AMERICAN DEMOCRACY IS AN EASY TARGET

[pangaia]

AMERICAN DEMOCRACY IS AN EASY TARGET

FOREIGNPOLICY.COM

Jan 17, 2018

Americans have become paranoid about foreign cyberattacks on their political system, but they have nobody but themselves to blame.
BY HENRY FARRELL

A Cold War response of punishing and deterring Russia may feel satisfying, and it is probably worth carrying out whenever presidential politics allow it. However, punishing Russia is mostly irrelevant to the underlying problem. If a semi-incompetent social media campaign is all that one needs to send American politics into a halting state, then America’s troubles are far more fundamental than Russian interference. Indeed, efforts to combat Russian influence operations, unless they are very carefully designed, may make the problem worse. Opponents of Russia, who feed public fears that Russian influence is everywhere, may be working as inadvertent force multipliers of paranoia.

If it is as easy to compromise democracy as Americans now fear, punishment-based approaches are likely to end up as gigantic games of whack-a-mole. Instead of looking to punish attackers, policymakers need to start thinking about strengthening the system of democracy itself.

SNIP--

Russia’s relative success in the United States is not thanks to the unique strategic insight of Putin. It is because Russian operatives have chanced upon real weaknesses in U.S. democracy, and American elites are unintentionally giving them a helping hand. While France and Germany have their own social divisions, they do not face the specific problems that America faces.

In America, more than in most other Western countries, there is a basic failure of democratic knowledge. In a well-functioning democracy, citizens agree broadly on facts and have some trust in the democratic system, allowing democracy to harness different perspectives and put them to good use. In America, in contrast, distrust and profound disagreements over facts have led to a kind of crisis of democratic knowledge that leaves democracy open to outside manipulation.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/01/17/american-democracy-was-asking-for-it/

[hedda_foil]

1. We used to have that. I remember it well.

[pangaia]

3. I found this posted by a very good Russian friend of mine.

Lives in St. Petersburg.
He knows more about American democracy than 99% of Americans.

[triron]

2. sad but mostly true.

[DemocracyMouse]

4. We were taking democracy for granted, then KAPOW!!!

We do need to teach basic principles, history and procedures of democracy – civics and the humanities.... the canon. For too long we fizzed out on postmodernism, and as exhilirating as that was, it seened to escape most folks interest. Bring vack the BIG FAT MORAL STORY – with a celebration of equality and democratic values at its core.

[pangaia]

5. What do you mean by ..fizzed out on postmodernism?

I do agree with the rest if what you state.

[mr_lebowski]

6. This is a really GREAT article very intelligent and fair-minded, just an EXCELLENT PIECE

I shared immediately on the FB, everyone needs to read and think about this, regardless of political persuasion. It's reasonably non-partisan as well and really shouldn't raise anyone's hackles ...

To reiterate, every American really should read this article ... provided they have an attention-span and depth of understanding of the world that exceeds that of POTUS by roughly 10X. Which should be 'most people you know'.

Otherwise, sharing this will be like talking to a tree ...

[continentalop2]

7. So much wrong here

If a semi-incompetent social media campaign is all that one needs to send American politics into a halting state, then America’s troubles are far more fundamental than Russian interference.

The Russian attack on our election was far deeper and more thorough than "a semi-incompetent social media campaign"

It is because Russian operatives have chanced upon real weaknesses in U.S. democracy, and American elites are unintentionally giving them a helping hand.

No, they have every intention of helping. I'm not buying that for a second. But nice victim blaming.

[pangaia]

8. I don't think it is victim blaming at all.

But I also agree with you in that I don't think it is just simple as the "Russians got lucky".

The important part to me is that we have, in fact, left ourselves open to attack, whether by social media, cyber-security issues or whatever the means. And it falls on 'republican values and behavior.'
Destroy from within.. where my awareness of it began with reagan...actually with nixon....

It is SHOCK DOCTRINE to the nth degree.