Trust

From "The Oxford Book of Aphorisms"

A man usually has no idea what is being said about him. The entire town may be slandering him, but if he has no friends he will never hear of it.

Balzac

The value of a Republican form of government, is that representatives are given a level of trust from their people to make decisions for them. This trust must be maintained through openness with the people on what the representatives are doing. And, the representatives must hear from their people with a high level of transparency. Democracy encourages a pro-active citizenry such that the trust can be maintained.

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Equality

From "The Oxford Book of Aphorisms"

What makes equality such a difficult business is that we only want it with our superiors.

Henry Becque, Querelles litte'raires, 1890

Perhaps tongue-in-cheek, it makes prescient the eternal value of service. But, service can only take you as far as the prevailing system will allow it to. Openness and transparency may accomodate how much equity a system aspires to.

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Politics and happiness

From "The Oxford Book of Aphorisms"

Vain hope to make men happy by politics!

Carlyle, Journal, 1831

"Vain" is the key word here, as everyone is a politician. No two souls have the same politics, so how does one make another completely happy? Hence, the value of debate and negotiation in legislation. No form of government has been found to be perfect, but an open political process generates transparency and accountability.

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