I'm sure the book (which I have not read) has a nuanced take, but mutual toleration is not the answer to this moment and it's never been more clear that in order for democracy to survive here in the United States right now, the right wing authoritarians must be driven from government at all levels - ThreadSky

fleerultra.bsky.social • 75 days ago

I'm sure the book (which I have not read) has a nuanced take, but mutual toleration is not the answer to this moment and it's never been more clear that in order for democracy to survive here in the United States right now, the right wing authoritarians must be driven from government at all levels

Reposted from David Ryan Miller

One of the two key norms of democracy in How Democracies Die is "mutual toleration," or the shared belief among parties that they are all legitimate political actors who can be trusted to wield the power of government.

Stephen Miller has never been mutually tolerant, but this tweet lays that bare.

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macfeegle.bsky.social•75 days ago

Paradox of tolerance comic comes to mind. A lot of dem politicians seem to thin you can wishful think your way into mutual tolerance. Willful ignorance

alice.strange.domains•75 days ago

Mutual tolerance works in situations where there’s mutual respect and shared goals. But the right’s explicit goal is extermination of opposition. You can’t perform democracy and hope the other side decides to join in

alice.strange.domains•75 days ago

Miller is honest about his goals but I think they make sense if you’re on the Right. They want to win, forever. The only response you can give to that is “we must make sure that they lose, forever.”

fleerultra.bsky.social•75 days ago

the answer to MAGA, much like the answer to the Nazis before them, and the Confederacy before them, is to beat them and drive them into hiding and make even the slightest association with them an indelible stain on one's reputation. not to see them as a governing partner.

m00pie.bsky.social•75 days ago

and the reason we're here right now is because this never happened back then. all the confederates, all the nazis, are the same people who are ruling over us today. i know you know this but it feels like nobody ever talks about this shit

wcfk.bsky.social•75 days ago

Id say the "drive them into hiding" should have been then, and should still be, of the permanent underground variety, but yes

catomama.bsky.social•74 days ago

The same as was done with racists and spousal abuse. It became completely socially unacceptable to even mention either. That didn't fix the problems completely, but made it much easier to say this is not acceptable. Maga allowed all that to crawl out from the rocks they were hidden under.

tft.io•75 days ago

https://bsky.app/profile/tft.io/post/3ljuo5u4y2k2i

humeancondition.bsky.social•75 days ago

The reputational damage people used to accumulate was exponentially higher than it is now, cancel culture included. Retvrn to thinking a politician is a piece of shit and consign them to the latrine of your mind.

The Overton window on character & credibility has moved so damn far since 2016.

fleerultra.bsky.social•75 days ago

they are not now, and will never be, a good partner in fair, democratic governance.

brentwaggoner.bsky.social•75 days ago

It's fascinating to imagine what sort of partnership the Schumer wing even imagines there could be. They want to burn everything down, imprison their opponents, and rule forever--what's the compromise midpoint there exactly?

clutch3-16.bsky.social•75 days ago

I don’t think Schumer even really imagines a specific compromise, he just imagines that some sort of compromise is theoretically possible and doesn’t care about the terms of that compromise. He’s happy to let them define those terms.

alistairoliver.bsky.social•75 days ago

sciencemaeven.bsky.social•75 days ago

Exactly

exitmusicforafilm.bsky.social•75 days ago

This is the Confederate movement, the same folks who destroyed Reconstruction and implemented Jim Crow. They have told us for 150+ years that they are not interested in working with the rest of the population.

vincegalloro.bsky.social•75 days ago

💯 There is a recent research paper (which I did not read) that found that mainstream parties that tried to neutralize far-right parties by moving toward their views did not, in fact, neutralize the far right; they normalized them.

jeffnorm.bsky.social•75 days ago

The book is talking about guiding principles to avoid the downfall of democracy, not about how to fight for it when it’s under attack.

northwoodsslaw.bsky.social•75 days ago

The pearl clutching both sides bull stuff has gotta stop

internethuman.bsky.social•75 days ago

The mutual part is key. Kind of like the whole " tolerance of the intolerant paradox". It's a social contract, only by BOTH sides expressing tolerance for each other does it work. If one side withdraws (I'd argue that the GOP did that long ago) they are no longer part of the contract.

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