Trickle down theory---the less than elegant metaphor that if one feeds the horse enough oats, some will pass through [the horse] to the road for the sparrows.
To the extent that a democratic society gives its citizens the chance to speak in their own voices and listens to what they have to say, it gives itself the chance not only of discovering its multiple glories and triumphs but also of surviving its multiple follies and crimes.
All conservatism is based upon the idea that if you leave things alone, you leave things as they are. But you do not. If you leave a thing alone, you leave it to a torrent of change.
