I don’t think people appreciate how close any society is to a small extremist ideology taking over. Democracy and freedom are not inherent. They must be continuously defended to prevent small interest groups from corrupting the system and taking over control from within. Look at the legal bribery and oligopoly the US has become, or what it may be shifting towards now. This is all enabled by the “silent majority” playing the “and then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me” game.