Neil Postman, in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death, makes a good statement about the belief of the great figures of the legal profession -- men such as John Marshall, Joseph Story, and Daniel Webster -- who saw a danger in democracy, along with its virtues. Says Postman: "They believed that democracy, for all of its obvious virtues, posed the danger of releasing an undisciplined individualism."
Our task as citizens is to re-establish some form of reason as a foundation for our Republic. Certainly, unbridled passions are intolerable, though rigorously disciplined true passion can be a needed accompaniment to intellect.*
*See the list of Fifteen Opposites, broadside by Eli Siegel. Definition Press.
Photo; John Marshall, first Supreme Court Chief Justice