The plain truth is that what holds a free state together is neither general will nor a common interest, but simply politics itself.
Bernard CrickOne of the symptoms of a declining social order is that its members have to give most of their time to politics, rather than to the real tasks of economic production, in an attempt to patch up the cracks already appearing from the 'inner contradictions' of such a system.
Bernard CrickPolitics is a way of ruling in divided societies without undue violence...politics is not just a necessary evil; it is a realistic good.
Bernard Crick