Comments by "Aaron Okeanos" (@AaronOkeanos) on "How to Defend Democracy — and Fight Autocracy | Leopoldo Lopez | TED" video.

  1. Autocrats work together? Yes they do. But it's a temporary and a brittle alliance of convenience. The moment they get an opportunity they try to overtake each other or at least take advantage of each other.
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  2. There is a problem I think in countries with freedom we need to find a solution for. A lot of people cannot deal with too much choice (notice I not use the word freedom here but choice). They want to be guided, want to be told what to do how to behave. These people easily fall prey for autocratic voices. They need help, guidance, consulting, advice whatever and it would be good if that is not a fanatic, believer, cultist or autocrat but someone who guide them without trying to control them.
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  3. We need to stop funding autocracies because they are cheaper. Our greed and wish for low prices is powering autocracy. We create our own enemies and future problems like that. As so happened with Russia, as so happens with China and others. Total trade embargo with countries without freedoms would drain their influence and power base. Only trade with countries who maintain some standards of freedom. And if embargoes are too strong at least consider high tariffs (with rules of origin applied so noone can cheat). So manufacturing within freedom countries is encouraged.
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  4. I disagree. Democracy just happens to be the ideal political system to support freedom but I can imagine other systems which are still free. However autocracies rely on control which is the oppossit of freedom. And what you describe is greed and corruption which exists in all systems but even more in systems without the rule of law/accountability because there are no consequences for doing so especially if you are in the elite class/leader class.
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  5. Democracy is not immunue to corruption. And in America it is especially bad because bribery was made legal and there are no guardrails agains outside money influence. But this doesn't mean to put democracy and freedom with it into the bin. Corruption happens even more under autocracies because there is no legal way to fight it, no rule of law or only a corrupted one and no watchdogs who hold corrupt people accountable.
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  6. Not wrong. This is why you can only hope the majority is well informed and able to make good decissions. However the only thing worse than the tyranny of the majority is the tyranny of the minority and autocracies are just that.
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  7. Sadly a lot of people who live in freedom and democracy not realize what they really have ... because they don't know it any other way all their life. They start to notice only when they study other countries who don't have it or live there ... or worse when they start losing freedoms in their own country. And in a lot of cases once it's gone you cannot get it back easily.
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