> by people who believed that the masses don't know what's good for them? The idea of a republic is not that different. Acoording to its tenets, the masses are

> by people who believed that the masses don't know what's good for them? The idea of a republic is not that different. Acoording to its tenets, the masses are still not to be trusted to make the decisions because they dont know whats good for them. Instead, they are supposed to choose a small fraction of people who not only are supposed to know whats good for them but would also make decisions that is good for them. It is not a whole lot less patronizing than 'masses don't know what's good for them'