Dangerous temptations in times of panic

In the annual report published by an American think-tank called Freedom House, freedom in 2008, for the third straight year, appears to be in retreat across the world. The report attempts to rate the freedom of each country according to several measures of political rights and civil liberties. The study finds that freedom was repressed in 34 countries with countries in sub-Saharan Africa seeing the most erosion. The number of electoral democracies fell by two to 119 but 2009 will be a difficult year as economic collapse could put young democracies under extra pressure. History shows that days of rising protectionism and nationalism are fertile times for authoritarian regimes to impose further restrictions on freedom. It would be a tragedy if today’s  economic collapse would allow governments to tempt voters to trade freedoms for the relative security that can be imposed at a great cost with more government controls and powers. Sadly however it would not be the first time and it is a very likely scenario in times of panic and uncertainty. Let us not forget the great cost at which today’s freedoms have been acquired.

Freedom in Retreat

According to the annual report of the Freedom House the state of liberty is in serious deterioration with reversals seen in 38 countries nearly four times as many as are showing any sign of improvement. The world is still enjoying gains from the fall of communism, at least in central Europe, and the decline of militarism in Latin America. But the short-term trends seem worrying with an increasing number of countries in all regions of the world where a previously hopeful trend has gone into reverse (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka Philippines, Nigeria, Kenya, etc). This is not good news given freedom is a key  antidote to war and poverty. For all the proclaimed intelligence, we humans have a real gift at excel at complicating our existence.