End of democracy

Don’t panic. This is not a commentary on Pakistan’s political situation. Not more than is necessary and not directly in any case. You will see. This reflects worldwide changes from New Delhi to Jerusalem, the United States to Europe. In comparison, my dear grasshopper, you and your woes are in their infancy. But it does not mean you do not breathe in the same contaminated, toxic air.

In fantasy stories, you may encounter a common plot where magic is shown to be dying, if not already dead. In Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland’s farcical sci-fi fantasy The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., photography is held responsible for the end of magic by causing a wave function collapse. On July 28, 1851, the first photograph of a total solar eclipse was taken. Fun fact: yesterday was the anniversary of this event. Similarly, in the TV series, The Magicians, inspired by Lev Grossman’s novel of the same name, magic initially starts petering out because one god of Fillory decides to pollute the wellspring, the source of all magic, with his refuse as a punishment to humanity and later his death leads to the disconnection of the magical services by the plumber. In another fantasy TV series, The Librarians, the shortage of magic is also a major concern. Something similar seems to be happening to democracy around the world. And no satisfying explanation has been offered so far. This reminds me that Dennis E Taylor, in his brilliant sci-fi trilogy called Bobiverse, shows how democracy is vanquished at the hands of far-right nuts only a century from now.

In a world where so much is going on, it is hard not to mistake symptoms for disease, effects for causes. One reason is the sheer volume of the white noise created by history. History never stops, and every passing day leaves behind a pile of arbitrary, if minor, facts. Not every randomly generated fact needs to carry a deeper meaning. When there are only 365 days in a year, dates often repeat themselves. The art of effective analysis lies in connecting dots and knowing which dots not to connect. You risk getting lost down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories when you commit this folly. Two more useful lessons. Works of fiction, no matter how compelling, are just that. Never try to confuse them with reality unless indicated by the work’s creator. You do not want to become Don Quixote of our age, do you? And remember, coincidences do occur and do not automatically support your pet conspiracy theory. A theory must contain verifiable facts and evidence to escape the conspiracy stigma. Keep these few lessons in mind, and they will serve you well.

Two rather silly examples qualify the above lessons. Do you really think something called magic died due to a photograph of the solar eclipse made on July 28, 1851? Of course not. And speaking of the date on which this picture was taken. Do you remember that on this date in 2017, Nawaz Sharif was removed from power in the Panama Papers case? Any link between the two? Absolutely not. I just brought up these random facts because I am writing on the abovementioned date.

Another one. When on April 7, 2015, my long piece “The farce called ‘The Clash of Civilisations’” appeared in the online edition of a Pakistani paper, little did I know that I was in for a significant and surprising overreaction. The most shocking was the reaction from our Indian peers, who did not like my complaint that their nation was too eager to jump on the clash bandwagon because of their complicated history with Muslims and China (please prove me wrong). Elsewhere, there were outbursts against my claim that Europe had a more painful recent history of interfaith and inter-race complications compared to the US. Some Indian pundits mocked me on social media. One senior Pakistani journalist, who ostensibly hasn’t forgotten my silly mistakes at the start of my columnist career some two and a half decades ago, wrote a review of my piece for a reputed Indian newspaper. I was presented as an unnamed and deranged blogger review of whose ordinary article merited an elaborate response on op-ed pages. To my surprise, the said paper carried it. I don’t mind criticism. But I will never agree that Europe’s recent history with the Holocaust and Nazism can be compared to the history of America, where good guys took a stand against slavery, fought a civil war and won. I kept repeating that ad nauseam. But when a few months later, Trump announced that he was running and reignited the culture war and prejudicial fault lines I took it as a personal slight. But does it mean my piece had anything to do with Trump’s decision? Don’t make me laugh. Purely coincidental.

But let’s return to our original question. What is causing the decline of democracy around the world? Is it Russia and its cold war mentality? The rise of China? America’s own democracy fatigue? India’s rise? A consequence of the war on terror? Social media? Anticipatory anxiety about the collapse of civilisation due to the rise of AI? Existential angst? Population explosion? To be honest, I have seen elaborate attempts to use each of these variables as an explanation. As I mentioned earlier, it is hard to decide which one of these is a cause and others just effects. I have concerns, of course.

I tried to cut Russia under Putin much slack for a long time. Even when, during the Trump era, all strongmen lined up to kiss Putin’s ring, the last being our very own Imran Khan, I made nothing of it. I thought the racist and fascist dumpster fire raging in the West could not be attributed to Russia because modern Russia has emerged out of the ashes of the Soviet Union, and while you can take exception to the misapplication of its principles, socialism, in theory, is nothing if not egalitarian. Also, like other Abrahamic faiths, Orthodox Christianity professes egalitarianism. Something did not add up. Only the onslaught of the Ukraine war and the outpouring of hate forced me to reconsider my view. It looks like we are now trapped between two world orders. The Putinian order and the one led by Biden. And it will only get worse.

Of particular concern to me is the rise in international influence of India’s Hindutva groups, especially because, unlike many other faith-led political ideologies, Hindutva is under no compulsion to believe in the fundamental equality of human beings. In fact, it aggressively opposes the notion and has links with neo-Nazis in the West. Further mainstreaming of this trend is bound to wreak havoc on the world.

Whatever the reasons, democracy is dying around the world. And the next fourteen months are crucial in deciding if it can survive at all. So far, the results have not been encouraging. Good luck.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2023.

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