21 Comments
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Tom Barrie Simmons Author's avatar

Maybe, so long as totalitarianism exists, democracy is in danger.

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Peter Jones's avatar

Never a perfect world...

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Nina's avatar

Orwell meant what he said.

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Nina's avatar

Orwell meant what he said.

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Robert Scantlebury's avatar

Is the UK and Western Europe the last bastion of democracy in a populist or downright authoritarian world?

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Liam Shaughnessy's avatar

Bleeding 🩸 and 🤬 bleeping Democratic values world 🌍 wide are slipping down the fire 🔥 of domestic politics violence and terrorism!

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Liam Shaughnessy's avatar

Yeah 👍 but..bleeding hearts 💕

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Lawrence Marcella  Lyons's avatar

That’s how the King of England advertises identity theft to the highest bidder @Paul Krugman …

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Run Freedom Run's avatar

What a fantastic quote from the TV series, Davos 1917 that many of us feels applies to America in the 21st c if you substitute “the poor, the middle classes and the developing world” for “Africa” even though ironically Africa is still the heart of the developing world.

It's democracy that's to blame for our condition, for this war. Democracy is reactionary. It’s capitalist, nationalistic and lacks a European conscience. Its humanitarianism is pure hypocrisy. It can only justify its existence as long as Africa can be exploited and people at home can harbour faint illusions of political participation. Such an absurdity.

Season 1, Episode 5 “Unholy Alliances” Davos 1917, created by screenwriters Adrian Illien and Julia Penner and authors Thomas Hess and Michael Sauter.

Contrast Film Zürich,

Letterbox Filmproduktion Hamburg, Amalia Film München,

SRF / ARD / Degeto, 2023

Walter Presents, distributor

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EatRepbulicun.ts's avatar

Timely indeed. The educated public debate between totalitarianism and democracy is something that the states needed, yet being insulated from the brutal realities of the European police states & very real consequences upon those involved left USA wide open for the ruling kakistocracy that is plundering her.

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Edgar Soberon's avatar

True but not if totalitarianism is active and organized and democracy wallows in passivity and indifference

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The Hippocrene's avatar

"Grow greater or grow less" is wonderful line.

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Shane's avatar

I think it was Hitler who said that democracy inevitably ends in socialism. Men like that will go above and beyond to convince the many otherwise..

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Michael Kupperburg's avatar

Would that every English paper should publish this. It might be refreshing.

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Peter C. Meilaender's avatar

Very insightful, and very timely.

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Starry Gordon's avatar

The problem for me with Mr. Orwell's essay published here is that, while I would not have had any problem with it in 1941 -- I certainly would have passionately preferred the England of 1941 to the works of Adolf Hitler -- this is 2025, where a profoundly different England now exists, one which generally follows profoundly different principles I probably need not name.

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Andorean Esnomeo's avatar

Just substitute “Putin” for “Hitler”in the essay. It is still the same old slaving evil, still the same choice for those who live free of it for now. If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

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Israel Sushman's avatar

Just substitute Islamism for Hitler and Facism and you're describing what the threat to Democracy is today.

https://open.substack.com/pub/bariweiss/p/douglas-murray-british-police-taylor-swift-killer-terrorist-al-qaeda?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=5aup

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Andorean Esnomeo's avatar

What’s the difference? Russia is fine with radical Islam that serve its ends. Hand in glove with Iran and the Houthis. Hamas was welcomed in Moscow after 7 October. Russia is the original Global Terror Mothership, going back to Soviet times with support for the Red Army and PLO. That, corrupting and compromising Western politicians / businesses, and smuggling in Western tech, was the best they could do to ‘defeat’ the West. Putin was in the thick of those networks as he began his career in Dresden. Pure medieval evil, these siloviki ghouls.,

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