In short, Beard said, the rich must, in their own interest, either control the government directly or control the laws by which government operates.

Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.

Perhaps the most important thing I learned was about democracy, that democracy is not our government, our constitution, our legal structure. Too often they are enemies of democracy.

There has always been, and there is now, a profound conflict of interest between the people and the government of the United States.