The belief in political fixity, of the sanctity of some form of state consecrated by the efforts of our fathers and hallowed by tradition, is one of the stumbling-blocks in the way of orderly and directed change; it is an invitation to revolt and revolution.
Dewey critiques the belief in the unchangeable nature of government structures as a barrier to progress.
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In this distinction we find the germ of the distinction between the private and the public.
They are reflections into the singular human being of customs and institutions; they are not natural, that is, “native,” organic propensities.
But in this respect he does not differ from those explicitly designated public officials who have also been known to betray the interest committed to them instead of faithfully representing it.
They persist as emotional cries rather than as reasoned ideas.