There was a time when the conversation in Greece during US elections was chiefly about which of the candidates was a better philhellene. We were very little troubled with how Kamala Harris and Donald Trump feel about Greece this time around. Perhaps we have finally learned – from one change of power to the next, in the USA, the United Kingdom, Germany and France (we would also add Russia if democracy functioned there under the “lifetime” ruler Vladimir Putin) – that other things come first for the major powers. Not the concerns of their regional “friends and allies.”
At the end of the day, though, worrying about which side of the same coin suits us better is nothing more than wishful thinking, with no historical or ideological basis. And since we do not live in a sequestered paradise but on a globalized planet, we ought to care more about the planet’s fate and, therefore, about who governs it. We ought to care about the fate of the natural environment, rudimentary moral values, humanism (even if in scant form) and the achievements of democracy, which increasingly feel like they cannot be taken for granted. This is evidenced by the global rise of the far-right, even in its most abhorrent fascist forms.
The far-right was front and center in celebrating Trump’s comeback to the US presidency – the far-right in France, in Italy, in Germany, in Hungary, in Israel, and in Greece, of course. He is their role model. His stance is an inspiration: his unvarnished racism, his hatred of democracy, his disregard for institutions (from the Capitol to the IRS) and laws, his crass sexism, his vengefulness, his public blackmail, his monstrous ability to lie, his authoritarianism, his unbearable conceit and arrogance, his chauvinistic populism, his disdain for science and rational thought.
Can we forget when he advised Americans to inject bleach so as to beat the coronavirus? Or when he dismissed the climate crisis as a “hoax,” while promising greedy oilmen that he would give them free rein to do what they will with the environment?
Sure, Harris’ message was vague and unformed, offering nothing more than some of the same. But the victory of the convicted Donald Trump is a leap into the abyss for democracy, for the environment, for immigrants, and for the rights of women and minorities.