Democracy is based on informed consent and consensus. It requires compromise between all parties. Fixing climate catastrophe and the ecocide requires strong measures and exacting methods, to say nothing of severe lifestyle changes unlikely to be palatable to most citizens, in the United States or any other 1st world nation.
Given the fact that we as a country can't even agree to stop killing our own children, and that scientific knowledge is at an all time low and even the concept of facts have been so corrupted as to be almost meaningless, my rather cynical question is this: can democracy be maintained if we are to survive as a species? Or do the requirements of the natural world demand eco-totalitarianism?
We have known that there is a serious problem for at least 50 years. We even know, more or less how to fix it. But year after year we slide further backwards. Now we are arguing about whether or not to wear masks in the face of an airborne pandemic, while forests burn, and with them, cities. While critical species go extinct. While fire comes out of household water taps, and, instead of stopping oil use, or even fracking, states pass laws forbidding municipalities from self rule.
Thanks to capitalism gone mad and a constitution unable to cope with modern problems, the climate deniers and anti-science brigade, though a small fraction of the population have a louder voice than the rest of us.
Given those facts, my question seems reasonable. I call on democracy to explain why it should be retained under the present circumstances. The survival of life on earth hangs in the balance.