"[we shouldn't] assume the definition of democracy or human progress has reached any fixed end points. Most cultural activity only really began 8,000 to 12,000 years ago, as a teenager recently told me; it would be odd to assume anything is complete.
"In that light, it’s we who should uncouple from fixed definitions and learn something from [Egypt's] openness. Even western critics of the coup, for instance, say that Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi got only 51 per cent of the votes but acted as if he could ignore the rest. Yet Stephen Harper got under 40 per cent last election and has proceeded with much of his agenda anyway."
Full article: If Egypt had a coup, is that bad?
It's interesting that we in the West tend to talk as though we alone know what democracy is and how to make it work...
