Do you sometimes secretly dream that a benign dictator would come along, brush aside all those squabbling democratic politicians, and take the concerted long-term action we need to deal with issues such as the climate crisis or put a serious plan in place for the next pandemic on the horizon?
If so, you are not alone. There is a quietly growing sentiment, especially in the environmental movement, that our myopic democratic governments caught up in the short-term swirl of electoral cycles and 24/7 news, cannot deal effectively with the long-range threats facing society. The standard argument is that we need to become more like China, with its impressive record on long-term policymaking such as investment in renewable energy. Or like Singapore, which may put some limits on civil and political liberties but manages to take a far-sighted approach to everything from education reform to public housing.
Such thinking builds on the increasing scepticism about democracy from prominent public figures. Back in 2010, Gaia scientist James Lovelock declared that ‘it may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while’ to deal the global ecological emergency. More recently, in an article on critical threats posed by climate change and bioweapons, astrophysicist Martin Rees wrote that ‘only an enlightened despot could push through the measures needed to navigate the twenty-first century safely’.
