Democracy caps existential risk.
Francis M. Lappé 22, the Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Fellow in Environmental Studies at Colby College in Maine, Associate Fellow at the Tellus Institute, recipient of 20 honorary doctorates from distinguished institutions, founder of the Small Planet Institute, and member of the World Future Council, “Democracy's Peril and Promise: Let the Ukraine Crisis Awaken Action”, https://www.smallplanet.org/single-post/democracy-s-peril-and-promise-let-the-ukraine-crisis-awaken-action
The attack on Ukraine focuses the mind on a most critical question for humanity: In our fast-changing world, what is democracy's future?
Certainly, a strong argument can be made that democratic governance is more important than ever as humanity faces at least two unprecedented challenges: the existential threats of the global climate crisis and a global pandemic. Attacks on civil and human rights continue as well—challenges that can only be met with democratic governance.
Why? Autocracy in all its forms has proven to be fixed on the immediate well-being of the minority in power, with utter disregard to the welfare of the citizenry and a healthy environment.
Of course, there are exceptions. China is hardly democratic, yet its per capita contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is less than that of the United States. This sad fact brings home not the failure of democracy but rather the limits of America's comprised democracy, undercut by the —in this case the fossil fuel industry.
Nonetheless, democracy is not just a "good" thing. Only democracy holds the promise of accountability to the whole required to meet these threats. And I would go even further. Beyond our physical survival needs, humans have deep psychological needs—for a sense of agency, meaning, and connection with others in common purpose. If democratic polities are not meeting these needs positively, humans tend to grasp for other, destructive ways to meet them. Too often that means seeking meaning, power, and connection through scapegoating others, entrenching ourselves in groups that amplify our differences.
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