This is what democracy looks like:

A lot of people making the same decision they always did – or no decision at all.
Making new decisions is difficult.
It carries a risk of making a mistake and offers no certain reward.
It’s fundamentally unsafe.
Better not.

Quite a few people working hard for no gratitude, no acclaim and not much money.
For the sake of decency.

A lot of people working hard for no reason – only money and thinking they are better than the rest.
They always fail.
There’s always someone richer.

A few people yelling as loud as they can – their grievances, their ambitions, their theirness –
Anything to be seen, for they only feel real when reflected in the eyes of others.
The eyes turn away and they have to raise the volume.

Crowds marching, covered in the mantle of righteousness, in the warmth of the herd.
Belonging.

Dozens of people thinking, writing, quoting.
Trying hard for new decisions – and never mind the cost.

A lone man standing in front of a tank in Tianamen square.
The first person to climb over the Berlin wall.
A woman dumping green ink into the voting box in Moscow.

This is what democracy looks like:
Each of us alone with his choice.