In a world where authoritarianism is on the rise, one cannot help but ask the question: "How does democracy die?". "In darkness" is what the Washington Post famously submits in its iconic slogan. But what is that darkness in which democracy dies? And how does that darkness come into being. Is it as sudden as the flipping of a light switch or as gradual as the melting of a candle? I submit that the realization that the process is underway is sudden but the actual process metastasizes slowly. Think of the frog as it slowly comes to a boil. The realization of its mortal danger is sudden but this realization comes only once the situation is truly bleak. The death of democracy begins as collective negative emotions (anger, fear, etc.) begin to simmer slowly rising to a boil. As the temperature slowly rises a new phenomenon arises. Society determines itself to be in need of a savior and soon finds one able to present himself as such. In so doing he is able to sedate the collective instinct of critical thought and his words become a collection of dogmas to be repeated and defended beyond the bounds of reason. It is here where a sort of political deification, a political form of idolatry begins. The death of democracy begins in earnest with the baalization of political figures.
Now what is baalization? If you know who Baal was and read the introduction of this piece you have a good sense of what I mean by this term. Nevertheless, I consider it of prime importance to present a more robust definition of the term and therefore better explain the role of baalization in the slow assassination of democracy.
Baal was, in the Tanakh, a Canaanite deity that is generally associated with being a source of temptation for the children of Israel, many of whom would worship him either instead of, or alongside the Hebrew God. In the Biblical narratives, Baal is effectively a byword for idolatry. Politicians too are the subject of such behavior and this is not isolated to the political right or left. It is a universal concern. And they welcome such behavior because it allows them to better protect the graven images constructed in the minds of their supporters.
Before we delve further into what baalization is we must also set time aside to explore what is not. One can admire a political figure without descending into baalization either due to affinity with that person's views or respect for their personal traits. We all do this and it is harmless insofar as it is tempered by rationality.
Admiration becomes baalization when the checks of rational thought are removed, ie: when a politician is no longer capable of doing wrong in our eyes. At this point, constructive criticism becomes an attack. The political Baal becomes the sole arbiter of truth and accurate reporting magically morphs into malicious slander. Dissenting voices go from good people with whom we disagree to enemies that must be humiliated and ultimately crushed. At the point where admiration degrades into baalization, the one christened as the new political Baal goes from one with fresh perspectives on societal problems to the only solution. The hypocrisy, the nepotism and naked corruption that was decried in the ancien régime magically becomes justifiable and even noble under the political Baal. The Baal, sensing the shift in the collective attitude now has a choice. He must choose between centering his admirers, steering them back from the brink of building their golden calves and indulging their nascent idolatry. Drunk with power, the Baal will almost invariably choose the latter. At this point, speeches become about enemies rather than social ills, solutions matter less than perceptions and political rallies take on the character of religious experiences.
With a basic groundwork laid for what I mean by baalization, I now wish to expand on its role in the dismantling of democracy. And how does democracy work? A healthy democracy is a marketplace of ideas where people feel free to propose ideas without fear of penalties. Viability and validity are for their peers to decide, not any central arbiter(s) of truth. In a healthy democracy, the government is limited by the people, not the other way around. The people are confident enough in themselves that they push for action without the need to appoint saviors from amongst their fellow mortals. There are political persuasions but they fall short of being dogmas. But when the health of a democracy begins to wane, perhaps battered by crises, the populace begins to lose its resolve and condition itself for a savior. Quick solutions are the priority and those checks and balances that are essential to the preservation of a democratic order come to be viewed as hurdles to be overcome or demolished, not pillars of a functional society. The agenda becomes paramount and anyone who questions it the enemy. We already see it in many democracies where politicians are more concerned with packing the courts, winning full control of legislative bodies and forcing through agendas through executive action than dealing with threats to our democratic order. The people are no longer the driver and it was the people themselves who handed the keys to those who would abuse their power.
Gradually, over time, the shell of a democracy will remain, as the shell of a republic remained in Rome during those final, fateful decades before the transition to imperial rule. Yes, there will be elections. Yes there will be a legislative and judicial branch to theoretically keep the executive in check, but the reality will be very different. There will come a time when the parliaments of the liberal democratic west will become scarcely distinguishable from that of Putin's Russia. The media will be bought and paid for either by the politicians themselves or by their powerful industrialist friends. The media apparatus will be a sculptor of opinions rather than a presenter of facts.
Speaking of facts, there will be special committees to determine what the truth is, but it will be their truth and not necessarily the truth. Already, we see some of this and already we see language being massaged to make the truth seem as if it were something relative rather than something objective and absolute supported by evidence. By debasing the concept of truth, we are debating the basis of a free society, a basic requirement that our leaders be honest and accountable to us the people. But if we have a warped concept of truth as a society, how can we demand honesty and accountability? How would we even know what to look for? And is honesty even what the general populace wants anymore? Do we want to be told truths even if they were to be painful or do we prefer lies that comfort us and simplify our world?
Maybe democracy is crumbling in the west because we no longer want to hear difficult truths and therefore demand accountability from our leaders. Maybe we choose to start treating them as gods because believing that a messianic political figure can solve all of our issues is easier than being our check and balance on power when all the others fail. We choose to bequeath our political power as the general populace because we loathe the responsibility that comes with it. We have become used to having it easy. We have become accustomed to instant answers, instant solutions and ready-made ways forward. We think therefore that there exists some political figure, some golden calf, some Baal that will save us all and make everything better. And there is no shortage of charismatic and unscrupulous men prepared to feed these delusions for their own personal advancement.
Now a bit on how to recognize such figures in the context of your own jurisdiction. You will find that these men have an acute understanding of national insecurities, be they around sovereignty, past military or geopolitical defeats, economic woes etc. They also know exactly how to exploit them. They will feed the associated resentments, egg on the general anger that exists around these issues and skillfully present themselves as the perfect antidote for these problems. They advocate for the extreme solutions because they understand that a desperate populace craves extreme action. If the grievance is around a lost war, they will push for a war to right a perceived historical wrong for example. And yes, the public will eat it up especially in times of crisis. Crises are not known for fostering clear, rational thought after all. Of course, clear, rational thought is not what a political Baal desires lest the spell be broken. The spell depends on clouded judgment.
The spell also depends on enemies. The political Baal must always have enemies. There must always be a wrong to right or the spell is broken, and the wrong must always be personified to foster the requisite feeling of hate in those seduced. Of course, this means the Promised utopia will never come but people under the spell of a political Baal will never see this. They will just see the obstacles in the way of the promised utopia as narrated by their political god. The obstacles will be the judiciary, the legislative assembly, the media, big business, the education system, intellectuals etc. If there is some sort of catchphrase to encompass the whole of the opposition to him then so much the better, and yes, you can fully expect whatever this term winds up being to duly parroted by those under the spell.
The political Baal will also make himself out to be a figure of exceptional intelligence. Those with exceptional academic credentials can do so easily but even those without them can exaggerate some business achievements or prepare the right word salads and so long as they have a well-oiled propaganda machinery around them the job can still be done. He may present himself as a kind of maverick CEO but in a political context; as someone futuristic and progressive and yet tailor his message carefully to impress more conservative audiences. He will have an uncanny instinct of when to use bluster and when to use charm. Soundbites of great zingers are gold for proving the exceptional wit and intelligence of the Baal compared to his hapless political opponents. Of course, the vanity and ego of the Baal opens him up to being manipulated by those who know how and when to stroke his ego but as long as those he governs buy what is being sold this is dangerously irrelevant.
The Baal will also be a master of memes, reels and so forth. Any political seducer worth his salt knows the sway that social media holds over much of 21st century humanity, especially the young. Naturally, social media is an indispensable tool of any who aspires to power, especially absolute power. A world view can be formed by a blog post or even a tweet these days. There need not be a painstaking elaboration of ideas in a world where many, including ostensibly intelligent people, pride themselves in never reading a book. All that is needed is to capture attention quickly and retain it. Social media is the backbone of the modern political Baal's propaganda apparatus. Hitler and Stalin had film and radio. Tomorrow's strongman will have something much more powerful to condition hearts and minds.
It should be further noted that if fortune were to smile on the Baal's country this ability to influence thought would be even more powerful. But what if disaster strikes and fortunes plummet? One's initial instinct would be to assume that the Baal would become an emperor without clothes but I would submit that this assertion underestimates the depth of human stubbornness. For those under the spell of the Baal, turning against would be an admission that their hope in Gibraltar was misplaced, that they were wrong. I need not tell you that we humans loathe being wrong and admitting it even more. And so we look for coping mechanisms. Something must have caused the Baal to fail beyond his control. Maybe outside powers are sabotaging his reforms and bankrolling opposition groups. Perhaps, anti-government forces within government institutions are sabotaging the rocket ship. The banks are conspiring against our dear leader to bring him down! Surely that must be it! In summary, the Baal is never to blame for any crisis, though he is certainly to be credited for whatever goes right, regardless of whether or not he had anything to do with the success. If there are problems, surely that troublesome Supreme Court is to blame and the justoces there must be replaced, those legislators are blocking the progress of the country and that media keeps on making mountains out of mole hills. Remember, the Baal is never at fault.
Once your country has come to this point, I must warn you that your democratic franchise is likely moribund and only a serious national awakening can save it. The moments extremists of any political stripe co-opt a major political party or institution, the danger becomes severe. Once there is a Caesar, a political Baal figure like I just described, the path to Imperium and the death of the republic is all but ordained. The institutions may remain but they are only a shell at this point. Institutions are subservient rubber stamps, the people are cowed into obedience or entertained into complacency, signing away their once immense political might without a fight. That is the tragedy of late stage democracy. No, our democracy will not die at the hands of foreign autocratic invaders but in the hands of our own negligence. Like our pagan ancestors, we long for something or someone to solve all of our issues and make everything sound so simple. And so we build graven images, if not in deed then definitely in our minds. We want to believe in something, in someone. A political Baal is a harbinger of a society trending towards Caesarism, and a political Baal is a creation of our own inability to appreciate the value of our democracy and do the work required to preserve it.
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