Sidney Hook Quote

"One of the central assumptions of the concept of democracy, perhaps its most central assumption, is that by and large human beings are better judges of their own interests…. The operating maxim of the democratic ideology is, “Whoever wears the shoe knows best where it pinches.”"

by:	Sidney Hook (1902-1989) American, former Marxist philosopher/professor turned Democratic Socialist, CIA operative, recipient of 1985 Presidential Medal of Freedom from Reagan
Source:	Political Power and Personal Freedom, 1959
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Categories:	Power, Democracy, Self-Determination
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A democracy is mob rule by force. A twist on an ole adage may help to understand: Can't see the trees for the forest. A democracy is a forest with no recognizable individual trees. A democracy is absolutely antithetical to individual sovereign's republican form of government. In a democracy, the pinched shoe wearer must be dealt with as an hostile to the whole.  -- Mike, Norwalk      5
The adage “Whoever wears the shoe knows best where it pinches” is more likely an individualist maxim rather than democratic. If I already know where the shoe pinches, what do I need anyone else's vote for? In a democracy, after casting your vote for your shoe size, you are issued the shoe size of the majority. I suppose democracy is supposed to pinch everyone equally, but at the least, no one may be NOT pinched because that would be unfair to everyone else. Living by the whim of the group is democracy.  -- E Archer, NYC      3
It was Carl Jung who observed: " The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases. The antithesis of democracy and of all totalitarian and authoritarian ideologies.  -- Patrick Henry, Red Hill      2
Democracy is regulated suffering with the intent to distribute the suffering equally. Those that do not suffer are the opposition, and thus the enemy and blamed for the suffering of everyone else. The end result is not the end of suffering but suffering for all -- because it is only fair. A culture of entitlement, victimhood, and dependence turns suffering into currency. A nation of cry-babies clinging to Daddy Warbucks.  -- E Archer, NYC      2

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