Today the democratic, liberal, market-aligned world is in turmoil. Donald Trump has proved to be a disruptor par excellence. So far, we have seen just the tip of the iceberg. When America sneezes, whether we like it or not, the free world and much of global trade and fund flows freeze to near numbness.
Perhaps never in history, save amid WW2, has the world been in such a convulsive whirlpool like we are witnessing now. Stock markets, forex flows, commodity prices and global supply chains are all in a simultaneous limbo, thanks to one man and his maverick loyal second rung. China, India. Europe and the UK are all uncertain how Trump’s next move, whatever that be, would impact us.
More than anything else, the model of democratic governance that the world knew, has been virtually made to stand on its head by Trumpian gimmickry.
I would give it to the maturity and confidence of the American Judiciary for standing up to the irrational bullying tactics of the Don. Despite the ground reality of vertical divide on ideology and social cleavages, the US Federal and even subordinate courts are showing steely resolve to stand firm against the tempestuous onslaught of Trumpian politics.
Unlike the US, India is still tentative and susceptible to the whims and ways of stubborn governance policies and stances. Our structural checks and balances can whittle down under pressure as was shown in the days of the notorious Emergency Rule that Mrs. Gandhi unleashed in 1975. In public policy and governance standards, this country has miles to go for ringfencing and safeguarding the independence of our pillar of democracy.
Truth be told, those who played the politics of anti-Mrs. Gandhi rhetoric and agitated against her for the autocratic tendencies, seem to be now indulging in the same games that she was accused of. Whether the Regional leaders who are ruling many states and are bent on perpetuating caste and dynastic politics or the behemoth BJP that is increasingly emboldened to bare near-fascist fangs, our national democratic narratives are largely devoid of values, ethics and morality. AS for the weakened and crumbling GOP of India, they are obsessed with going down clutching the only straw they trust, loyalty to Nehru-Gandhi lineage!
What Trump has done by triumphing at the hustling with his unabashed majoritarian narrative, has set off a suicidal path of democratic undermining across the globe. The only hope as it appears is not the Press, which is susceptible to partisanship and greed for profiting from the social divide, but the Courts.
In the US and increasingly in India, democracy is morphing silently to “rule of the courts, by the courts …..”
Are we placing too big a burden and too costly a bet on the courts to salvage democracy from the perils of a death wish that seems to be on full play with Trump, Vance and Musk being the Trinity that presides over the last rites of liberal governance?
Comments