A report from the Democracy Policy Lab at UC Berkeley finds Americans are confused about the meaning and practices of democracy and deeply distrustful of public institutions — and each other. Strong “democracy policy” could help renew national bonds, the authors say.
It’s strange. I spent my formative years in Singapore, a country widely regarded as a ‘police state’ by most western accounts. But there, I felt the community as a whole had rights of its own, and those superceded individual rights. Then I spent some time in the us, and while it wasn’t as bad as it is now, the difference in attitude was stark. Now over there freedom of expression wins out over the community rights. And it’s much to their own detriment.
It’s strange. I spent my formative years in Singapore, a country widely regarded as a ‘police state’ by most western accounts. But there, I felt the community as a whole had rights of its own, and those superceded individual rights. Then I spent some time in the us, and while it wasn’t as bad as it is now, the difference in attitude was stark. Now over there freedom of expression wins out over the community rights. And it’s much to their own detriment.