“The American people realize that their national greatness lies in the contributions of diverse races and minds. ‘The Melting Pot! The land of equal opportunity!’ America would not be America without her cosmopolitan spirit, her racial admixtures, her diverse representatives.”
–Paramhansa Yogananda, “Autobiography of a Yogi”, East-West, 1933

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“Our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.“
–Barack Obama, America’s 44th President, Inaugural Address, 2009

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Chomsky: James Madison’s position at the Constitutional Convention was that state power should be used “to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority.” That is why the Senate has only a hundred members who are mostly rich and were given a great deal of power. The House of Representatives, with several hundred members, is more democratic and was given much less power. Even liberals like Walter Lippmann, one of the leading intellectuals of the 20th century, was of the opinion that in a properly functioning democracy, the intelligent minority, who should rule, have to be protected from “the trampling and the roar of the bewildered herd.” Among the conservatives, Vice President Dick Cheney just recently illustrated his understanding of democracy. He was asked why he supports a continuation of the war in Iraq when the population is strongly opposed. His answer was: “So?”

from Chomsky.Info:

·  The United States Has Essentially a One-Party System. With Gabor Steingart. October 10, 2008.

http://www.chomsky.info/interviews/20081010.htm>.