November 30, 2016

Chart of the Day: Is Democracy Falling Apart?

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Yascha Mounk and Roberto Stefan Foa recently completed a global survey that tried to measure the strength of liberal democracy. Mounk’s conclusion: “The warning signs are flashing red.” Exhibit A is this chart, adapted from the New York Times:

Only about 30 percent of American millennials think it’s essential to live in a democracy? Holy crap. And there’s also this:

Support for autocratic alternatives is rising, too….In a previously published paper, the researchers calculated that 43 percent of older Americans believed it was illegitimate for the military to take over if the government were incompetent or failing to do its job, but only 19 percent of millennials agreed. The same generational divide showed up in Europe, where 53 percent of older people thought a military takeover would be illegitimate, while only 36 percent of millennials agreed.

I guess it was nice while it lasted. I wonder who will take over the US after President-for-Life Donald Trump finally expires?

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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