Citizenship

Apropos my last-but-one post, amused to see Time magazine's Joe Klein lamenting that the American people do not appreciate the wonderful things their government is doing for them - because they are so worried about what it is going to do to them. See: Too Dumb to Thrive

'It is very difficult to have a democracy without citizens', Klein laments. 'It is impossible to be a citizen if you don't make an effort to understand the most basic activities of your government. It is very difficult to thrive in an increasingly competitive world if you're a nation of dodos.'

So - only those who appreciate government are entitled to be considered citizens. Well, Joe, over here the government has already done previously unimaginable things with uniformly degrading results, and a remarkably high proportion of the electorate wants more of the same.

Does that mean we have a higher proportion of 'citizens' than you?