How Many Lives is Democracy worth?

What now seems ages ago, democracy was the preeminent theory bandied about the world? States were thrown in chaos when strong leaders not viewed as democrats were toppled through intervention of foreign nations. The power vacuum allowed for the rise of a new string of leaders. Those who favored wealth over power, who viewed their positions as a platform to open up and fatten a Swiss bank account, never afraid that their governments would lose the favor of the people because come to think of it, what would the people do. The power vacuum also allowed for the empowerment of the youths. The Youth through sheer necessity became entrusted with the protection of the liberties promised by democracy. Having nothing to loose by non involvement because they already bore the brunt of the mismanagement of their countries, and nothing to gain because their future remained insecure with nothing to look forward to, but more debts and a broken country, always the scapegoat for deteriorating standards in a country and always the first to stand up and be counted when they find cause to reverse the debilitating trend. Millions of such youth have lost their lives from as far apart as China and Sierra Leone, and now at the most unlikely of times there is a threat that thousands more are about to loose their lives in the pursuit of democracy, then one wonders, How many lives are worth the establishment and protection of democracy, especially when those lives that are lost are the viable segment of society integral to any strides made in the development of a country.