March 26, 2025 l Business Mirror
When the Allied Forces vanquished the Germany-Japan-Italy Axis, much of the Free World adopted the democratic way of government. Today, Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa says as of last year, right-wing, authoritarian regimes ruled 71 percent of the world.
This was before America’s Donald Trump was democratically elected but has shown autocratic tendencies, betraying a growing fascination with that mode of governance.
But just what is a right-wing, autocratic style of government?
It is characterized by “ultranationalism” anchored on an autocratic centralized government headed by a dictatorial leader. Presents are suppression of the opposition and severe social and economic pressures.
According to the New York Times, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Oban (ruler for 18 years and an ally of Trump) uses a template that “demonizes migrants, neutralizes independent jury, creates new crony capitalists and uses victimhood sentiments to manipulate historical memory.”
Incidentally, this is the same Oban who in 2010 sloganized “Make Hungary Great Again”—the same way Trump has his MAGA (Make America Great Again) and our own Ferdinand Marcos Sr. about making RP great again. The similarity is astounding.
Jason Stanley, in his book “How Fascism Works,” quotes fascism plots panic to drive people to seek refuge in extremists. To be fair, the disenchantment with the failure of democracy (liberal centrist) to end income disparity, likewise, made other alternatives attractive and the growing anxiety about globalization has led many nations to become xenophobic and ultra-protectionist.
Two nations with over a billion in population are of such origins. China is largely state-controlled with excursions to capitalist experiments and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party constitute “the most organized far-right force in the planet.”
The dictator Russia’s Vladimir Putin has siphoned his soulmate in North Korea Kim Jung Un into his Ukraine adventure—two examples of strongmen. According to the book “How Democracies Die,” America’s Trump is flirting with extremist politics. Historically, America has been pro-democratic but in Trump we find the USA abdicating its role as a “democracy promoter” and as the world’s Robocop by focusing on “America First.”
After Marcos Sr., Hague-detained former President Rodrigo Duterte represents perhaps the most ardent devotee of strongman rule in the Philippines’ young democracy. After his 2016 election, almost all of Congress jumped to his party, and by mid-term only two senators were left against his draconian rule. He had appointed most of the current justices of the Supreme Court and all but one brushed off all opposition against his war on drugs.
Maria Ressa of Rappler was arrested twice and had 10 criminal cases filed at one time even as the ABS-CBN’s franchise was not renewed, and the Daily Inquirer was hammered with tax cases. Heretofore, the two were the country’s leading TV and broadsheet entities.
Countries like Venezuela and Turkey have turned right-wing, while Poland’s right party dominates the Parliament. Israel is definitely far-right as the left wing has discredited itself. The hard right anti-immigrant party is also in control in the Netherlands.
Italy under the “Brothers of Italy” Party is the “most right-wing party to govern Italy since Mussolini.” France’s Marine Le Pen Party and right leader the charismatic Jordan Bardella (only 28) has been a strong runner-up in the last two presidential polls. Can this happen even to libertarian France?
Germany’s Alternative for Germany (party) has 70 seats in Parliament and is a serious contender for control. In moderate Scandinavia, its right-wing party is on the rise. The right-wing populist Javier Melei’s victory in Argentina “packed a political punch” after the fall of Bolsonaro.”
Democracy is in a recession, authors Levitsky and Ziblatt postulate.
Our Cory Aquino told the US Congress after the fall of Marcos Sr. that “the Philippines is restoring democracy with the ways of democracy.” Which means bringing back the norms that once were used to protect the democracy that was lost by Martial Law. Which means the Courts, Congress, Civil Society, Media, the Constitution, the Church, COA, Comelec, Ombudsman, and the Studentry.
Democracy, after all, is for mutual tolerance and institutional forbearance, while fascism frowns on individual freedom and egalitarianism.
Author Stanley says in truth fascists are afraid of fascism’s past. This hammer rule will eventually trigger resistance from a broad range of coalitions among progressives, minorities, the private sector, and even partisans.
This could lead to “police repression and vigilantism” which will translate into escalating confrontation and violence. In the end, fascism will reap the seeds of contradiction it had sown.
“How Democracies Die” concludes: “Democracy depends on citizens. No single leader can end democracy. No single leader can rescue it even. Because Democracy is a shared enterprise. Its fate depends on all of us.
***The views expressed herein are his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of his office as well as FINEX. For comments, email dejarescobingo@yahoo.com. Photo is from Pinterest.