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Chapter III
THE GOLDEN MEAN
THE golden mean is a concept almost as old as humanity itself. Confucius wrote interestingly about the mean. Horace gave expression to the phrase "aurea mediocritas."
The mean that is golden is that middle point or degree in any quality, state or activity which avoids the dangers or errors of either extreme by the striking of a well balanced medium.
In the study of any science or of any problem we can learn much by observing the laws of nature. If in sowing grain we use too little seed, the crop will be small. If sufficient is sowed, the best possible crop will result. If too much is sowed, there will be no mature crop, because the plants will be too crowded to secure the proper nourishment, light and air. Again, if too little moisture falls upon the soil, you have a drought and little crop; if sufficient moisture, the best crop; if too much moisture, the field is flooded, the plants rot, and you have no crop.
In no sphere of activity do we find the dangers of the two extremes more disastrous, and on the other hand the value of the golden mean more beneficial, than in the realm of government. Too little participation by the people means autocracy, which results in tyranny. On the other hand, too much participation by the people means democracy, which results in mobocracy. It is the golden mean, the republic—the standard form of government, strictly and literally adhered to—which gives just the right amount of participation by the people in governmental affairs and causes the political plant to thrive and reach its best development and its full fruition.
Aristotle made the most valuable contributions to political science that were made prior to the founding of this republic. He was the first writer to undertake a classification of the forms of government. As a philosopher he knew that there must be three degrees for an accurate classification, and he divided government into three forms. He knew that there should be two extremes and a form corresponding to the golden mean in the realm of government as in other fields of activity. He named monarchy as one extreme and defined it as government of one. He named democracy as the other extreme and defined it as government of the masses; but, the standard form not having been evolved, the golden mean not having been worked out in his day, he could not include the republic as the golden mean. He was therefore forced in his classification to do what we are frequently called upon to do when we cannot find the thing we need—namely, to use the best substitute available—and in lieu of the golden mean he chose aristocracy and defined it as government of the minority. Aristocracy, however, has the same elements and is of the essence of autocracy. It has the element of heredity, the element of class, the element of privilege, and generally the element of militarism, and deserves no classification separate and apart from autocracy, any more than bread deserves a classification separate and apart from food.
There have been several crude classifications of forms of government, and a mere statement of them is sufficient to demonstrate how shallow had been the thinking upon political science previous to the founding of this government.
Von Mohl classified the forms of government as patriarchal, theocratic, despotic, classic, feudal, and constitutional. The classification of Von Mohl is an apt illustration of the loose thinking and inaccurate use of governmental terms. It results only in confusing the mind.
Bluntschli followed the classification of Aristotle and added "Idiokratie," which he defined as a state in which the supreme ruler is considered to be God, or some superhuman spirit, or an idea.
Most writers on political science since the time of Aristotle have followed his classification of forms of government, and modern writers on political science in the main still follow blindly the incorrect classification of forms of government suggested by Aristotle, although the founding of this republic made necessary a revision in order to make a correct classification. It was reserved for the founders of this republic, the framers of the Constitution of the United States, to arrest the erratic swing of the pendulum of government and to point it to the golden mean, which made necessary a revision of the classification of Aristotle by striking out aristocracy, which is an essence of autocracy, and substituting republic, which is the mean that is golden, as follows:
REPUBLIC
AUTOCRACY—ARISTOCRACY—DEMOCRACY
This makes the correct classification of forms of government.
All through the realm of nature and of human activity we find examples of the trinity classification above described—the two extremes and the golden mean. A few of the more striking classifications of this character are cited below in order to emphasize this fundamental truth and to illustrate the importance and the soundness of the law of the golden mean. Other trinity classifications will doubtless occur to you:
| Extreme | Golden Mean | Extreme |
| Autocracy | REPUBLIC | Democracy |
| Tyrants | Statesmen | Demagogues |
| Bondage | Liberty | License |
| Oppression | Reason | Impulse |
| Arbitrariness | Arbitration | Agitation |
| Submission | Contentment | Discontent |
| Coercion | Justice | Anarchy |
| Reaction | Progress | Chaos |
| Feudalism | Property rights | Socialism |
You will observe from these classifications that the results of autocracy and democracy are undesirable extremes, and that the results of a republic are desirable golden means.
Autocracy results in tyranny, bondage, oppression, arbitrariness, coercion, submission, reaction.
Democracy results in demagogism, license, impulse, agitation, discontent, anarchy and chaos.
The republic, strictly and literally adhered to, results in statesmanship, liberty, reason, arbitration, justice, contentment and progress.
It is interesting to note how this natural law of the golden mean works in other fields of activity and illustrates the application of the law to forms of government:
| Extreme | Golden Mean | Extreme |
| Skepticism | Reverence | Fanaticism |
| Polygamy | Monogamy | Promiscuity |
| Starvation | Nourishment | Gluttony |
| Thirst | Temperance | Drunkenness |
| Stupidity | Intelligence | Insanity |
| Monotone | Harmony | Discord |
| Three or less | Four wheels | Five or more |
| Hibernation | Rest | Insomnia |
| Darkness | Light | Dazzle |
| Drought | Moisture | Flood |
What skepticism is to religion, autocracy is to government; what fanaticism is to religion, democracy is to government; what reverence or worship is to religion, the republic is to government.
Polygamy, which means plural marriage, is to the domestic world what autocracy is to government; promiscuity, or free love, is to the domestic world what democracy is to government; monogamy, one man and one woman lawfully wedded, producing legitimate children and serving as a unit in society, is to the domestic world what the republic is to government.
In the world of food, starvation is to the individual what autocracy is to government: the aspirations of the people are starved. What gluttony is to the individual, democracy is to government: it does not function. What nourishment is to the individual, the republic is to government.
In the matter of drink, what thirst is to the individual, autocracy is to government; what drunkenness is to the individual, democracy is to government; what temperance is to the individual, the republic is to government.
What the monotone is to music, autocracy is to government; what discord is to music, democracy is to government; what harmony is to music, the republic is to government.
What stupidity is to thought, autocracy is to government; what insanity is to thought, democracy is to government; what intelligence is to thought, the republic is to government.
What hibernation is to sleep, autocracy is to government; what insomnia is to sleep, democracy is to government; what rest is to sleep, the republic is to government.
What darkness is to the sight, autocracy is to government; what dazzle is to the eye, democracy is to government; what light is to the eye, the republic is to government.
What drought is to the soil, autocracy is to government; what a flood is to the soil, democracy is to government; what moisture is to the soil, the republic is to government.
What three wheels or less are to transportation, autocracy is to government; what five wheels or more are to transportation, democracy is to government; what four-wheel vehicles are to transportation, the republic is to government.
You will observe that in the above classifications the golden mean is always an accurate, definite thing, while the extremes are variable, inaccurate things. For example, it is starvation whether an individual is deprived of food for several days or several weeks; the longer the period of time, the more extreme the starvation. It is gluttony whether one eats an overabundance of food or several times the needed amount, and the greater the abundance of food, the more extreme the gluttony; but nourishment, the golden mean, is a definite thing with fixed limitations—just enough.
If one is deprived of drink for a day, or several days, it is thirst, and the longer the time, the more extreme the thirst. One may drink too many glasses or too many quarts; the result will be drunkenness in some degree; and the greater the excessive amount, the more extreme the drunkenness: but temperance, the golden mean, is a definite thing with fixed limitations.
Polygamy consists in the marriage of one man to two or more wives. The number may be five, seven, ten, seventeen, or any other plural number; the larger the number, the more extreme the polygamy. Promiscuity consists of ignoring the institution of marriage and forming domestic relationships with one or more "affinities," which results in illegitimate children and chaos in society; the more numerous the "affinities," the more extreme the promiscuity; but the monogamous marriage is a definite thing with fixed limitations: one man and one woman lawfully wedded, producing legitimate children and serving as a unit in society. Add one or more wives and you have polygamy; one or more affinities, and you have promiscuity.
The above classifications and illustrations are scientific and in accord with truth and common sense. Just so in forms of government. The republic is a definite, accurate thing with fixed limitations. Take away one or more of the four elements of a republic, and you have some degree of autocracy. Add one or more to the four elements of a republic, and it merges into democracy.
The law of degree also applies to forms of government. The more extreme the autocracy, the more vicious the government; and, on the other hand, the more extreme the democracy, the more vicious the government: but the more strictly and literally the republic is adhered to, the better the government.
Frequently you hear people say that the more popular the government becomes, the better it becomes. That statement is as absurd and untrue as it would be to say that the more drink you give a person, the more temperate that person becomes, or the more excessive the amount of food you give a person, the better nourished that person becomes; the more fanatical a person becomes, the more religious that person is; the more seed you sow, the better the crop.
On every hand almost daily we hear the expression, "Make the world safe for democracy." That expression is as superficial, and as impossible, and as unwise as it would be to say: "Make drink safe for drunkenness; make food safe for gluttony; make religion safe for fanaticism; make the social world safe for free love; make music safe for discord; make justice safe for lawlessness; make automobiling safe for joyriding." It is a weak, unsound, beggarly slogan. Government was created to make safety, not to have safety made for it.
A more effective statement would be, "Make the world safe through democracy," if there were any basis for faith in such a slogan; but we cannot make the world safe for democracy, nor can we make the world safe through democracy, because democracy itself is one of the most dangerous things in the world.
The proper reply to that slogan is that the first republic made a nation safe for the first time in history and helped make the world safer until we modified the republic by adding the elements of democracy.
To discuss a governmental situation in terms of autocracy and democracy and ignore the republic is as shallow and unscientific as it would be to discuss a food problem in terms of starvation and gluttony and ignore nourishment, which is the vital thing; or to discuss the drink problem in terms of thirst and drunkenness and ignore temperance, which is the important thing; or to discuss the question of human rights in terms of bondage and license and ignore liberty, which is the essential thing.
The tendency, however, during recent years, of those in authority in all countries has been to go to one extreme or the other; to appeal to ignorance, passion, prejudice, emotion, hate and fear by intemperate speech, and to ignore the danger signals of history. There is an appalling need today for a knowledge and an observance and an application of the law of the golden mean in word, thought and action.