You make a valid point, but I wonder what precisely defines a "liberal democracy" in this day and age? Time and work, surely, need to be done everywhere--including in places widely considered fully fledged liberal democracies.
For me, a major component is an ill-defined "spirit," a zeitgeist if you will: and Ukraine, at least for the majority I saw there seems to embody an ethos of freedom that I find rare here at home.
"Stage of development" suggests a linear evolution and I'm not sure "we" can so glibly categorize where other people stand on that spectrum. Maybe there is a way to more formally define it?
Just a thought, right off the beginning of this piece: Today's Ukraine is anything but a "liberal democracy," and it will take some time, and much work, for it to reach that stage of development.
Just a note -- the idea that Ukraine is "anything but a 'liberal democracy'" is Putin's and the Republican's line. To be clear, Ukraine is closer to a "liberal Democracy" than Russia or China or North Korea, etc, which are the models that the Republicans admire and wish for the U.S. As the Republicans have "rigged" the elections in red states over the past hundred and fifty years (Jim Crow, the new Jim Crow, extreme gerrymandering, voter repression, etc), a good case could be made that much of the United States is anything but a liberal democracy as well.
By your reasoning, I'd better not say "Good morning" or like German Shepherd dogs --- after all, a very bad historical figure did something similar.
As for the way off-off-topic text you sent me, it is heart-warming to see "rigged" in quote marks. After the terror months leading up to the 2020 vote-casting, the word has only whimsical meaning.
Hi Andras,
You make a valid point, but I wonder what precisely defines a "liberal democracy" in this day and age? Time and work, surely, need to be done everywhere--including in places widely considered fully fledged liberal democracies.
For me, a major component is an ill-defined "spirit," a zeitgeist if you will: and Ukraine, at least for the majority I saw there seems to embody an ethos of freedom that I find rare here at home.
"Stage of development" suggests a linear evolution and I'm not sure "we" can so glibly categorize where other people stand on that spectrum. Maybe there is a way to more formally define it?
Just a thought, right off the beginning of this piece: Today's Ukraine is anything but a "liberal democracy," and it will take some time, and much work, for it to reach that stage of development.
If . . .
Just a note -- the idea that Ukraine is "anything but a 'liberal democracy'" is Putin's and the Republican's line. To be clear, Ukraine is closer to a "liberal Democracy" than Russia or China or North Korea, etc, which are the models that the Republicans admire and wish for the U.S. As the Republicans have "rigged" the elections in red states over the past hundred and fifty years (Jim Crow, the new Jim Crow, extreme gerrymandering, voter repression, etc), a good case could be made that much of the United States is anything but a liberal democracy as well.
By your reasoning, I'd better not say "Good morning" or like German Shepherd dogs --- after all, a very bad historical figure did something similar.
As for the way off-off-topic text you sent me, it is heart-warming to see "rigged" in quote marks. After the terror months leading up to the 2020 vote-casting, the word has only whimsical meaning.