Honor Cargill-Martin on It's All Ancient History

This is such an interesting perspective, thank you! I wonder how much that Franklin quote was informed by theories like this vs by his experience of living through volatile times. I agree completely with your final line - it’s concerning I think that the idea of communal ethics and public duty seems to have dropped completely out of the political discourse. There seems to be a strange hope that political institutions can thrive on their own virtues, almost independently of the people they govern?