“Well-established democracies do not make war on each other.”
Rudolph Rummel (1932–2014) American academic
Source: The Blue Book of Freedom: Ending Famine, Poverty, Democide, and War (2007), p. 106
Source: The Blue Book of Freedom: Ending Famine, Poverty, Democide, and War (2007), p. 22
“Well-established democracies do not make war on each other.”
Rudolph Rummel (1932–2014) American academic
Source: The Blue Book of Freedom: Ending Famine, Poverty, Democide, and War (2007), p. 106
Nicola Sturgeon (1970) First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party
Brexit: MPs ask Scottish court to block Westminster shutdown https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-49496517 BBC News (28 August 2019) <br class="br">2019
Pope Francis (1936) 266th Pope of the Catholic Church
Statements on his official plane traveling from Sri Lanka to the Philippines, reported in "Pope Francis: 'You cannot make fun of the faith of others (15 January 2015) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSV-GD9gA-U <br class="br">2010s, 2015 <br class="br">Context: Not only does each person have the freedom and the right to say what they think for the common good, they have a duty to do so. Because while it is true that is wrong to react with violence, If my good friend Mr Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch in the nose. … It's normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others. … There are so many people who speak badly about religions or other religions, who make fun of them, who make a game out of the religions of others. They are provocateurs. And what happens to them is what would happen to Mr Gasparri if he says a curse word against my mother. There is a limit. … One cannot make war… kill in the name of one’s own religion, that is, in the name of God.
Friedrich Hayek (1899–1992) Austrian and British economist and Nobel Prize for Economics laureate
Interview in El Mercurio (1981)
1980s and later
Context: Well, I would say that, as long-term institutions, I am totally against dictatorships. But a dictatorship may be a necessary system for a transitional period. At times it is necessary for a country to have, for a time, some form or other of dictatorial power. As you will understand, it is possible for a dictator to govern in a liberal way. And it is also possible for a democracy to govern with a total lack of liberalism. Personally I prefer a liberal dictator to democratic government lacking liberalism. My personal impression — and this is valid for South America — is that in Chile, for example, we will witness a transition from a dictatorial government to a liberal government. And during this transition it may be necessary to maintain certain dictatorial powers, not as something permanent, but as a temporary arrangement.
Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American politician, 30th president of the United States (in office from 1923 to 1929)
1920s, Equal Rights (1920)
Context: Democracy is not a tearing down; it is a building up. It is not denial of the divine right of kings; it supplements that same with the assertion of the divine right of all men. It does not destroy; it fulfills. It is the consummation of all theories of government, the spirit of which all the nations of the earth must yield. It is the great constructive course of the ages. It is the alpha and omega of man's relation to man, the beginning and the end. There is, and can be, no more doubt of the triumphs of democracy in human affairs than there is of the triumph of gravitation in the physical world. The only question is how and when. Its foundation lays hold upon eternity. It is unconcerned with the idolatry, or despotism, or treason, or rebellion, or betrayal, but bows in reverence before Moses, or Hamden, or Washington, or Lincoln, or the lights that shone on Calvary.
Kent Hovind (1953) American young Earth creationist
Creation seminars (2003-2005), The Garden of Eden
Friedrich Hayek (1899–1992) Austrian and British economist and Nobel Prize for Economics laureate
Letter to The Times http://coreyrobin.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/hayek-letter-to-the-times-july-11-1978.pdf (11 July 1978), p. 15 <br class="br">1960s–1970s
John McCain (1936–2018) politician from the United States
Describing India's democracy as "strong and successful", and brushed off the allegation of Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi, who objected if the U.S. is involved in India's protests.
2010s