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Dr.. Hossam Badrawi writes: Anacyclosis
To complement the dialogue with young dreamers of tomorrow about the American elections and their results, I shared with them what I heard in a webinar at Princeton University from Dr. Anna Grismala Bass, professor of international relations, Dr. Francis Fukuyama, known for his book “The End of History” and others, about what they call Trumpism, attributing To President Trump, an inference from populism, which represents his approach.
The young men laughed, and one of them said: Increase our knowledge, Doctor..
His colleague said: What is the meaning of anacyclosis, and what do they mean by populism?
I smiled and said: Come on, let’s do as we used to, start with definitions, go back to references, and then discuss the matter.
Anacyclosis is a theory in sociology and politics that claims that the development of political systems has a rotational motion. The theory is based on the fact that there are three classifications based on the constitutional systems of government in ancient Greece, namely: rule by a person, rule by a few, and rule by a large number.
Anacyclosis also states that there are three basic systems of government that are considered “benign” (monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy), which are inherently weak and unstable, and tend to deteriorate rapidly.
There are three basic systems of government that are considered “malicious”: (tyranny, oligarchy, and demagoguery). And “demagogue government” refers to mob rule, not the concept of democracy that we know now.
According to the theory, “good” regimes take everyone’s interest into account, while “malicious” regimes only care about a few. However, political corruption makes all systems deteriorate and transform from one system to another in a circular motion.
The attentive young woman said: What is the origin and concept of the theory?
I said: The origin of the theory goes back to the Greek historian and politician Polybius, and it was used and developed by Plato and later by Aristotle in their books.
The theory shows that the political rotational movement began with the development of man in the primitive stage in which man lived in the tribe. Each tribe chooses a king who is the wisest. But then the royal rule is bequeathed to the sons who are not as wise, who will abuse their power and become tyrannical and the system of government will turn from monarchy to tyranny.
After the stage of individual tyranny, a group of a few people will emerge who are dissatisfied with that tyranny and turn against it, and the tyranny will be transformed into a new system, which is the aristocracy, and the rule of the oligarchy will begin. As in the case of the monarchy, the aristocrats will pass the power to their sons who will be tyrannical by rule and the aristocracy will turn into an oligarchy, which is defined as the rule of the few that depends on corruption and tyranny.
Days go by, after which the people reach the stage of explosion and demand a broader ruling in which most people participate, and this ruling is what we call (ruling by the large number of people).
Over time, people will demand unreasonable things that they think they deserve, and without planning, the representatives of the people become demagogues who tell people everything they want to hear instead of telling the truth or what is reasonable.
Democracy turns into demagoguery and mob rule. It is natural with this ruling that chaos will result and political prostitution will increase in order to win over the mob, and there will be a struggle between the demagogues for control of the chaos. After that, the rest of them are liquidated, and one of them emerges who demands absolute authority, since he is the savior.
The first young man said: And who are the mob, the mob, and the demagogues?
I said: The mob, in the language, is the sound and the commotion, and a lot of mixed people are from the basement of people.. As for the ragtag, they are the common people, and it is said a man from the mob, i.e. a sorcerer who manipulates people’s minds. As for the mobs, they are ignorant, ignorant, and ignorant people. Unfortunately, the mobs among them are segments that belong to social media now, and they have an influence and a position they do not deserve. Some of them are of low morals, polluted with thought, who squawk with every whoops, and curse every thinker.
Throughout what I read in the events of Arab history and the roles of the mob or the marketer, I did not find for this group an honorable role worthy of praise or praise. Rather, we find them who carry out looting, robbery, encroachment on property, honor, daring to bloodshed and fueling tribal and sectarian strife. This is the behavior of demagogues, who in every society form varying proportions according to the society’s urbanization and sophistication.. This category is found in slums and some human gatherings, such as the gatherings of some unstable and undisciplined professions under the authority of law and order. favorable.
Unfortunately, there are always those who are aware of the importance of this category, so their behavior is contained through a programmed religious discourse or a stylized ideological discourse, which turns resentment in the name of need or aspiration without values into resentment in the name of the adopted ideology, and exploits factional, tribal, racial and regional fanaticism among the mob and market groups in favor of ideological fanaticism and uses them as tools for its goals. A particular group or groups would not have reached their goals without them understanding the fuel that drives social chaos, tribal strife and regional fanaticism.
The young woman said: What does all this have to do with populism and trapism?
I said: What I heard and saw in this webinar begins with the definition of populism, and that the reasons for its emergence are the failure of the current ruling regimes and all parties to achieve the aspirations and rights of peoples. In fact, the populist tendency aims in the end to cause chaos by using these approaches, knowing that mob rule is always unsustainable, and that in the end there is a class that will monopolize the rule for itself and return the mob to its place. Populist rule begins by questioning the judiciary, oversight institutions and law enforcement, and uses the media to turn groups of the people against each other, which is what President Trump is doing from their point of view now.
Populist rule starts chaotic
It is authoritarian.. after the erosion of the institutions of democracy, and the people’s questioning of them.
In an article on populism, writer Mohamed Osama says, in line with what I saw in the Princeton University webinar:
“When we contemplate the first appearance of the term populism, we find that it is closely related to a practice that bears an element that the view can hardly overlook, which is the position hostile to the elites, whether they are economic, political, or cultural elites, or all of them. However, in many subsequent examples we find a clear challenge to this simplistic view of the populist movement as mere anti-elite, as Trump in the American case, or Berlusconi in Italy, or Le Pen in France, for example, are the populist leaders despite being elites rooted in some way or another. other.
Therefore, if we want more accuracy, we can say that populism is hostile to elites with political will in the first place, as they are the elites who are best able – from the point of view of the public – to solve crises were it not for conflicting interests, and they are the elites who receive demagogic blame from their enemies aspiring to rise. Once the populist reaches power, he finds himself in a dilemma. Either he makes demagogic solutions to preserve his supporters at the expense of the state, or he searches for another rival after he overthrew the ruling politicians in the electoral battle.”
And I add to you, guys, that what President Trump is doing now is extremely dangerous to the democratic system in the whole world.. Democracy is not only about winning the majority in power for a specific period, but by accepting the minority with the election results.
The young woman said: What if Trump refuses to hand over power?
I said: I listened to the Chief of Staff of the US Army, General Mike Miley, saying, a few days ago, that the US armed forces do not swear to protect a person, party, ruler or tyrant, but rather swear to protect the US Constitution only, and it is a reminder to the president who rejects the election result of the position of the army But Trump, even if he failed in his endeavor, divided the people, and introduced the plant of evil into what had settled in the conscience of society through many years of respect for their democratic system.
