Why the GOP resembles a failed state
Dysfunction Junction
Paul Begala, The Daily Beast, Jan 14, 2013 12:00 AM EST
The Beltway Republicans need to call Kofi Annan. The former U.N. chief has of late been specializing in trying to salvage failed states. And a failed state is what the GOP has become nationally.
“Failed state” is the international wonks’ term for a nation that no longer functions as a legitimate country. That’s not to be confused with a “rogue state” like North Korea, which functions, albeit in the pursuit of psycho evil. A failed state can’t even succeed at purposeful harm. But in its impotence, a failed state allows malevolent forces to thrive. The collapse of any authentic government breeds a Hobbesian war of all against all. Think of the Democratic Republic of the Congo—which is neither democratic nor a republic. Or Somalia. The kinds of countries Anderson Cooper reports from.
The textbook (OK, Wikipedia) definition of a failed state contains several elements, not all of which apply to a political party—such as maintaining a monopoly on violence, which, thank God, is not part of the job description for House Republicans. But other tests in the Fund for Peace’s Failed State Index sound as if they were written with Boehner’s bunch in mind:
“Mounting demographic pressures.” Republicans have lost ground among Latinos, Asian-Americans, single women, and younger voters. At this rate, in another quarter century they’ll be left with no one but Clint Eastwood and his chair.
“Delegitimization of the state.” That’s kind of the entire point of modern Republicanism, isn’t it?
(More here.)
Paul Begala, The Daily Beast, Jan 14, 2013 12:00 AM EST
The Beltway Republicans need to call Kofi Annan. The former U.N. chief has of late been specializing in trying to salvage failed states. And a failed state is what the GOP has become nationally.
“Failed state” is the international wonks’ term for a nation that no longer functions as a legitimate country. That’s not to be confused with a “rogue state” like North Korea, which functions, albeit in the pursuit of psycho evil. A failed state can’t even succeed at purposeful harm. But in its impotence, a failed state allows malevolent forces to thrive. The collapse of any authentic government breeds a Hobbesian war of all against all. Think of the Democratic Republic of the Congo—which is neither democratic nor a republic. Or Somalia. The kinds of countries Anderson Cooper reports from.
The textbook (OK, Wikipedia) definition of a failed state contains several elements, not all of which apply to a political party—such as maintaining a monopoly on violence, which, thank God, is not part of the job description for House Republicans. But other tests in the Fund for Peace’s Failed State Index sound as if they were written with Boehner’s bunch in mind:
“Mounting demographic pressures.” Republicans have lost ground among Latinos, Asian-Americans, single women, and younger voters. At this rate, in another quarter century they’ll be left with no one but Clint Eastwood and his chair.
“Delegitimization of the state.” That’s kind of the entire point of modern Republicanism, isn’t it?
(More here.)
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