On the record
That the state should be to some a deity and to others a devil is another evidence of the defects of the premises from which discussion sets out.
Said by
John Dewey
Source
gutenberg.orgJohn Dewey: “That the state should be to some a deity and to others a devil is another evidence of the defects of the premises from…”
Editor's note · Context
Dewey points out the contradictory views people have about the state, seeing it as both a protector and a threat.
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More from John Dewey
In short, private acts may be socially valuable both by indirect consequences and by direct intention.
Mistakes pile up and consolidate themselves into laws and methods of administration which are more harmful than the consequences which they were originally intended to control.
But this conclusion is an obvious invitation to trial of forces to see where superior force lies.
Custom consolidates what accident may have originated; established power has a way of legitimizing itself.