Cramer: It is impractical to go back to the 30,000:1 ratio; that would give us a House with more than 10,000 members. It might be entertaining to watch the House meet in a small stadium, but it would not be very productive.
Life imitating the Star Wars prequels (where the Galactic Senate really did consist of thousands of members, and not surprisingly, its meeting hall really did resemble a small stadium), anyone?
Douglas: If Washington or Jefferson were alive today, they would condemn us as cowards for not revolting against a government far more oppressive than King George’s.
In that case they should have been careful what they wish for. As victorious revolutionaries go, Washington and Jefferson were historical outliers; the likes of Oliver Cromwell, Max Robespierre and Vladimir Ulyanov are much closer to the historical norm.
Revolution is a lot like chemotherapy on a cancer patient. We were fortunate that our first one didn’t turn out to be a cure worse than the disease. The second time, if there is to be one, we may not be so lucky.
