Frank's Musings

Does Ron DeSantis have any other agenda than power, like Trump?  Does he think he knows what’s right for the country, or are he and the Donald the inevitable end of liberal democracy?

Two hundred fifty years may be beyond the limit for consensus on the value of non-discriminatory self-government.  We may have entered a historical cycle in which autocratic rule again regains willing majority compliance.  This ambivalence about control of and participation in self-government Is evidenced by the low voting percentages in recent decades despite improvements in communications technology, education, and accessibility. Furthermore, it has attracted careerists to the political profession who are more interested in advancing their personal livelihoods and esteem than in serving the best interests of their constituents.

A democratic representative or executive ideally should have a profession or source of income that is independent of their political career   He or she should certainly not leverage their government service to secure another means of living or wealth.  Theoretically, that qualification would allow them to prioritize the common welfare above any special interests.  Unfortunately, it would not prevent them from pandering to the parochial preferences of whatever group of constituents they seek to enlist as their supporters.

DeSantis seems to fall into the category of politicians most dependent on election by passive citizens whose desire is to leave the operation of government in the hands of a representative or executive who satisfies their uncritical concept of their own best interests, regardless of the community, at large.  Electronic social and entertainment media now dominate the public’s attention and have created a solid bloc of such passive citizens.  If concerned members of the national community do not exert their active engagement and powers of of persuasion, their celebrated system of participatory democracy will become merely a vehicle for authoritarian rule.