It takes a long time to build democracy, to build freedom.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Democracies take time.
Democracy is constructed like an edifice, freedom by freedom, right by right, until it reaches its snapping point.
We know from our own history that democratic institutions take decades to mature, and we know from past conflicts that freedom is not free.
As I understand I took most so-called democratic states about 200 years on average to build their democracies. That is why, when we go to sleep under totalitarian rule and wake up in a democracy, it makes me laugh.
Our democracy is not something to be taken for granted. You have to fight for it. You have to commit yourself to working for it - for the long haul.
The essence of a democracy is a free electorate.
So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we'll be called a democracy.
We should never take democracy for granted. Democracy can emerge and develop, but it can also decay.
And a democracy can't exist without free speech and the right to assemble. And that's what Americans tend to forget. And they're born into a culture where they take all of their freedoms for granted.
It will take years to bring Iraq the democracy it deserves.
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