On Thu, 30 Mar 2000, Brad De Long wrote:
> ... Aristotle's preferred regime was an oligarchy in which the narrow
> elite had the leisure to engage in philosophy and rule justly...
--which, mutatis mutandis, is pretty close to what Chomsky says: "... a democracy [that] would be fully participatory -- with the notable exception of women and slaves" -- especially given that his point is Aristotle's insistence on the relative equality of those participating in the democracy -- "with the notable exception of women and slaves."
> Madison believed that improvements in the science of government since
> Aristotle's time allowed a representative democracy to function
> without running into the insoluble problems pointed out by
> Aristotle...
Madison in the debate on the federal constitution, 1787: "In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people, the property of landed proprietors would be insecure ... our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation ... to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority."
Jeez. Let's have at least *some* actual contact with the texts...
C. G. Estabrook