Good stuff, Don. And Frank.

It amazes me that people think you can't have a democracy without political parties. Just f*ckin' amazes me that they can leap to such an unfounded conclusion! And it shows how programmed they are to think only within the present box...and how little aware they are of the alternatives that have already been tried in the past and shown to be entirely workable...as in Athens in its days of glory and independent thought.

THAT was a democracy. If it had occurred in our era, there would be no possibility of denying women the vote or permitting slavery...but people should remember that the Athenians, like people of today, were accustomed to taking certain things for granted...

They took it for granted that only men engaged in political activities and war. They took it for granted that people could own slaves. Virtually everyone in the European world took those things for granted back then.

Nevertheless, they had a well functioning democracy that was in many respects greatly superior to what we have now.