Date: Fri, 03 Dec 1999 18:44:06 -0500 "Brad McCormick, Ed.D." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>Wrote Real democracy is peer participation in all the important areas of one's life. Representative democracy is an oxymoron, in which the only democracy is the democracy of the representatives (like in Athens: there women and slaves didn't count as part of the polis; here "the people" don't count as part of the WTO: workers, students, welfare recipients, housewives, just about everybody, except persons "x" where "x" is a valid substitution instance in the formula "CxO"). The following quote is clarifying. "The ancient Greek writers Herodotus, Plato, Aristotle, and others theorized a great deal about the nature and function of government. They concluded that there were three possible types: rule by one, rule by the few, and rule by the many. Each of these had its corruptions. Rule by a virtuous king was a monarchy, but rule by an evil king was tyranny (commonly called dictatorship today). Rule by a few virtuous citizens was aristocracy (rule by the best). But if the few were evil, it was called simply an oligarchy (rule by the few). If the mass of the population governed and they were virtuous, it was called a timocracy. (The Greek timios means "worthy.") But if the many were not virtuous, it was called a democracy. The Greeks generally had a very low opinion of democracy, equating it with mob rule". Excerpted from Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia Copyright © 1993, 1994 Compton’s NewMedia, Inc. The Greek definition of "worthy" was a depiction of the "propertied class". There is no reason that the definition cannot be modernised to include all those who are concerned and interested in the administration of public affairs. It might exclude those who are of the opinion that democracy is something to be voted fror, rather than something in which to participate. Peace and Goodwill Ed G
