To the editor:

After observing the coalescence of corporate power in the halls of government over the last generation and especially the last six-plus years, I have a novel idea.

People who have suffered oppression by a corrupt-ruling elite have, in the past, resorted to a very interesting concept generally attributed to the ancient Greeks but widely practiced by indigenous cultures around the world – namely, “democracy.” This is a system whereby the people (the “many”) actually control their own destiny by denying power to a centralized, self-seeking “few.” Rights to personal autonomy, freedom from exploitation by the more powerful and an equal voice in governance are among the benefits of this system.

There are obligations, however: “Citizenship,” a term given to those who participate in “democracy,” requires that individuals inform themselves as best they can and be inherently skeptical of power structures seeking their own gain and glory.

It sounds like a good system; perhaps we should try it out.

Doug Harvey,

Lawrence