A quote from the National Being by Æ:

“For all the talk about democracy our social order is truly little more democratic than Rome was under the Caesars, and our new rulers have not, will all their wealth, created a beauty which we could imagine after generations brooding over with uplifted heart…our democracies too often take the huckster from his stall, the drunkard from his pot, the lawyer from his court, and the company promoter from the director’s chair, and elect them as representative men.”