70YoungMagazine | Page 45

What is democratic equality? LIBERTY EQUALTY FRATERNITY In my opinion, democracy shows that we all have equal rights, which is perfectly reflected in the words of one French revolutionary: "Liberty, equality, fraternity". In order to promote and foster democratic dialogue, it is essential to respect the opinion of each person, cooperate, seek the best opinion and implement it together. Democracy also exists on social networks. People can publicly express their opinions, comment, share and criticize. People‟s activities on social networks are a little restricted; it‟s good that people can boldly express their opinions, but sometimes people are very intolerant and impolite. Everyone can say what they feel, what they think is wrong or right and just can talk freely and be heard. To foster democratic dialogue we have to listen to each other and be tolerant. I think that when someone posts their thoughts and other people in the comments discuss it, then that‟s democracy. I feel like people can and should post whatever they want, but they have to remember that the internet is also a very dangerous place and they shouldn‟t post everything. Meda-Lithuania Understanding democratic equality is when everyone can express their opinion and it‟s taken into account, when everyone can decide what is the best for themselves. To foster democratic dialogue, you can take part in international events or do something useful for the society. Democracy concept depends on what you publish on the internet. Every post on the internet is different. They can be useful or useless. Some of them can also be offensive. Everyone chooses what to post on the internet so it doesn‟t mean every post on the internet must be democratic. Democratic equality is when everybody has the same rights and responsibilities despite their gender, religion, race or homeland, and when the community helps the weaker ones who need support, such as the disabled, the elderly, or children. To foster democratic dialogue, you need to be polite, understanding, open-minded, patient and tolerant. Keep in mind that all decisions can be correct, don‟t judge them, think twice. In the digital world we must be democratic too. If you publish whatever you want, there is a chance that you will offend someone, and violate the human rights. It isn‟t democratic. Mantvyde-Lithuania