We know from our own history that democratic institutions take decades to mature and we know from past conflicts that freedom is not free.

In South Africa we could not have achieved our freedom and just peace without the help of people around the world who through the use of non-violent means such as boycotts and divestment encouraged their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support for the Apartheid regime.

For more than four decades the Libyan people have been ruled by a tyrant - Moammar Gaddafi. He has denied his people freedom exploited their wealth murdered opponents at home and abroad and terrorized innocent people around the world - including Americans who were killed by Libyan agents.

Actually criminal sanctions that are given could be up to five years for violating the rules and regulations under the campaign finance reform. This is like the Alien and Sedition Act of years and years ago decades ago.

The last three decades have seen the collapse of the family wage system.

You can almost see voters nodding their heads at home: The public's faith in politicians and political institutions has been on a steep and dangerous decline for decades because elected leaders fail to deliver.

Watching the evening news in 2011 is a strange time-travel experience. 'The CBS Evening News ' 'ABC World News' and 'NBC Nightly News' haven't changed their style over the decades still going for that old-fashioned mix of voice-of-authority pomp and feel-good fluff. The difference is that people aren't watching.

My own life has in some ways been a decades-long tour of the sibling experience. I have full sibs I have half-sibs and for a time I had step-sibs.

Public discourse has been polluted now for decades by corporate-funded disinformation - not just with climate change but with a host of health environmental and societal threats. The implications for the planet are grim.

This Nation has realized significant environmental improvements over the last three decades.