Brad Hachten: Even if we don’t have all the answers, we must protect democracy

Re “What to watch out for in 2017” (Page 6A, Jan. 4): In response to columnist Trudy Rubin, who cited the ebb of democracy and the rise of autocracy both here and abroad, we can resolve to be protective of our democratic institutions while accepting our limited vision to know the truth.

History does not repeat itself so much as the dynamics of human nature, being more or less constant, can take expression in similar forms. As part of a group that put on a local production of the Sinclair Lewis play “It Can’t Happen Here,” about a fascist takeover of the United States in the mid 1930s, the similarities of the character’s expressions to the 2016 election were striking. While the political discourse has often degenerated to one side or the other accused of being Nazis, more constructive would be to better appreciate the dynamics of human nature that lends itself to authoritarian legitimacy. Certainty in the righteousness of one’s own ideology, to the degree that it becomes subversive to democracy, is something else we need to watch out for in 2017.

This story was originally published January 9, 2017 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Brad Hachten: Even if we don’t have all the answers, we must protect democracy."