Stirling Newberry writes ...

>It is not democracy alone that reduces everything to the average -
>Aristotle questioned whether any government would let its best citizens
>live without pressure from the outside.
>
>Please, let us not slander the name of Democracy on this particular day -
>it is beaten upon enough all the others.

Sorry for the implication, especially on the 4th.  I am a supporter of
democracy, of course.  Democracy is often described as "not a perfect
system, but the best system yet to be divised".  That's true, but we
never seem to delve into its imperfections and their ramifications.  As
capitalism produces what the market place wants, not necessarily what is
should have, we get network TV programming, rock music, big macs, etc.
From the leaders we get what the public wants as well.  One difference,
technically speaking, between a kingdom and a democracy, it that the king
would seek out the brighest of his subjects and bring them to court - my
court is better than your court and all that.  That's were much CM came
from, composers being sponsered by the rich and powerful.

There seems to be little economic force behind CM, nor government support
either, save the National Endowment for the Arts and there never will be
if the marketplace and Congress reacts to the desires of the spending and
voting majority.  No slam on our system indended.

My earlier point was offered in the sense that the average is normal and
those above average are thus, abnormal.

Bill Pirkle