Democracy means different things to different people. For some it means the freedom to vote for who they want while for others it means the freedom to commit crimes. This is where the lines in North America become so skewed and the water so muddy that democracy fails to have true meaning. Should someone who blatantly murdered someone be given the same rights as someone who has never murdered anyone?
What about a pedophile? Where do their rights end and ours begin? I have to say that I think our democracy has become somewhat disgraceful. There are too many rights for criminals and not enough for victims. There are so many rights that accountability has become a thing of the past.
Did you fall in a fountain while texting and walking? ...that's okay, blame the mall security. Did you smash into a car after running a stop sign? ...that's okay blame the size of the stop sign. Did you burn yourself by spilling coffee on your lap while driving and not using your drink holder? ...that's okay blame MacDonalds for making their coffee too hot. Is it too warm for you in your jail cell? Sue for air conditioning. It's your right.
People are being rewarded for being stupid, careless, thoughtless, heartless, unconscionable and plain crazy. They don't have to take blame for raping and murdering an innocent mother. It's the criminal's parents fault for not raising them right - not theirs. Their past should give them a get out of jail after two years free card. Is your kid a bully? No worries, administration won't deal with it in the school system anymore. They don't have to. They can hide behind bureaucratic nonsense and do nothing...that's the North American way.
School trustees not listening to your parent group? Why should they? They don't have to. There is no accountability for them unless somehow the problem gets leaked to the press like as is the case of the California teacher who made the terrible mistake of talking to the parents of the children who were being terrorized. How dare she? She should be punished for actually doing something.
Kids don't need to work for minimum wage anymore and learn values by making their own way in the world. Their parents should just hand them everything. Its their right. Why should they have to get a job, have roommates and old hand-me-down furniture? They deserve the best. They are North Americans.
It's embarrassing how insane our justice system has become. Lawyers dance around their guilty client so much sending up false smoke signals that justice becomes secondary to the show. While democracy is something to be grateful for, it shouldn't give us the right to be complete fools or make our justice system something other countries laugh at.
Voting is our right here in Canada. We can vote without having our hands cut off, being shot or threatened, but why bother? We don't have to. Let's just let the mud get a little thicker. I am worried that one day the mud will dry and turn to dust and so will our democracy. Democracy is more than a word. It is everything. We should cherish it, not allow it to be exploited.