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David Brooks wrote that:
"Marital satisfaction generally
follows a U-shaped curve.
"Couples are deliriously happy during the first years
of marriage.
"Their self-reported satisfaction declines and bottoms out when
their children hit adolescence, then it climbs again as they enter retirement."
There are many individual exceptions to this rule, but it is the average
experience.
The marriage of free citizens and their governments follow
the same path.
Early on, the citizens are actively involved in everything the
government does, then as the nation increases in power the people focus more on
their private lives.
Later, as government overreach moves the nation into
various and repeating crises, the regular citizens once again get serious about
close oversight and participation in governance.
Today we seem to be in the early part of this third and
highly participative phase.
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Social Leader Daily by Oliver DeMille
