I could say the same thing about US. The unfortunate truth is that most people don't care enough until it's really too late to change anything. And if they do want to change it, then they will need overwhelming numbers to change the policy, and possibly even violence to remove the Government.

But I do think things are starting to change a bit. As the society moves away from the "read-only" type of media, where they only get to think about the "choices" they are presented with, which has led to a lot of people, especially young people, to not even care about voting anymore, because they realized their vote won't change anything when the vast majority of the population could still get mass-manipulated, to a society that is more "read/write" thanks to the Internet, and where they are much more engaged in political issues, and don't want to sit idle on the side. This should ultimately lead to healthier democracies.

Democracies turn rotten when the people don't care about what happens at the top, which tends to encourage politicians to do whatever they want when they are there and seek more power ever faster.

Wake up and do what? Don't forget the massive protests over elections earlier this year where police were shooting people. I say this not because I think the Iranian people should do nothing but I feel we must understand the level of commitment it takes to be an activist in Iran compared to the a more liberal country. Would you be willing to put your life on the line to protest this?