Democracy Quotes

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite quotes on democracy...

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
-- Sir Winston Churchill, November 11, 1947

“Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.”
-- George Bernard Shaw

“Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.”
-- Sydney J. Harris

“All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.”
-- Alfred E. Smith

And one funny one...

“Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.”
-- Anonymous


Here's my own attempt at defining democracy...

Democracy is the assumption that empowerment means less terrorists in the world. Dictatorship is the assumption that absolute power does not corrupt absolutely.

How do you define democracy?

gary

democracy it's not

I have a serious issue with those who fall for this trap. When you hear the phrase "direct talks between North Korea and the United States", the statement pretends that dictators represents people just the same as elected governments. A more accurate statement would be "direct talks between the North Korean dictatorship and the United States". Those few extra words teach our children.

If you don't know what democracy is, you can't fight for it.

gary

a visit to my congressman...

Back in April I requested a visit with my congressman, Mike Honda, to discuss the United Democratic Nations concept (http://www.uniteddemocraticnations.org/). It took numerous emails back and forth before they (a representative, not the congressman) agreed to see me. To my surprise his office is only two blocks from my house, on the 8th floor of a nearby skyrise. The congressional aid, Mike Nguyen, offered to meet with me for 30 minutes. In that time I explained the concept. I explained how I saw the UN as dysfunctional and unrepresentative of the world. I noted that France, the 20th most populous nation, had a permanent seat and full veto power in the Security Council, yet India (2nd most populous nation) had no such position. I explained that nuclear proliferation was on the increase. I explained that Darfur was unresolved. And so on. Mike Nugyen preferred to listen and didn't have a great deal of feedback, other than to say that he didn't think the congressman would agree with an organization that excluded nations. I explained that the only exclusions would be dictators, and that the opposite was really true...if you recognize a dictator, you actually exclude the people of that country from achieving democracy.

Mike also mentioned that we would not presume to know what form of government people in other countries would want. I made the point that I have YET to meet anyone who did NOT want to be represented by their government. The idea that other people somehow didn't need freedom of speech, the right to vote, and such strikes me as strange, even dehumanizing.

I left him with printed copies of the website and he promised to read it. I will be very interested in his feedback. I am also interested in what reform, if any, he feels the congressman CAN get behind. I have not yet heard back from him.

It was an interesting experience. I can't honestly say I expected a different outcome. I can only hope that I may have spurred thought on the subject that somehow makes a positive contribution in the end.

gary

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to DemocracyVoice.org

The goal of this blog is to provide a place to discuss democracy. And what better way to kick it off than a visit with the matriarch of the website, the old peasant woman...

gary