Democracy

"Equality of opportunity and freedom for the individual to do as he likes are, for Plato and Aristotle, the salient characteristics of democracy." These editorial comments are taken from Plato's Republic.

Sometimes, in the West, we preen ourselves on our democracy, even prime ministers and presidents, although we acquiesce in the denial of democracy to others, outside our jurisdiction, and even within it, when we begrudge our fellow citizens the opportunities from which we take so much pride ourselves.

I think it is especially shameful when we are accessories to the killing of innocent civilians, or when we allow helpless people to die from natural disasters.

The Greeks felt that democracy required all citizens to be knowledgeable about their state's affairs, and to participate in their management. To-day it almost seems that we are content to be bombarded by campaigns dependent on vast finances spent on television and newspaper advertisements, but otherwise without much substance.