Dear niece,

I do understand that you are better than ever and I understand that you love it there, but if you
knew how life in America is, youd want to be here too. The managed democracy that you guys
have there is not real democracy and you should have so many more rights. I heard about the
journalist being almost beaten to death in front of his house just for writing about how he is
opposed to the Kremlin. All he did was write about the problems in Russia and now he had brain
damage so severe he cant even talk. That wouldnt happen over here. The United States has
complete freedom of speech and if you dont like something, you have the write to say so and
act upon it. Here in America, the voting is not manipulated so that the same person is elected.
The elections here are fair and if the rare case shows that they are not, it is noticed and the
repercussions are severe. Wouldnt you like to live in a place where youre free and you have
the right to feel and say as you please? Russia is constantly violating human rights. A person
cannot be put in jail for offering support to opposers of the Kremlin then have his business sold
to the leader! Boris Yeltsin made heroic efforts to lay the foundations of a genuine democratic
regime, and Vladimir Putin made several steps backwardstowards a controlled democracy. In
Russia, defendants who are acquitted usually have the verdict overturned because jurors are
afraid of authorities. This is not democratic at all. People in the United States are innocent until
proven guilty and the fate of their life is not changed because the people who voted are scared
of the higher powers. The important factors for democracy are a local initiative, a vertical
distribution of power and federalism. Russia may be going towards this, but the way I see it, I
would never wanna go back there. America is the land of the free and the home of the brave.