On 06 Feb 2004 10:40:11 GMT, otforme (Charlie Self)
wrote:

Tom Watson responds:

When I was a small bean going to Grammar School we studied
Citizenship, wherein we learned about the interdependence of the
electorate and the elected and studied things like the "Good of the
Commonweal".

They've dropped Citizenship in favor of the study of Consumer Issues.

Makes a man want to throw up.

Or "shop till he drops." What a social slogan that was.

My point was that our focus, as a culture and as "The Man Writ Large"
has shifted from the duties and responsibilities of Citizenship to the
irresponsible category of Consumer.

Consumers are not responsible for anything other than getting the best
deal; a Citizen, if I rightly understand the term, is responsible for
the health of the Polis, being a full and mindful partner in the
process that brings the Polis into being.

Democracy demands reciprocity between the governed and the governing.

Our current culture treats those who run our affairs as professionals,
who must be given great latitude as regards the affairs of state,
rather than treating them as fellow amateurs, who must be guided by
the fellows that put them in such high regard.

This would be a mistake.


Thomas J. Watson - Cabinetmaker (ret.)
(Real Email is tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/