World News @lemmy.world jeffw @lemmy.world 5 mo. ago

India just showed the world how to fight an authoritarian on the rise

www.vox.com India just showed the world how to fight an authoritarian on the rise

Three big lessons from Narendra Modi's shocking underperformance in the 2024 election.

21 comments

Tl;dr: they voted
- American and European Leftist heads exploding right now
  
  BuT mUh ElEcToRaLiSm!
  
  If we could get blue voters to vote with the same fervor as the insane right (who vote at if their very existence is at stake) there would never be a red president or Congress again.
- "jUsT vOtE" wasn't the solution. It required the opposition parties to work on getting those votes. If the democrats in the US wanted to learn a lesson, it'd be that they shouldn't just lean on "sure we suck ass but trump is worse!!"
  
  This excerpt is key:
  
  First, voters punished Modi for putting his Hindu nationalist agenda ahead of fixing India’s unequal economy. Second, Indian voters had some real concerns about the decline of liberal democracy under BJP rule. Third, the opposition parties waged a smart campaign that took advantage of Modi’s vulnerabilities on the economy and democracy.
  
  Note the first point hitting on the economy. Democrats have gone with "actually everything is great and you not being able to afford things is just your feelings".
  
  Modi won, so you're basically saying "Democrats should try harder but they'll still fail."
- This article was about what strategies and campaign messaging the opposition used to sway voters, and your takeaway from the article was 'they voted'?
  
  I'm not convinced you read it.
Oooh ooh I know, we refuse to vote for his opponent because this is so tiresome that we have to do this every election / because his opponent isn't everything we wanted to have in terms of forward progress / because that'll show the system as a whole that we want better candidates and things will finally move forward as a result / etc

No? Because I have been assured that that is the answer
They elected him. That's gonna show him.
- It’s absolutely incredible to me that people still seem to believe that having democrats win in the US would be a good thing. Republicans are evil, democrats are evil. Maybe try something that’s not evil? If your entire democratic system is choosing between two evils maybe it deserves to be completely dismantled? Maybe there’s no way to vote for that to happen?
So, it seems like the secret was the opposition parties actually campaigning on doing things the voters liked and addressing their concerns instead of belittling them. I agree, I think US politicians should also try actually appealing to disaffected voters to get them to vote against tyranny instead of lecturing them.
- You forgot the secret blue strategy:
  
  Don't actually do anything when you can, because you don't actually want to.
  
  Or, more fairly, have your razor thin margin of control be sabotaged relentlessly by corporate stooges and then do nothing about it.
I celebrate the performance, but the BJP is still the plurality party. Unless a left wing coalition can form a majority (and I'm not nearly familiar enough with any parties outside the BJP and INC) Modi will still be the prime minister just with vastly reduced power.

I'd qualify this less as "fighting" and more "stopping the bleeding."
- How I see it (and so do many others) is that this showed BJP that they won't get away with anything and everything. That their religious politics is getting old. People want jobs, and growth.
  
  Many thought that defeating BJP is simply impossible. If you followed the Indian media, you'll know that Modi was portrayed as this irreplaceable leader. Many voted for BJP simply because they thought that they had no other option. This election showed them that it's not true, that BJP can be defeated. If not anything else, we have a much stronger opposition now. BJP will have to think twice before making stupid decisions.
  
  This. The opposition alliance is a mix of left, right, up and down, who historically and even now have knife at each other. Them coming to power is the worst that could happen to India now, and pretty sure they won't last even a year at power. It's the best outcome now, BJP isn't invincible, religious politics proven not effective. India still a strong democracy. Now BJP can continue their good work, especially at international politics and strong opposition can keep them in check for the policies inside India, which have much room for improvement.
Stay vigilant for the next phase where the fascists start attacking the voting infrastructure to manipulate/discredit the results of future elections. People like this don't willingly give up power, nor do they care about what voters want
Authoritarians only have to win once

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