Lawrence Sammons II

It's not that I don't follow the news at all anymore, but I realized I just couldn't become someone who was in that game of what's the next winning move in this political sport.

Oh, I find... I find this hilarious that people assume that democracy is somehow the ultimate form of government. This has been a running shtick of mine for years, that you go to any political science department in the West and you won't find somebody who goes, no, the next thing is going to be this really better thing. It's not democracy at all, right?

Oh, I find... I find this hilarious that people assume that democracy is somehow the ultimate form of government. This has been a running shtick of mine for years, that you go to any political science department in the West and you won't find somebody who goes, no, the next thing is going to be this really better thing. It's not democracy at all, right?

Oh, I find... I find this hilarious that people assume that democracy is somehow the ultimate form of government. This has been a running shtick of mine for years, that you go to any political science department in the West and you won't find somebody who goes, no, the next thing is going to be this really better thing. It's not democracy at all, right?

Somehow they're all studying ways to make democracy better and ways to make democracy more democratic.

Somehow they're all studying ways to make democracy better and ways to make democracy more democratic.

Somehow they're all studying ways to make democracy better and ways to make democracy more democratic.

So you're caught in this kind of circle where you evaluate democracy against the principles of democracy. I don't think that works. You got to evaluate it by some external standards. How much justice does it produce? How much goodness does it produce? How much wealth does it produce? You know, how many families does it produce?

So you're caught in this kind of circle where you evaluate democracy against the principles of democracy. I don't think that works. You got to evaluate it by some external standards. How much justice does it produce? How much goodness does it produce? How much wealth does it produce? You know, how many families does it produce?

So you're caught in this kind of circle where you evaluate democracy against the principles of democracy. I don't think that works. You got to evaluate it by some external standards. How much justice does it produce? How much goodness does it produce? How much wealth does it produce? You know, how many families does it produce?

There's all kinds of ways you could evaluate it that aren't, you know, how democratic is it? That thing just won't work, right, in terms of an evaluation process for me. So I really hope that we're not just going to keep reinventing democracy over and over and that a human history hasn't ended with this thing that we're just going to keep tweaking.

There's all kinds of ways you could evaluate it that aren't, you know, how democratic is it? That thing just won't work, right, in terms of an evaluation process for me. So I really hope that we're not just going to keep reinventing democracy over and over and that a human history hasn't ended with this thing that we're just going to keep tweaking.

There's all kinds of ways you could evaluate it that aren't, you know, how democratic is it? That thing just won't work, right, in terms of an evaluation process for me. So I really hope that we're not just going to keep reinventing democracy over and over and that a human history hasn't ended with this thing that we're just going to keep tweaking.

Isn't it possible that mankind will actually produce a system of government in the future that's superior to democracy? It's at least possible, I think. And so if it's possible, we should be thinking about it. But I still think if we focus too much on that political thing, we take our eyes off the other things that are actually more important.

Isn't it possible that mankind will actually produce a system of government in the future that's superior to democracy? It's at least possible, I think. And so if it's possible, we should be thinking about it. But I still think if we focus too much on that political thing, we take our eyes off the other things that are actually more important.

Isn't it possible that mankind will actually produce a system of government in the future that's superior to democracy? It's at least possible, I think. And so if it's possible, we should be thinking about it. But I still think if we focus too much on that political thing, we take our eyes off the other things that are actually more important.

Right. That's true. But I'll also just add in Thucydides' defense that he did have a dark view of human nature. So do I. but that no historian believes that mankind is completely irredeemable. Because you would never write about the past if you didn't think a better future was actually possible. Thucydides had to believe a better future is actually possible.

Right. That's true. But I'll also just add in Thucydides' defense that he did have a dark view of human nature. So do I. but that no historian believes that mankind is completely irredeemable. Because you would never write about the past if you didn't think a better future was actually possible. Thucydides had to believe a better future is actually possible.

Right. That's true. But I'll also just add in Thucydides' defense that he did have a dark view of human nature. So do I. but that no historian believes that mankind is completely irredeemable. Because you would never write about the past if you didn't think a better future was actually possible. Thucydides had to believe a better future is actually possible.

That's what he says, in fact, early in his history about the future. He doesn't put it quite in that optimistic a way, but it's implied. What does he say? Well, he says that he wants his work to be a possession for all time. He says, for those who want to know about the future, this work will be valuable. Because as long as human nature is what it is, similar things will happen again.