The book I always......

wanted to read but didn't know existed until recently..."The Great Ideas (how to think about), by Mortimer Adler.  He tackles all the big questions of society and starts with the difference between knowledge and opinion and goes on to discuss democracy:  "When the majority tries to settle controversial issues by using pressures and propoganda instead of resorting to rational persuasion, then the weight of numbers is as bad as the force of guns and bombs."   That answers a question I had:  "How is majority rule different from dictatorship, especially when the majority is wrong?"  I'm looking forward to the rest where he discusses among other things:  the different kinds of love, art, beauty, how to read a book!, work, leisure, law.  He has the ability to clear the confusion and explain things simply.  Excellent.