The Anakin Skywalker Syndrome - aka "should societies be protected from their own shortcomings?"
A daft & entirely theoretical question, but one I have turned over repeatedly given the whole MAGA/Fascist/Trump thing in the US. Is it better to want Trump & MAGA be stopped from ever being in power - or is it better that these be experiences be endured & learned from?
Obviously this is entirely theoretical - its not as though someone has a magic button that would stop Trump / MAGA - but I find myself turning over the idea that a constitutional near miss is better than constitutional collapse & regrowth.
Fundamentally, the current US political spectrum has become so narrow, so ossified, so utterly bereft of ideas & captured by posturing and narrative - that it seemingly cannot address the essential problems besetting the US. Machine politics, gun violence, opioid addiction, obstructionism, educational collapse, public health issues & a pervasive party-over-country approach to politics are all now features of the US system rather than bugs ... and I wonder. How long can this be endured? And should it? Is it morally right to take away peoples rights to be foolishly, laughably, criminally wrong... to protect the system that allows people to be wrong?
Now, do not get me wrong, I absolutely, categorically definitively do not want to see the collapse of the USA. But I wonder - would a 'demented & ineffectual Trump presidency' wake people up sufficiently & get them to vote for improvements in the current system? Or do things have to be so awful that people will be able to make a new system entirely? One where Presidents cannot hand out pardons to their friends? Or ignore Congress? Or - on their own say-so - abandon treaties?
Personally I think that a major change - a constitutional convention - is long-overdue and to a very large extent, the current US Constitution - despite the fact that it is portrayed as a living document - is deeply unhealthy. The last amendment was what? 31 years ago? There are no constitutional rules baning the gerrymandering of congressional districts or equality of rights, all things that are desperately needed. Moreover, Congress seems to be unable to resist Trumpism.
And maybe thats what needed? 'A republic if you can keep it' is Americas cross to bear. Are the people sufficiently determined to ensure the same laws for all? Or can the rich & wealthy buy into 'better laws' that are reserved exclusively for "subscribers"?
And should a non-functioning democracy survive if its people are not sufficiently motivated to protect it? Perhaps it would be better for a President declare himself Emperor-for-life & end the ineffective posturing of Congress? And would it be better afterwards - or is that just a specious abdication of consequences?
I dont believe that a crash would be better than avoidance - democracies are, in my opinion, inherently better the autocracies & there is no guarantee that a collapse would be followed by a restoration - but there is a historic trend where cheif executives inexorably gain power, precipitating the collapse of the system - I can definitely see how people might reach the conclusion that "if it is to be done, tis better to be done quickly".