Edward Gibbon on public virtue and the collapse of the Roman Empire

Gibbon quote from The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Incidentally,  historically, the Roman Empire includes the Byzantine Empire although most people in the West don't realize this.

Gedanken our Geschichte (Thoughts on History)
Edward Gibbon on public virtue and the collapse of the Roman Empire

J. Bradford DeLong — When Is Responsible Democratic Governance Possible? The Classical View: Never

Democracy Must Be Irresponsible: So Responsible Governance Must Be Undemocratic

This is why America was founded as a democratic republic rather than a democracy. The obvious question is why elected officials will not be approximately equal to the level of collective consciousness of voters and reflect voters' mindset. Oh right, the wealthy and successful will dominate the candidate selection process. But what if the selection process is conducted through primaries. Could not representatives of "the rabble" be selected since the rabble comprise the majority of the population?

Some interesting quotes of Alexander Hamilton.

Grasping Reality with Both Hands
When Is Responsible Democratic Governance Possible? The Classical View: Never
J. Bradford DeLong

Chris Dillow — For worker democracy

For me, EU referendum raised a question which nobody has so far asked, namely: if there was a case for a referendum, isn’t there a far stronger case for worker democracy?

Many of us were appalled by the atrocious standard of debate in the referendum. Robert Harris called the episode “the most depressing, divisive, duplicitous political event of my lifetime.” Perhaps Thatcher and Attlee were right: referendums are a “device of dictators and demagogues.”

Which brings me to the question. If you think the referendum was a good idea, you must surely think worker democracy is a far better one. I say so for three reasons:

Worker democracy would be either social democracy or democratic socialism, with government of, by and for the people.

Stumbling and Mumbling
For worker democracy
Chris Dillow | Investors Chronicle

How Big Finance Won the American Revolution – David V. Johnson Interviews William Hogeland

In his latest book, Founding Finance: How Debt, Speculation, Foreclosures, Protests, and Crackdowns Made Us a Nation, William Hogeland argues that America was born less from the fight between founding fathers and the British Crown, which we’ve all heard about, than from the fight between the founding fathers and American economic populists, which we haven’t heard enough about. The much-ballyhooed conflicts among John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton over the federalist project belie their unity against pro-democratic financial and economic measures that would benefit the indebted masses at the expense of financial elites allied with the founders. That we still fight today over similar issues shows how central they are to our national identity. BR Web Editor David Johnson asked Hogeland about who Herman Husband was, why Robert Morris would feel at home working for Citigroup, and how George Washington would greet the Occupy and Tea Party movements.

Boston Review
How Big Finance Won the American Revolution
An Interview with William Hogeland
David V. Johnson