It is the unfortunate lot of the people to suffer the consequences of the acts of the leaders. History provides a long list of people suffering from the choices of people in power.
Democracy does not change this unfortunate relation. All Democracy does is give the people a token amount of input in choosing the power brokers.
I have heard several progressive pundits repeating the theme that the innocent Palestinians should not have to suffer the effects of Hamas's campaign against Israel.
Unfortunately, this is not the way Democracy works. Democracy is not a shield against the bad decisions of the leadership. It simply gives the people some input into the decision making process.
Sadly, the Palestinians voted in leaders with extremely outrageous ideas that included shooting thousands of rockets into a neighboring country. The ideas led to a blockade. The Palestinians, like thousands of people before them, suffer the result of their leaders.
Elections do not automatically result in good, peaceful governance. All Democracy does is allow some input from the people. It is up to the people to think through the consequences of their vote.
When Palestinians went to the polls for Hamas, they knew they were voting for increased hostility with Israel. The world is left to looking with horror at the result of yet another episode of bad leadership.
Sadly, there is little the world can do but continue a push for Democracy hoping that others see that voting a really bad government has really bad results.
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