• MyBrainHurts@lemmy.ca
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    2 days ago

    “90% of developed countries allow the indefinite reelection of their head of government, and no one bats an eye. But when a small, poor country like El Salvador tries to do the same, suddenly it’s the end of democracy.”

    The difference is those governments usually have civil liberties etc that constrain the government. (The erosion of which is partly why trump is so concerning.)

    Bukele has been arresting journalists and politicians he doesn’t like. If you are arrested you effectively have no recourse.

    • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
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      1 day ago

      The civil liberty to be extra-judicially murdered like Fred Hampton or the Ferguson organizers.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOP
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      2 days ago

      You can literally get arrested for social media posts in Europe. Anybody who’s still pretending that there are some civil liberties in the west is deeply unserious.

      • TheKingBombOmbKiller@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        What kind of speech posted in social media post do you find it awful that people can get arrested for? One should not escape prosecution for death threats, child pornography or hate speech just because it’s published in the form of a social media post. But I suspect you probably have something closer to a grey area in mind.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOP
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          2 days ago

          You’re right, it would be entirely idiotic to compare a socialist government dealing with violent extremism by providing education with a fascist regime incarcerating people protesting a genocide it’s conducting.

      • MyBrainHurts@lemmy.ca
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        2 days ago

        You can literally get arrested for social media posts in Europe.

        And then, as has happened for those cases, you get a trial.

        The people arrested in El Salvador do not get trials. To conflate the two situations is either ignorant or simply childish.

        • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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          2 days ago

          So if someone gets a trial and is found guilty for making bad posts you do not believe their civil liberties were violated, is that right?

          • MyBrainHurts@lemmy.ca
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            2 days ago

            No.

            I am saying that a country with a functional judiciary is categorically different than one without.

            Saying democratic countries with laws you dislike are the same as a country where the state is unrestrained by law is utter nonsense.

            Edit: To put it very simply, in both places you could be arrested for social media posts. In El Salvador, that could be the last anyone hears of you. In the other, you have a lawyer, a fair trial and if you lose, you still have some human rights.

            I know which I’d prefer.

            • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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              2 days ago

              “”“Democratic”“” doing a lot of work there.

              These aren’t democratically popular laws and the people never voted to have these laws put into place. These laws were imposed onto them because their democracy is limited by what they are allowed to even vote for - in the end, there is still a ruling class.

              • MyBrainHurts@lemmy.ca
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                2 days ago

                Arguing there’s no difference between a regime that disappears citizens and a flawed western democracy is mind bendingly dumb.

    • belastend@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 days ago

      Yeah, and everyone was totally fine with Trump talkimg about a third because, as we know, term limits and democracy only matter in small, poor countries.