April 1, 2025

The majority never has right on its side. Never I say! That is one of the social lies that a free, thinking man is bound to rebel against. Who makes up the majority in any given country? Is it the wise men or the fools? I think we must agree that the fools are in a terrible overwhelming majority, all the wide world over. But, damn it, it can surely never be right that the stupid should rule over the clever!

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), Norwegian playwright, spoken by “Dr. Stockmann”, in An Enemy of the People (1882), Jay p.186

First question: do you count yourself among the wise, or the stupid? If you got yourself elected, how did you manage to convince the stupid that you are one of their own? Second question: do you qualify as an enemy of the people?

Democracy means rule by the people. Not the clever people, nor the stupid people, just the people, or at least their elected representatives. This makes the decent education of the people—especially in terms of their civic responsibilities—a pre-requisite for all well-functioning democracies.