America Officer Democracy Summary

America, Officer Democracy

On December 29, 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt rallied the American opinion behind the implementation of his lend-lease program by delivering an oration that designated America as “the great arsenal of Democracy”. Signed in 1941, the Lend Lease Act required Americans to “apply ourselves to our task [providing Britain with military and financial aid] with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war.” Seventy-six years later, America must constantly police the security of democracy and finds itself in situations where it is necessary to take a leadership role in advancing democracy at home and abroad; most notable is the active role it is

necessary to take in Venezuela to prevent both economic turmoil and the takeover of totalitarianism. A desperate populace is the ideal soil for despotism to grow on.

We saw this with Hitler’s ascension to power in World War II, and we are seeing it again in Venezuela. Socialist Nicolas Maduro accepted his role as President in 2013 following an extremely close yet legal vote. Since then, his “socialism” that promised long-awaited economic equality has done nothing but deepen the divide between the rich and the poor and spiral the country into ever-worsening fiscal turmoil. Naturally, critics began to cry out against Maduro’s rule; however, instead of giving them any sort of fair chance (like we would here, in America), Maduro simultaneously silenced them and strengthened his control over the masses by rigging the next presidential vote. Basically, Maduro suspended the voting rights of 4 legislatures, 3 of which were affiliated with his opposition. He did this shamelessly and ruthlessly, and in effect spat in the face of the main democratic principles of “majority rules” and “fair elections”. This desecration of democratic ideals was similarly practiced by Hitler, where he rigged elections by utilizing fear as a weapon. America should personally be worried about Maduro’s actions as it poses as direct of a threat to democracy abroad

as Nazism did in World War II. The Venezuelan opposition has “vowed to continue protests”, but so far their protests have gotten them nowhere as Maduro continues to garner more and more control as protests grow more and more violent. If America opens its eyes, it will see that other countries’ leaders may notice the rich, powerful lifestyle that Maduro lives and might copy his despotic tendencies to seize both control and money from his/her unknowing commonality.

Like Russian Communism, we should notice that the Domino Theory may apply here and that if Venezuela falls to totalitarianism, other countries might follow suit. Seeing that non-democratic countries typically harbor an intense disliking towards the United States (probably because we are, in fact, the “great arsenal” of the exact thing they hate) this is directly dangerous to America’s safety and worldly influence. In addition, American aid in Venezuela will increase stability with Venezuela, all of its trading partners, and, effectually, ourselves. As to how exactly America should intervene as the “great arsenal of Democracy” in Venezuela, we should do something akin to what we did in World War II. Similarly to how we enacted the Lend Lease act to provide military support to the struggling British, we should provide financial support to the adversaries of Maduro so that they may use it as leverage to reclaim their freedoms that were taken by their leader. Also, we should officially remain neutral on a militaristic level and only intervene with troops if the situation worsens and the dominos start

falling like we feared they would. When FDR proclaimed America’s influence as a democratic policeman and began issuing aid to Nazi opposition, we correspondingly were able to defeat the terrors of Hitler and Nazism, dig ourselves out of the Great Depression, and establish ourselves as an international superpower. With great power comes great responsibility, and America needs to recognize its duties as the “great arsenal of democracy” and arbitrate peace in Venezuela.