1 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
View submission: Casual Questions Thread
My question is asking whether or not a democratic (or representative democracy like the US) nation’s government should stop a rising authoritarian/fascist from rising to power if the majority of the nation seems to favor that person’s rise.
I don’t understand the nuances between the various answers you said one could give, so I guess I’d just say answer however you want. I am not sure whether it would provide more good to the world to oppress the desires of those who support the authoritarian (and potentially provoke a violent response) or if it would be better to let the authoritarian take power and probably oppress those who opposed him.
I’m not educated enough on this subject to provide more specific definitions to the variables I’m asking. If that means my question is unanswerable in its current state then so be it.
Comment by bl1y at 27/12/2023 at 17:41 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Who decides that a person/party/movement is fascist, and by what means are they stopping them from rising to power?
Comment by zlefin_actual at 22/12/2023 at 12:24 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
My general answer would then simply be yes, it should try to stop that authoritarian from taking power. It's far from certain that's the correct path, but it's probable. Authoritarians, especially ones with fascist tendencies, tends to cause a lot of harm to many when in power, both in their own country and elsewhere.
The easiest point would be that it's the same argument that it's worth suppressing the desires of those who support infringing on minority rights in order to protect the rights of a mniority. It seems well established that protecting people's rights in general is a worthwhile goal.