Democracy has never worked well in Catholic societies. Portugal, for example, has tried it several times in the past and it always failed. The last failure occurred in 1926. The signs in the economy and the institutions (justice, education, family, church, etc.) are now accumulating so as to suggest that it will fail again.
What is there in democracy that is so destructive to Catholic societies? The answer is: freedom of speech.
When you give people who are not used to search for truth and, thus, have no regard for it, the freedom to speak out their minds, the one first and sure thing you might expect them to do is an attack on all those persons in society who are supposed to hold the truth - that is, authorities. Priests and the authority of the Church are obviously the first targets of freedom of speech in democracy but others will soon follow suit: the statesman, the teacher, the judge, the man of letters, the businessman, the pater familias.
This attack on authorities is ferocious and without any regard for the means employed. Since Catholic peoples, when untutored by the Church, have no regard for truth they will use all means to destroy authorities, including lies, false rumours, calumnies, unfounded suspicions and whatever else comes to their minds or becomes available.
Once all authorities are brought down, institutions become ungovernable because every man in a position of institutional authority will be the target of the freedom of speech of the population, a freedom of speech which - may I insist on this point - is largely made up of lies, calumnies, personal attacks, false rumours and whatever else can destroy a person's reputation. These campaigns of character assassination addressed to persons in positions of authority are largely conducted through the media and journalists are major agents of them. In a culture that values words more than facts, it is words - not facts - that will ultimately count.
Once authority collapses in courts, in classrooms, in government, in private firms, in churches, even in families, and a general institutional crisis ensues, it is only a matter of time until the economy follows suit. A point will be reached where democracy becomes an unviable proposition and it must be replaced by a new political regime. Obviously, this new political regime will exhibit as its chief characteristic that one which freedom of speech has destroyed under democracy, and that is authority.
The great work done by Estado Novo, between 1932 and 1974, dramatically improving the standard of living of the Portuguese people, would not have been achieved if Salazar had not understood this basic truth, namely, that you cannot grant unrestricted freedom of speech to a mostly Catholic population without major destructive consequences, and that some sort of censorship is obviously required.
What is there in democracy that is so destructive to Catholic societies? The answer is: freedom of speech.
When you give people who are not used to search for truth and, thus, have no regard for it, the freedom to speak out their minds, the one first and sure thing you might expect them to do is an attack on all those persons in society who are supposed to hold the truth - that is, authorities. Priests and the authority of the Church are obviously the first targets of freedom of speech in democracy but others will soon follow suit: the statesman, the teacher, the judge, the man of letters, the businessman, the pater familias.
This attack on authorities is ferocious and without any regard for the means employed. Since Catholic peoples, when untutored by the Church, have no regard for truth they will use all means to destroy authorities, including lies, false rumours, calumnies, unfounded suspicions and whatever else comes to their minds or becomes available.
Once all authorities are brought down, institutions become ungovernable because every man in a position of institutional authority will be the target of the freedom of speech of the population, a freedom of speech which - may I insist on this point - is largely made up of lies, calumnies, personal attacks, false rumours and whatever else can destroy a person's reputation. These campaigns of character assassination addressed to persons in positions of authority are largely conducted through the media and journalists are major agents of them. In a culture that values words more than facts, it is words - not facts - that will ultimately count.
Once authority collapses in courts, in classrooms, in government, in private firms, in churches, even in families, and a general institutional crisis ensues, it is only a matter of time until the economy follows suit. A point will be reached where democracy becomes an unviable proposition and it must be replaced by a new political regime. Obviously, this new political regime will exhibit as its chief characteristic that one which freedom of speech has destroyed under democracy, and that is authority.
The great work done by Estado Novo, between 1932 and 1974, dramatically improving the standard of living of the Portuguese people, would not have been achieved if Salazar had not understood this basic truth, namely, that you cannot grant unrestricted freedom of speech to a mostly Catholic population without major destructive consequences, and that some sort of censorship is obviously required.
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