democracy
SYLLABICATION: de·moc·ra·cy
NOUN: 1. Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives. 2. A political or social unit that has such a government. 3. The common people, considered as the primary source of political power. 4. Majority rule. 5. The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Fourth Edition. 2000.
and now back to me
By the people, of the people, for the people. You cannot force democracy onto a country. The people of that country must choose it for themselves. When one forces a government on a people, that's not democracy. What's more, it's against much of what we're supposed to believe in and stand for in this country.
Currently our administration wants to force democracy on the world. They defend themselves by claiming that we're bringing freedom to the world. The problem is that imposing our beliefs on others is not freedom. Forcing people to do what we want them to do because we think we know best, because we think we're smarter than they are, because we're so self-centered that we believe that our way is always the best way is not freedom.
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