Capitalism is destroying our democracy. The US is not far from an authoritarian democracy.

Is capitalism destroying democracy and fostering the rise of authoritarian regimes around the globe?

With the election of right-wing populist governments and leaders in Hungary, Poland, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Turkey, India, Italy and the United States, the prospect that the answer is "yes" is gaining credence.

"Authoritarian capitalism is what China has under the aegis of the Communist party; authoritarian capitalism is what Russia has with no particular ideological content," asserts Timothy Snyder, historian at Yale University and author of On Tyranny. "And authoritarian capitalism is where the United States is heading… I think it is much more closely connected to a certain kind of capitalism — a capitalism which says: it's okay for there to be radical inequality."

Financing Fascism

The belief capitalism and democracy always go hand-in-hand is historically inaccurate.

"Capitalism is basically an economic system that can function, and has historically functioned, within the context of a number of different political systems, ranging from democratic to extremely authoritarian," explains Jacques Pauwels, a Canadian historian and political scientist.