Glad we are in agreement.
I just see red when I read that we can't have democracy unless it can be done without fighting in the streets.
IMHO, if the democracy is not defended even to the point of "fighting in the streets", it will, of course, be lost because those trying to take the power away, will do whatever they have to do to get it.
And a little fighting in the street does not bother them in the least. Of course, they will play the propaganda option first to try and convince the population that violence is bad, that fighting wars is just not an option.
Why wouldn't they? Sure is easy to buy a few pacifists to parade around sprouting "no war", "no war". And, if the population can be convinced to defer their freedom until the day when both sides will agree to the will of the people, they have an easy win.
And the population will learn a hard lesson - "there are always those that will manipulate to steal power from the people". The only thing stopping them, is the power of the people willing to fight to keep their freedom and winning the fight.
My sincere hope is that if this does come down to armed conflict, that somehow people come out of it with a greater appreciation for how we do things uptown, and maybe they'll start to knock out some of the corruption.
I can dream, can't I?