00:08you can roughly locate any community world somewhere along a scale running
00:14all the way from democracy to despotism wonder the democracy and another
00:21somewhere in the middle and a third let's find out about despotism this
00:29man makes it his job to study these things well for one thing avoid the
00:35comfortable idea that the mere form of gun can of itself safeguard a nation
00:40against despotism Germany under President Hindenburg was a republic and yet in this
00:49republic an aggressive despotent took root and flourished under Adolf Hitler when a
00:57competent observer looks for signs of despotism in a community he looks
01:02beyond fine words and noble phrases many observers have found that two workable
01:18yardsticks help in discovering how near a community is to despotism the respect
01:25scale and the power scale a careful observer can use a respect scale to find
01:34how many citizens get an even break as a community moves towards despotism respect
01:41is restricted to fewer people a community is low on a respect scale if common
01:50courtesy is withheld from large groups of people on account of their political
01:54attitudes if people are rude to others because they think their wealth and
02:01position gives them that right or because they don't like a man's race or his
02:07religion equal opportunity for all citizens to develop useful skills is one
02:18basis for rating a community on a respect scale the opportunity to develop useful skills is
02:25important but not enough the equally important opportunity to put skills to use is a further
02:33test on a respect scale a power scale is another important yardstick of despotism it gauges the
02:47citizens share in making the communities decisions communities which concentrate decision-making in a few
02:53hands rate low on a power scale and are moving towards despotism like France under the bourbon kings one of
03:02whom said the state I am the state today democracy can ebb away in communities whose citizens allow power to
03:12become
03:12concentrated in the hands of bosses what I say go see I'm the law around here the test of despotic
03:27power is that it can
03:28disregard the will of the people it rules without the consent of the governed look beyond the legal formalities of
03:41an election in a
03:42in measuring a community on the power scale to see if the ballot is really free
03:51if the citizens can vote only the way they're told a community approaches despotism
04:01when legislatures become ceremonial assemblies only and have no real control over lawmaking their community rates low on a power
04:10scale
04:16in a downright despotism opposition is dangerous whether the despotism is official or whether it is unofficial
04:29the spread of respect and power in a community is influenced by certain conditions which many observers measure by means
04:38of the economic distribution and information
04:41scales
04:43if a community's economic distribution becomes slanted its middle income groups grow smaller and despotism stands a better chance to
04:52gain a foothold
04:57where land is privately owned one sign of a poorly balanced economy is the concentration of land ownership in the
05:06hands of a very small number of people
05:11when farmers lose their farms they lose their independence this one can stay on but not as his own boss
05:20anymore to the extent that this condition exists throughout a nation the likelihood of despotism is increased in communities which
05:31depend almost entirely on a single industry such as a factory or mine maintaining economic
05:38economic balance is a challenging problem
05:44if this condition exists over the nation as a whole so that the control of jobs and business opportunities is
05:52in a few hands despotism stands a good chance
06:01another sign of a poorly balanced economy is a taxation system that presses heaviest on those least able to pay
06:10a larger part of a small income is spent on necessities such as food
06:14sales taxes on such necessities hit the small income harder
06:23in the days of the salt tax feudal despotisms were partly sustained by this and other effects
06:35a community rates low on an information scale when the press radio and other channels of communication
06:43are controlled by only a few people and when citizens have to accept what they are told
06:51in communities of this kind despotism stands a good chance
06:58see how community trains its teachers
07:03bear this in mind
07:05young people cannot be trusted to form their own opinion
07:09this business about open-mindedness is nonsense
07:14it's a waste of time trying to teach students who think for themselves
07:19it's our job to tell them
07:24and when teachers put such training into practice
07:28despotism stands a good chance
07:30these children are being taught to accept uncritically whatever they are told
07:35questions are not encouraged
07:39how can you ask such a question
07:41have you got a textbook
07:44yes ma'am
07:45that they say here that our law courts are always just
07:48yes ma'am
07:50then how dare you question the fact
07:53sit down
07:55and so we aren't surprised when
07:58but it must be true
08:00I saw it in this book right here
08:03and if books and newspapers and the radio are efficiently controlled
08:08the people will read and accept exactly what the few in control want them to
08:15government censorship is one form of control
08:19a newspaper which breaks a government censorship rule can be suspended
08:25it is also possible for newspapers and other forms of communication
08:29to be controlled by private interests
08:35I thought I told you to kill that story
08:37it'll cost us a lot of advertising
08:39if that story goes out
08:40I quit
08:41alright
08:46what sort of community do you live in?
08:49where would you place it on a democracy despotism scale?
08:54to find out
08:55you can rate it on a respect scale
08:57and a power scale
09:01and to find out what way it is likely to go in the future
09:04you can rate it on economic distribution and information scales
09:11the lower your community rates on economic distribution and information scales
09:17the lower it is likely to rate on respect and power scales
09:21and thus to approach despotism
09:31what happens in a single community is the problem of its own citizens
09:37but it is also the problem of us all
09:40because as communities go
09:43so
09:44so
09:45goes the nation
09:46the nation
09:48and the nation
10:14will be
10:16this is not a one
10:16You
