Three Authoritarian Threats

​The state is the embodiment of the People’s will if the state is just. The state must be separated from three non-political entities that try to seep into the political sphere whenever possible. In order for the state to be the sole possession of the People, these three entities must be kept out of the political arena. These three threats to democracy and the People’s state are religion, business, and the military.  ​

Religion is an old system that government must be cautious of. Government seeks to govern the People through laws but religion has its own set of laws. Usually religious laws were designed before modern states and have not adapted to modern circumstances. Yet because of the nature of religion, which requires obedience without question, it is a form of governance. These two forms of governance are natural rivals unless there is a culture of separating the two. Religion is not democratic, because it commands blind devotion without question. A democratic society must be allowed to question authority or the common will cannot be expressed. If religion is the sphere of the individual rather than society then there is no conflict. If government is the sphere of society rather than the individual then there is no conflict. But if government seeks to control spiritual life and religion tries to control political life then there is oppression. The two have their separate purposes and by keeping them separate, corruption of one by the other is eliminated. But if the religious seek to change the behavior of others rather than focusing on themselves, then there is danger.

Business is a threat and blessing. Corporations in particular create jobs for the citizens and provide needed revenue for the government’s coffers. But business is not a friend of a democracy. In fact its relationship with any state is very antagonistic. Because a corporation’s sole purpose is to create profit, the loss of any revenue to government or to provide benefits for its employees goes against a corporation’s main goal. It constantly wants less taxes on it, less regulation, more subsidies, more perks, more loop holes. And in most societies, the will of business goes before the will of the People.

The accommodation of business, is the first step towards its becoming intertwined with politics, with the state. Lobbies seek to influence politicians through funding of elections and corporations stuff government offices with former business executives. These officials rarely have any connection to the People and only create laws and policies that benefit the industries they come from. Because government handles so much wealth directly, and indirectly through policy, it is very profitable for corporations to seek to turn the government into a pseudo-corporation itself. They try to funnel the vast quantities of money generated from taxes towards benefiting them, who are not even human beings. The state cannot become a corporation. For in order for a state to be profitable, it must forsake the People. Serving the disabled can never be profitable. Making sure that the constitution is followed cannot be profitable.

Corporations and business as a whole must be subordinate to the state. Because a corporation is not a human, it cannot be a citizen, and therefore does not have the rights of citizens. Corporations cannot be allowed to fund candidates or fund lobbies. They cannot be allowed to create bills that politicians adopt to create laws or policy. Subsidies, if they should even be allowed, should have strict rules to ensure that the communities and the state get as much as the corporation does. Above all business leaders and political leaders must not be allowed to go back and forth between the two spheres.

The military is the oldest threat to the state. The military has always been a state’s greatest tool but to fund it excessively, to keep generals for so long, or not restricting its abilities enough, runs the grave risk of a military becoming the state. Traditional militaries create hard, soldiers who only see black and white. The traditional mindset is that everything can be solved with force. Also the structure of an army is essentially authoritarian. The subordinate obeys without questioning why because disunity could mean defeat. This is a horrible outlook for a democracy. Military persons look at disagreement as a threat and threats must be solved with a bullet. The traditional training of soldiers dehumanizes them so that all they see are the enemies that their officers tell them. Even if the People are called the enemy, the soldiers will follow blindly because morality has been stripped from them. This allows men of force to rise to power. Men who are not fit to govern, only to kill.

A democracy must ensure its soldiers are of the People. The military must be loyal to the People above all else. The best way to ensure this is to retrain the military so that recruits are not trained to be soldiers but warriors. The difference is that soldiers blindly follow commands and officers blindly expect soldiers to follow. Warriors are trained to keep their morals, to humanize the enemy to a point, and to not swerve from what is believed to be right. This must seem a terrible way train an army but there must be a balance between obedience and a right to disobey. This is especially true if the military authorities ask their soldiers to fire on civilians or topple an elected government. Soldiers must first and foremost be loyal to the People.
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If any country seeks to be ruled by the People, to have both stability and freedom, these three non-political powers must be brought under the state. Religion must be only for the individual. Business must be restricted from turning politics into an amoral entity. The military must be the tool of the People and its government so that it never becomes the government. These three entities serve a purpose. Religion provides spirituality. Business provides economic opportunity. And militaries provide protection. None of those purposes require them to mix with politics. A wise People will do everything it can to keep these three away from their government. By separating these from political power, the People will rule and democracy will be ensured.