Carlo wrote: >My post was 'perhaps', Wei, more geared to prompt some recognition on >your part of your Pollyannish views on democracy--Athenian and American. What were Pollyanna's views on democracy? I could possibly determine the precise meaning of your statement if you could specify which aspect of my view clashes with yours. Of course the main issue might be why Pound rejected democracy? Inevitably our personal views of such issues become enmeshed in the analysis. But am I to infer from your remarks that you despair of any possibility of democracy working; that you do not believe that the Athenian contribution to the development of representative government was consequential, and that America has nothing to learn from studying it? I gather you are highly critical of American democracy in its current form (I certainly am, and we may share certain convictions on this point). Pound's solution was to reject the US system in favor of a LESS, rather than a MORE, democratic form? In what senses might you agree with Pound, and in what ways might you suggest that the problems facing the US system are remediable? Regards, Wei ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com