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September 07, 2006
"the precedence of inside authority"
Yesterday, I argued that communities always need strong civic participation before they can benefit from government aid, philanthropy, and other forms of outside help. Walt Whitman put the same point more grandiloquently in the following lines from Leaves of Grass (81:121 ff.):
Where the populace rise at once against the never-ending audacity of elected persons;
...
Where outside authority enters always after the precedence of inside authority;
Where the citizen is always the head and ideal—and President, Mayor, Governor, and what not, are agents for pay;
...
There the great city stands.
Posted by peterlevine at September 7, 2006 07:24 AM
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