The Danger of Democracy

 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."    

This must be said to be true.  We have but to look around us and contemplate this surfeit of individualism, which among other things, floated a mob of insurgents to a violent attack on our nation's Capitol as recently as last month.  

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