragility
The ancient adage that democracy can easily degenerate into its evil opposite, an ochlocracy—a reign of the mob—materializes in the reality of our everyday lives.
What is unfolding before our eyes is something I once thought possible only as speculation, something that could exist merely as an ideal representation in political philosophy. Yet here it is. We are witnessing in real time what happens when a society loses touch with the essential social ingredients of democracy—human freedom and its complement, individual responsibility—and succumbs to a chaotic wave of lawlessness and disorder.
Mob Rule and the Plebeians of Our Time
The rise of mob rule has not occurred overnight, and if it ever ends, it will not vanish quickly. I first warned of the looming "mental dictatorship" and the ideological despotism of the leftist mob in my January 31, 2017 post, "The Tyranny of the Mob." Link
In that post, I addressed a phenomenon that has gained prominence today. The mob—the plebeians of our time—is no longer made up of illiterate citizens as in ancient times. Today, the unruly crowd consists of the poorly educated and morally confused individuals from all walks of life: workers, teachers, journalists, academics, scientists, and politicians. Among this group, I count many, if not most, Democrats in both the Senate and Congress, as well as neoconservatives among Republicans and the neoliberal elite in the State Department and other governmental bodies. This includes the vast majority of faculty in higher education.
However, never before has the harm caused by political illiteracy and moral confusion been so profound, pushing the country to the brink of destruction. Misconceptions about political and social coexistence have reached dangerous levels. In my November 2015 blog post, I explored the fallacies and educational delusions that have brought the U.S. and, to a lesser degree, Europe to this point of societal disintegration. Link
The Mob’s True Aim
I doubt I would find a single person among the recent protesters—whether peacefully demonstrating or participating in the looting and violence—whose awareness would include a sound political philosophy for human and social existence. It wouldn’t matter whether the individual came from a highly educated background (college graduates, mayors, senators, media figures) or from less educated participants.
They have all fallen victim to the imposition of a “Culture of Insanity,” which has suffocated the basic reason necessary for stable social coexistence. By pretending to protest against alleged systemic anti-Black racism in the police force following the tragic killing of a Black man by a white officer, protests and riots broke out across the country. In many cases, law enforcement, ordered to stand down by Democrat governors and mayors, could only watch as looting and violence unfolded.
It soon became clear that the mob, acting under the guise of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, was pursuing a different agenda. Their indifference toward Black-on-Black violence and the struggles of disadvantaged Blacks in society reveals that they are using the issue of systemic anti-Black racism as a smokescreen for their true objective.
The Radical Left’s True Purpose
Once calls to defund the police became widespread within leftist circles and the mob began establishing anarchistic “autonomous zones” and purging the nation’s history by destroying monuments, their true aim became clear: to disrupt national cohesion, overthrow the government, remove President Trump, transform the U.S. into a secularist Marxist-Socialist collective, devoid of its Christian social ethics, and ensure permanent Democrat control of the nation’s political institutions.
We are witnessing the collapse of a mighty nation, on the brink of civil war or disintegration—a fate that awaits any country that renounces law and order and surrenders its monopoly on power. Can this destruction be the goal of the broader leftist and progressive movements in the U.S.?
No longer can there be any doubt. The proponents of mob rule seem to believe that abolishing law enforcement and experimenting with new approaches to crime and disorder will lead to better, more humane governance. They believe that peaceful social coexistence and the political structures it requires can be subject to trial and error. They argue for “Reimagining Public Safety” as though eradicating law and order could lead to a more just society. But history has shown that dismantling the State’s monopoly on force inevitably leads to chaos, as evidenced by the failure of the CHAZ experiment in Seattle.
The Crisis of Moral and Political Understanding
A dreadful blend of ignorance and moral deficiency has taken hold of this country, the result of decades of indoctrination and an education system devoid of classical erudition. The disregard for the wisdom of the great traditions of classical liberal arts and the unbending desire to destroy monuments—attempting to erase history deemed objectionable from an ideological perspective—can only be explained by this education crisis.
What we are witnessing is the consequence of the collapse of foundational moral and civic values. The common denominator for what is right and wrong, lawful and unlawful, good and bad—the minimal agreement required for stable social coexistence—has been dismantled by this culture of ill-education and indoctrination. I addressed this phenomenon in my March 2015 post, "The Crisis of Morality," where I explained what happens when a society faces such a profound moral crisis. Link
The State of National Emergency and Constitutional Weakness
The mayhem of recent months has exposed a severe weakness in the U.S. Constitution that has yet to be publicly acknowledged. This weakness relates to the question of national leadership during times of distress. The rift between federal authorities (the President) and local and state authorities (governors and mayors) has demonstrated the lack of clear constitutional provisions for leadership in times of national crisis.
The chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent unrest following George Floyd’s death revealed the inefficiencies of the current leadership structure. Several left-wing governors and mayors acted against federal policy, turning their cities into war zones for political reasons. The President’s occasional mobilization of National Guard troops and the passing of executive orders to protect monuments may have prevented the worst, but the overall situation—where lawlessness dominates many cities—is unacceptable.
The Need for a Strong Executive in Times of Crisis
What we see unfolding in the U.S. makes clear the need to strengthen the President's executive powers in times of national crisis. While the Constitution grants the President special powers during emergencies, there is no clear preponderance for the Executive to act unilaterally, without legislative constraint. The President’s ability to protect the nation during crises must be paramount, and this requires revisiting the constitutional framework to allow for decisive action without undue interference from local and regional authorities.
This issue may be too important to ignore any longer. The survival of the nation depends on it.
A Path to National Salvation?
With the presidential election just months away, the nation finds itself at a crossroads. The chaos and unrest continue unabated. Radical leftists, and even some Republicans and Never-Trumpers, seem willing to support the rioters and lawbreakers, as they push to remove President Trump from office at all costs, even if it destroys the nation.
Restoring order may require extensive use of force—both law enforcement and military. In some areas, martial law or military rule may be necessary. Yet, ironically, it is often the media outlets that support the mob, such as CNN, who have called for martial law—projecting their own culpability onto the opposition.
The radical left and its enablers know the gravity of the situation. They will not relent unless the mob’s lawlessness ceases, either through exhaustion or by the force of an iron fist. The nation’s survival depends on decisive action, and it may fall to President Trump to lead the way.
Conclusion
The path ahead is grueling and costly. To restore order, we may have to return to a more traditional political order, rooted in our Christian heritage. Time will tell if it is too late to reverse course
