A. Better. Think about it. These days, the dictators have to at least pretend they believe in democracy, and have to come up with all kinds of excuses and pretexts when they kill a few thousand people to make some money and expand their own power-base. A thousand years ago, they would've just stuck a bunch of heads on spikes and been done with it. The fact that the bad guys have to answer to the people is a big step up, and will hopefully improve even more, to the point that we'll figure out a way to keep from being lied to -- even if it feels like we're taking two steps backward right now, at least to me.
Q. If you could nail down the one definining characteristic that explains "beauty," what would it be?
