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you can roughly locate any community world somewhere along a scale running

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all the way from democracy to despotism wonder the democracy and another

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somewhere in the middle and a third let's find out about despotism this man

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makes it his job to study these things well for one thing avoid the comfortable

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idea that the mere form of government can of itself safeguard a nation against

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despotism Germany under President Hindenburg was a republic and yet in this

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republic an aggressive despotism took root and flourished under Adolf Hitler a

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community rates low on an information scale when the press radio and other

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channels of communication are controlled by only a few people and when citizens

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have to accept what they are told in communities of this kind despotism

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stands a good chance see how community trains its teachers bear this in mind

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young people cannot be trusted to form their own opinion this business about

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open-mindedness is nonsense it's a waste of time trying to teach students who

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think for themselves it's our job to tell them and when teachers put such training

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into practice despotism stands a good chance these children are being taught to

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accept uncritically whatever they are told questions are not encouraged how can you ask

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such a question have you got a textbook yes ma'am that they say here that our law courts are always just

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yes ma'am then how dare you question the fact sit down and so we aren't surprised when but it must be true I saw it in this book right here

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and if books and newspapers and the radio are efficiently controlled the people will read and accept exactly what the few in control want them to

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government censorship is one form of control a newspaper which breaks a government censorship rule can be suspended

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it is also possible for newspapers and other forms of communication to be controlled by private interests

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private interests I thought I told you to kill that story it'll cost us a lot of advertising

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if that story goes out I quit all right

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many observers have found that two workable yardsticks help in discovering how near a community is to despotism

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the respect scale and the power scale a careful observer can use a respect scale to find how many citizens get an even break

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as a community moves towards despotism respect is restricted to fewer people a community is low on a respect scale if common courtesy is withheld from large groups of people

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on account of their political attitudes if people are rude to others because they think their wealth and position gives them that right or because they don't like a man's race or his religion

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equal opportunity for all citizens to develop useful skills is one basis for rating a community on a respect scale

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the opportunity to develop useful skills is important but not enough

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the equally important opportunity to put skills to use is a further test on a respect scale

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a power scale is another important yardstick of despotism it gauges the citizens share in making the community's decisions communities which concentrate decision-making in a few hands rate low on a power scale and are moving towards despotism like France under the bourbon kings

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one of whom said the state i am the state i am the state

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today democracy can ebb away in communities whose citizens allow power to become concentrated in the hands of bosses

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what i say go see i'm the law around here

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the test of despotic power is that it can disregard the will of the people

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it rules without the consent of the governed

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look beyond the legal formalities of an election in measuring a community on the power scale to see if the ballot is really free

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if the citizens can vote only the way they're told a community approaches despotism

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when legislatures become ceremonial assemblies only and have no real control over law making their community rates low on a power scale

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in a downright despotism opposition is dangerous whether the despotism is official or whether it is unofficial

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the spread of respect and power in a community is influenced by certain conditions which many observers measure by means of the economic distribution and information scales

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if a community's economic distribution becomes slanted

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its middle income groups grow smaller and despotism stands a better chance to gain a foothold

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where land is privately owned

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one sign of a poorly balanced economy

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is the concentration of land ownership in the hands of a very small number of people

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when farmers lose their farms they lose their independence

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this one can stay on

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but not as his own boss anymore

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to the extent that this condition exists throughout a nation

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the likelihood of despotism is increased

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in communities which depend almost entirely on a single industry such as a factory or mine

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maintaining economic balance is a challenging problem

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if this condition exists over the nation as a whole

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so that the control of jobs and business opportunities is in a few hands

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despotism stands a good chance

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another sign of a poorly balanced economy

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is a taxation system that presses heaviest on those least able to pay

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a larger part of a small income is spent on necessities such as food

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sales taxes on such necessities hit the small income harder

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in the days of the salt tax

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feudal despotisms were partly sustained by this and other effects

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what sort of community do you live in?

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where would you place it on a democracy despotism scale?

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to find out you can rate it on a respect scale and a power scale

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and to find out what way it is likely to go in the future

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you can rate it on economic distribution and information scales

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the lower your community rates on economic distribution and information scales

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the lower it is likely to rate on respect and power scales

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and thus to approach despotism

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what happens in a single community is the problem of its own citizens

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but it is also the problem of us all

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because as communities go

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so goes the nation