It eventually all comes apart

There's a quote from Babylon 5, the best science fiction show ever broadcast on television. It's spoken by G'Kar, the ambassador to the space station from the Narn, after his world was conquered by the Centauri, who had been former occupiers. The Centauri ambassador, Londo Mollari, stripped him of his authority in the council chambers. And this is how G'Kar responded:

No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by the force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power governments, and tyrants, and armies can not stand.

Now, some among our more jaundiced would consider this to be pabulum, and not reflective of reality. But, my friends, it is reality.

Autocracies end. Dictatorships fall. Empires wither and die. That is no guarantee that freedom will reign forever after. That's up to the people who have shaken off their chains. And sometimes, they go back to what they knew before, because freedom is too frightening, too messy, too difficult. 

Yesterday, as I was watching the BBC's coverage of the collapse of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government, I saw a sub-chyron under the main one. It's the graphic for this piece. You can see it there: "Arabs believe economy is weak under democracy." Of course, I didn't get a chance to delve deeper at that moment, with all the news that was happening. But here is what the BBC referenced:

Arabs are losing faith in democracy to deliver economic stability across the Middle East and North Africa, according to a major new survey.

Nearly 23,000 people were interviewed across nine countries and the Palestinian territories for BBC News Arabic by the Arab Barometer network.

Most agreed with the statement that an economy is weak under a democracy.

The findings come just over a decade after the so-called Arab Spring protests called for democratic change.

Less than two years after the protests, just one of those countries - Tunisia - remained a democracy, but a draft constitution published last week could push the country back towards authoritarianism, if approved.

I remember the heady days of 2011. I'd race home from work for lunch to watch the latest events as revolutions broke out all over the Arab world. Egypt. Libya. Tunisia. We were so full of hope then. And now? Syria is in a murderous, genocidal civil war. Libya, the one country in which the West intervened militarily to oust its dictator, the late Muammar Ghadaffi, lays in tatters. Egypt elected a member of the Muslim Brotherhood as president, who was shortly thereafter ousted by the military; the current regime under Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is worse than under Hosni Mubarak. 

I don't mention these examples to say that everything is hopeless. On the contrary. These examples show how hard freedom is. If the choice is between what we in the West call freedom and an empty belly, people will go to the person who promises to fill their belly. The coup in Egypt was welcomed by its people; of course, now we have no idea how the Egyptian people feel, as autocracies tend to engender conformity.

Until they don't. Until some action, some spark sets the cycle to repeat. The economy is weak under democracy; until it's not. The Tunisian revolution was set off by a worsening economic situation in 2011. It was set off by a trader oppressed by the government immolating himself. The problem with mere humanity is that it has to learn the same lessons again. The problem with humanity is that it has to start from scratch all over again. 

But the arc of human history is one which bends towards freedom. It is one which leads to a recognition of one's own personal power. People might be bought off by temporary affluence, or at least non-starvation. But the problem with autocracies is that they're unaccountable. Being such, they grow fat and unresponsive to the concerns which led them to power. And then the cycle renews. And every time we get closer to true freedom, as the memories of the previous autocracy remain too fresh and too painful to backslide.

The past few weeks in the United States have shown that. Polling, although nowhere near as dire as the pundits suggested, did show that the Republicans had a good chance to retake both House and Senate. Then, like all autocratic entities, they overplayed their hand. Dobbs happened. Uvalde happened. Highland Park happened. Polling shifted in favor of Democrats. High gas prices and inflation became less important when fundamental rights came under the gun. They became less important when the GOP has more fealty to weapons of war than the wellbeing of citizens. 

Benjamin Franklin's famous quote is germane to our times: 

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

Now, the context of this quote is different, as explained here. But the current usage of his words is what matters. Democracy isn't free. It must be fought for and tended at all times. You can't vote once and then say your job is done. You must vote again, and again. You must remain active. Yes, you delegate your powers to a representative; but the power remains yours. If you abdicate that power, others will gladly assume it, others who do not have your best interests at heart.

Autocracies eventually fall apart, because of their inherent inconsistencies. But to replace them with durable, people-centered politics requires work. It requires dedication. It requires diligence. As a species we must recognize this, and take this to heart. All power flows from us. Unless we give it up.