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Since in a democracy, by definition, the power is in our hands, it is ultimately our responsibility what kind of democracy we shall have. What we are, collectively and individually, will ultimately dictate the quality of our democracy.
A thought experiment: imagine a democracy of saints vs a democracy of little devils...
Let's imagine two different countries, both democracies. At the start, they have very similar democratic institutions. Their population, however, are different. The first country is populated by humble saints. The second country is populated by little devils...
TBC (Although you probably already can see where we're heading... ;) )
Addendum C: Spirit — The Human Spirit and human development.
The quality of a democracy is affected by a huge number of factors, which could broadly be sorted into two categories: the human factors and the institutional factors which influence each other. The institutions are a reflection of the human who created them, and human behaviour is often directly influenced by the institutions.
It is obvious that the fewer criminals there are in a society, the easier it would be for the society to police itself. The role of criminal justice is critical in this aspect. Instead of turning first time criminals into hardened criminals, we should ensure that criminals are treated as diseased human beings in need of treatment. We ought to consider which treatment would reduce the probability of recidivism and enhance the potential for the converted criminal to become productive members of the society.
On October 25 2023, the United States House of Representatives voted, 220–209, to elect Mike Johnson as the 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
On October 25, 2023, a gunman killed 18 people and injured 13 others during a shooting spree at two locations in Lewiston, Maine, United States.
What is the connection between these two seemingly completely unrelated events which happened on the same day, only a few hours apart?
We started with individual rights, and worked our way up for the collective good of humankind. We now reach the culmination of our exploration of what the essence of democracy is. It finds its truest expression in compassion, mutual help, solidarity and empathy for our shared humanity. Ultimately, democracy is the best social contract enabling the physical, emotional, intellectual, ethical and spiritual development of all human beings.