Katherine Deves’s trans women comments ignited another round of culture wars – and added another nail in the coffin of democracy

 | 
4/23/22

America’s second president John Adams famously said: “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” A bit rash, perhaps — and Adams was more philosopher than politician, a man given to bold statements. More than two centuries after he said that, American democracy is still standing, still offering what another president, Abraham Lincoln, called the “last best hope of Earth”. But it is wobbling. Americans have lost faith in their democracy. It is a nation riven with tribal political warfare. Division and corrosive, hope-sapping inequality. It appears, at times, as a nation ungovernable. It is not alone. Democracy is not dead but it is weakened. Freedom House, which measures the health of democracies globally, now counts 15 straight years of democratic decline. At the same time the political strongman, the autocrat and populist have exploited genuine fear and anxiety to govern not over division but because of it. Yes, democracies are committing suicide. We are not immune. Australia is one of the world’s robust democracies but we are falling prey to the American disease of incessant culture wars that inflame passions and obscure reason. As the philosopher and politician Edmund Burke once said: “The wild gas, the fixed air is plainly broke loose.” We have seen that this week with the debate — or is that panic? — over transgender women in sport.

Regions: ,

Share this:

Latest Global News

Added on: 03/27/2024
03/27/2024
Thailand is set to become the first Southeast Asian nation to recognise equal marriage after politicians passed a same-sex marriage bill. The lower house …
Added on: 03/27/2024
03/26/2024
Organisers of the Gay Games Hong Kong (GGHK) have said that its event last year generated HK$200 million for the local economy, with contributions …
Added on: 03/27/2024
03/26/2024
Even as people fight for justice, some cries remain unheard and voices unanswered. In American society, many of these lost voices belong to the …

Explore LGBTQ+ Issues

Other News from ,

Added on: 03/25/2024
Grindr, a dating platform that caters primarily for gay and bisexual men, says its partnership with Burnett Foundation Aotearoa will allow it to offer …
Added on: 03/24/2024
Religious schools would lose the right to expel teachers and students over their sexuality or gender identity under recommendations in a new report. The …
Added on: 03/22/2024
Blanket exemptions allowing religious schools to discriminate against staff and students on the basis of sexuality and gender identity should be repealed, a key …