Good Morning, Aaron Armitage
re: "I don't think I expressed my point clearly enough: I
consider that making the public the active agents in their
own governance is a very major benefit of popular
government. THE benefit, in fact."
I think you made your point with great clarity. Those accustomed to
instant gratification may miss the subtle effect of active participation
on the participants, but that does not make it any less real. In The
Political Philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre in The Internet Encyclopedia
of Philosophy, Dr. Edward Clayton wrote:
"The benefits of a practice would then flow to those who
participated in politics -- in fact, certain important
benefits could only be achieved by political participation
-- and politics would make people more virtuous rather than
less virtuous as it now does."
(A 'practice', as used above, is learning, using and appreciating the
unique combination of skills and abilities that an endeavor calls upon.)
Politics is about the way people interact. It is the means by which we
derive the rules of society. The significance of the public learning to
'practice politics' is profound. It can not be accomplished by anything
as sterile as selecting people by lot.
Fred
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