MSNBC is actively telling viewers Republicans are the enemy and the Civil War has already begun. Fox News is actively telling viewers Democrats are the enemy and their very existence is being stripped away. Well, once one wanders away from the airwaves and into the real world, it seems this may not, in fact be the case. Two recent stories highlighted this.
An avid social media user (aka ‘TikToker’) opted to attend a Trump rally in Tennessee. He, a liberal from Los Angeles, made the trek to the Southeast to see what would happen. His goal was to make one hundred new friends. He was up front with his agenda when speaking with the rally attendees. He explained he was a liberal, visiting from Los Angeles, and seeking new friends. Mind you, he was also actively filming these folks. To his shock, he found the vast majority of the people he interviewed were nice. They welcomed his filming, invited him places, and carried on polite dialogues. A woman even invited him to her Bible Study group, which the LA Liberal attended! He accomplished his goal of meeting one hundred new friends, and went on to say he was pleasantly surprised by the results. It seems things aren’t what they seem to be once one actually finds out for himself.
The country of Chile showed us what may be the most positive display of democracy in 2022. The country fell prey to mob violence and domestic terrorism in the fall of 2019. The ensuing fear resulted in legislation bringing the extremists to power. A referendum to rewrite the constitution was put forth to solidify the changes. Chile, which had been a great example of democratic rule and subsequent capitalistic success, was set to fall the way most other South American countries have. The polls in the nation showed the referendum was set to pass, all but securing Chile’s demise into corrupt autocratic rule. To the surprise of most everyone, the vote totals came in and the motion was resoundingly rejected. Voter turnout was over 85%, making it the highest since the 1989 election. 62% of Chileans rejected the measure. This included every one of Chile’s seventeen provinces showing a majority against the referendum. The highest total was a whopping 74%.
The good news continues. Chile’s leader is actually making changes now that his measure was rejected. He’s begun firing far-left members of his cabinet, and replacing them with moderate centrists. Here’s a wonderful example of a democracy that was hijacked by its leaders who used fear as a tactic to secure power. They tried to secure their power as absolute, but the voters peacefully fought back. And, in doing so, the leader swallowed his pride and pivoted to the majority.
It’s refreshing to see both of these stories. They highlight a few things all Americans could hear today. First, don’t judge a book by its cover. Especially when the book is your political ‘adversary’ and the cover is being described to you by the media who despise the book. Second, the will of the people reigns supreme when tyranny tries to overtake it. Resolve, courage, and rationality can rise to fruition in a democracy when true fascism tries to take over. Chileans did it peacefully, and their abusive leader opted to stand down. One can only hope that this could be an example of how a nation can successfully navigate its democracy.
Phil Your Day 