Coercion/Choice
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"A democratic society demands that people engage in two simultaneous frameworks: deciding what can and should be done and also what cannot or should not be done."
–Astra Taylor
In our modern-day society, we are all heavily influenced by the media. Scrolling through social media, listening to the radio, and watching TV are always impacting the way we think and feel. Intentionally biased ideas are meant to shift our perspectives and we are led to believe what certain people want us to. News outlets take a side when they promise to be objective but undermine anyone who disagrees with their agenda. Political candidates use the media as a tool to coerce the demos into believing they are the “people’s choice”, pushing the belief that their platform is more beneficial for them than what their opponent is running on when in reality, they are in it for themselves. This illusion is not new. It dates back to the Roman Republic, when the plebeians – who made up the majority of the demos – were superficially given the choice to elect the magistrates and consuls to run the business of state. However, plebians could not run for office nor propose policy. They were merely given a choice between candidates from the patrician class: a small elite group of aristocratic men. This is very similar to what is happening today, especially in the United States. The demos are given a choice, but that choice is not really a choice at all as the ruling class coerces the demos into choiceless choices.
Tucker Carlson comments on the 2020 U.S. presidential election on Fox News. Carlson used his media platform to spread misinformation and fear in the hopes of coercing voters to vote for Trump.
With millions of people on social media, it is incredibly difficult to flag false or misleading information. The closer we come to major news events like presidential elections, the more news is going to be spread whether it is true or not. This leads to social media platforms being overwhelmed and moderators not being able to stop the spread of false or misleading information. For example, Donald Trump repeatedly used his platform and social media accounts to discredit and spread false information, refuting the truth as “fake news.” When the FBI launched an investigation into Russian influence of the 2016 Presidential Election, Trump called it a “witch hunt” and repeatedly referred to the most outspoken democrats as the “radical left.” He also insulted opponents in the presidential elections and came up with demeaning nicknames, referring to Hilary Clinton as “Crooked Hilary” and Joe Biden as “Sleepy Joe.” Trump’s tactics were branded as insult politics, used to attach labels and manipulate uneducated or undecided demos into voting for him.
Do we really have a choice in a democracy? A lot of our society is built off of coercion and very little off of actual choice. The American government is supposed to be “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” however, in actuality, what we see is the excessive accumulation of power in the hands of the few at the top that coerce the demos into behaving how they dictate, while simultaneously offering them the illusion of choice. A proper balance between coercion and choice is very hard to achieve, however, both are still needed when trying to create the perfect democracy. Without real choice democracy is in trouble: “In absentia Lucis, Tenebrae vincent” (In the absence of light, darkness prevails).
Alex H Helen S
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