#racy

One of the arguments that authoritarian governments use to ward off the call for greater political freedom is to argue that American-style democracy is no guarantee of good policy.... Over the years, I’ve grown used to these arguments, and my response has rarely wavered: Sure, we might make dumb choices sometimes, but we will defend, to the end, the right to make choices at all, because we believe that our collective conscience, freely expressed, will eventually lead us in the right direction. When it comes to guns, it is getting harder to muster that argument abroad. Every new shooting, every new failure of will and citizenship, slashes another hole in our credibility as a way of life. ↗

— Evan Osnos

#authoritarianism #credibility #democracy #government #gun-policy

Democracy may have arisen in the West as the way of striving for the universal aspiration to dignity and freedom, but it isn't alien to the underlying concepts that infuse religion and moral philosophy everywhere. ↗

— Flora Lewis

#arisen #aspiration #concepts #democracy #dignity

I fear you do not fully comprehend the danger of abridging the liberties of the people. Nothing but the very sternest necessity can ever justify it. A government had better go to the very extreme of toleration, than to do aught that could be construed into an interference with, or to jeopardize in any degree, the common rights of its citizens. ↗

— Abraham Lincoln

#freedom #philosophy #freedom

I also know that there have been many times in our history when the proximity of an election has induced exactly the kind of leadership and consensus-building that produce progress in our democracy. ↗

— Joe Lieberman

#been #democracy #election #exactly #history

The problem of the world today is the people talk on and on about democracy, freedom, justice. But I don't give a damn about democracy if I am worried about survival. ↗

— Imelda Marcos

#am #damn #democracy #freedom #give

How or by what magic is it, that we convey our thoughts to one another with such case and accuracy? ↗

— Henry Martyn

#another #case #convey #how #magic

I've always been very interested in the struggle for human rights, not just here but abroad, and I wanted to be an inside player in that struggle. I wanted to make the laws reflect our ideals and ideas in this democracy that is America. ↗

— Leah Ward Sears

#always #america #been #democracy #here

A computer does not substitute for judgment any more than a pencil substitutes for literacy. But writing without a pencil is no particular advantage. ↗

— Robert McNamara

#any #computer #does #judgment #literacy

Here's to democracy. May we get the government we deserve. ↗

— Rick Mercer

#deserve #get #government #here #may

Democracy is not merely a form of Government. It is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience. It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence towards our fellow men. ↗

— B.R. Ambedkar

#democracy #government #respecting-others #reverence #attitude