Letter 15

The rule of law is only operative in societies where people are willing to sacrifice some measure of personal interest in the interest of public order and security. Citizens have to accept the idea that they can't always get their way instantly, no matter how strongly they feel they deserve it.

It is not an original thought with me that a Republic, or a free and open society cannot exist unless the people are morally worthy of it. Ben Franklin made the observation that the people only have a Republic for as long as they can keep it. The citizens of the United States no longer have the civic virtue necessary to sustain a free society. They will not rule themselves, so they will be ruled. It was ever so.