Thursday 28th of March 2024

what chance democracy?


“The average man, whatever his errors otherwise, at least sees clearly that government is something lying outside him and outside the generality of his fellow men - that it is a separate, independent, and hostile power, only partly under his control, and capable of doing him great harm.

Is it a fact of no significance that robbing the government is everywhere regarded as a crime of less magnitude than robbing an individual, or even a corporation?

What lies behind all this, I believe, is a deep sense of the fundamental antagonism between the government and the people it governs. It is apprehended, not as a committee of citizens chosen to carry on the communal business of the whole population, but as a separate and autonomous corporation, mainly devoted to exploiting the population for the benefit of its own members.

When a private citizen is robbed, a worthy man is deprived of the fruits of his industry and thrift; when the government is robbed, the worst that happens is that certain rogues and loafers have less money to play with than they had before. The notion that they have earned that money is never entertained; to most sensible men it would seem ludicrous.

Unkilling Democracy

Some quotes just never die as Mencken speaks to every generation ...

Mark Patinkin suggests that if we were better citizens, we'd be better journalists - 'Lately, too often, we've failed at both writes. I'm not saying we should censor ourselves if we think a story will taint government and country. Fresh air is good for democracy. But I'm convinced that if journalists cared as much about being citizens as getting the story, we'd be more careful, and thorough, in our reporting'.

In this business, a correction doesn't get people unkilled.

being a better citizen

Jozef, if journalists concentarted on being better citizens, they would lose their job.

being a better journalist

Len, if citizens concentrated on being journalists a bit, journalists would still be out of a job.