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… is from page 154 of John Mueller’s excellent 1999 book, Capitalism, Democracy, & Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery [2]:
But it must be acknowledged that democracy is, and will always be, distressingly messy, clumsy, and disorderly, and that in it people are permitted loudly and irritatingly to voice opinions that are clearly erroneous and even dangerous.
DBx: Indeed. Mueller here very nicely summarizes a key part of the democratic ethos.
People who wish to silence – to “cancel” – those with whom they disagree are enemies of democracy regardless of how loudly they might scream in support of it. Equally enemies of democracy are those who would silence – and who, disgustingly, are silencing (as here documented by Jeffrey Tucker [3]) – the voices of those who dissent from Covidocratic dogma.
Democracy is about much more – much, much more – than the exercise by today’s majority of raw power.