Autocratic moment extended

By Bernard Rowan

This column follows up on my earlier piece about the autocratic moment. At that time, I commented on the rise of authoritarian and totalitarian leaders in global nations this century as a phase to be endured. Xi, Putin, Kim Jong-un, and sadly, Donald Trump, all fit the mold. There are others; such as Duterte. My purpose remains to instill patience and determination in the hearts and minds of democratic citizens and fans of democracy worldwide. Recent events only make that more important.

Fans of freedom must realize the game is to shake our self-confidence and will to insist on the possibility of democracy, human rights, and the free flow of money, capital, goods and services. Just as in the World Wars, our "wars" of today are with campaigns of propaganda, intimidation, and insouciance I'm afraid. We also must invest in the business of educating ourselves about the processes and habits of a democratic nation. And we'd be historically blind not to recognize that analogues of totalitarian and authoritarian leaders have wreaked their havocs over the centuries.

South Korea is a young nation, as is America, but much younger. Her democracy is limited, and in fact, the South often goes under the umbrella of authoritarian or bureaucratic authoritarian nations. This smacks somewhat of a Western prejudice, as there are a plurality of democratic possibilities. Any visitor to Korea can note differences, but one can also note the growth of freedom and diversity overtime in South Korean society. This is to my mind no different at all from America, England, France, or what have you.

However, democracy is not a guarantee of perfect government. Constitutional democracies, certainly not the United States, always predicated the imperfection of women and men and the need to be vigilant to corruption in a society of laws. The Framers knew we'd have bad eggs as leaders, or some of the bad with most of the good in most leaders. Checks and balances and an active citizenry are sine qua non's of survival when the current, apparent majorities fancy the bad leader.

And such is the case in the United States, and perhaps elsewhere. COVID-19 has racked America's confidence. We must rise to see it as the next chapter of the New Jerusalem on the hill, and a call to more than the rhetoric of change. The pandemic requires a fundamental evolution in our infrastructure, public investments, and public education for public health. We also see the consequences of a society that preaches capitalism but doesn't develop the means to disseminate digital technologies and health technologies nation-wide. We're hampered by the class limits of having and using the Internet and related devices. Even more, we're hampered by the two paychecks from bankruptcy reality of family income. We have to work to make that money.

Franklin D. Roosevelt gets my vote for the best democratic leader of all time. This is despite the well-known critiques of his role in World War II and other valid concerns. Among my arguments as to why he's the greatest is because he devised the still-unfulfilled dream of a Second Bill of Rights. The Second Bill of Rights receives hound calls that it's socialism. Who thinks people shouldn't have the food, shelter, clothing, and access to education that we know create stable societies? Our broken homes, prison ranks, and streets filled with the homeless and dispossessed represent quadrillions of dollars of lost human capital.

Adam Smith long ago noted that "the people" in democracies imitate the wealthy. We're more interested in the few who make billions, soon trillions, instead of the median or mean indices of income and wealth. We all want to be these little kings and queens a bit it seems. We're bourgeois. This is the great threat to democracies of all forms. The existence of freedom turns on an assumption about the possibilities for income and wealth opportunity and results in the general public. And democracies must institute those possibilities when the indices go south.

South Koreans must decide, if like too many democratic nations, how they will balance political rights of equality and freedom with economic rights. The South Korean record on economic rights isn't enviable either. But South Koreans have less timidity to innovate than "more established democracies." And that's a good thing. Just as with innovating best practices for COVID and for one of history's greatest ascents to advancement, South Koreans mustn't jump to calling all of Moon or another liberal's economic reforms bogus. All around us, we see the violence and want and neglect that result from deemphasizing economic equality and its advancement.

Xi, Putin, Kim, and Trump don't realize the path of civilization isn't on their side. They will stoke and even align with one another to pursue their rival versions of humanity. Time isn't on their side, but as the old saying goes, one doesn't bat as well just on defense. Democratic partisans and denizens can't rest on our laurels. The defense of democratic civilization requires an offense of patience, determination, and the evolution to a Second bill of Rights. I hope to encourage South Korea, my own country, and all freedom-loving peoples in this arguable but still too much-disputed truth. It's the way forward. Pray we step to it.

Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University