Readers write: Democratic shortcomings – at home and abroad

Democratic shortcomings

When I read the Monitor’s recent commentary on Nigeria’s presidential election, published online in the Daily last month, I was brought back to the Feb. 13 column from Mark Sappenfield, “A Monitor newsroom debate,” which explored the question, “Is democracy a value?” 

The development of democracy in the countries collectively known as “the West” has hardly been a straight line. The United Kingdom has taken over 800 years to get from the Magna Carta to today; France is on its Fifth Republic since 1792; Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal have gone through periods of autocracy in the last century, and as noted in the Monitor’s coverage, satisfaction with democracy is at a low ebb in many countries. 

What I’m wondering is whether, under the circumstances, we should be using the development of democracy as a measure of progress in the developing world at all. 

Former colonies were bequeathed nominally democratic systems at the time of decolonization, and most retain these systems. But progress toward true democracy has been mostly plodding, with many backward steps. Attempts to impose democracy on disparate countries such as Vietnam, Nicaragua, and Afghanistan have been dismal failures. If these countries are ever to become true democracies, they must do it on their own terms, as countries in the West have done. 

In the meantime, I don’t think it is right for us in the West to make judgments based on progress or lack thereof in that direction.

Eric Klieber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio

The nuances of forgiveness

Thanks so much for this thoughtful and balanced article that ran in the Feb. 6 issue, “When is a debt paid to society?” I read every word with interest as it was clear that the journalist, Sara Miller Llana, had carefully tried to consider a range of perspectives. The world needs this kind of journalism. I also appreciated reading the opening remarks by the journalist to gain insight into the reporting process. I found the story very poignant as it depicted the pain of those who lost their beautiful children but also expressed the remorse of the driver. 

A friend of mine in Melbourne, Australia, lost his 18-year-old son when this young man tried to help a friend and was deliberately kicked in the head by a stranger who was intoxicated. My friend and his family have not been able to forgive the perpetrator, who went to prison, but they have channeled their energies into establishing a foundation that goes into schools to educate kids about the need to “be wise” and to resist the “coward punch.” 

Robin Clarke
Tecoma, Australia

Past Russian aid paying off

Monitor reporter Fred Weir (“Why is democratic India helping Russia avoid Western sanctions?” published in the Feb. 23 Weekly) should first walk a mile in an Indian’s shoes. During the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, the United States stood with Islamabad while the Soviet Union with Delhi, and a friend in need is a friend indeed.

Then another mile in someone’s who is living in the likewise democratic Global South. Unlike the West, countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have no massive financial cushion to weather the current slugfest over Ukraine. Besides, their trade with Russia has always helped to ease their ballooning debt. So why kill the goose, however authoritarian, that lays golden eggs?

I daily see in our Kremlin-controlled media new passenger jets and cars and whatnot made in my country without a single Western part. So mostly we are none the worse.

Mergen Mongush
Moscow