Democracy is fighting more than one perpetual war, it is fighting numerous wars. Although the actual term ‘perpetual war’ belongs firmly in the context of the militarized state in readiness to fight the battle, my concern in this paper is about extending this term to elucidate the crimes against democracy from within liberal democratic states. The connective web of the ‘war on terrorism’ and these internal wars is expressively clear. The international stage of conflict is compellingly driven by a neoliberal polity fierce in its demands of the social settings required for further wealth expansion and this involves a war on refugees, a war on the deserving poor, a war on the welfare state–essentially a war in perpetuity on dissent, difference and radical alternative thinking. Democracy has become an anachronism: what are the values that underpin it, what are the enduring ethics and moral behavior guiding it? From ostracized dissenter to compassionate citizen, this paper looks at how the very complexity and fluidity of liberal democracy may be its only salvation.
