Tucker Carlson: “Our population is too big” and “past a certain scale, democracy can’t function”
Carlson: “The Athenians invented democratic government, but at its peak, Athens only had about 8,000 voters”
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From the January 4, 2022, edition of Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight
TUCKER CARLSON (HOST): The larger a bureaucracy becomes, the more impersonal it gets. Past a certain size, organizations of any kind lose their regard for people. As they get bigger, they get blunter, more soulless and cruel. The people in charge no longer care what you think. They don't have to worry about how their policies will affect you or your family. And that's the inevitable product of population growth. If you had five children, you would bathe them all in love and attention. If you had 5,000 children, you wouldn't know their names.
So, in case you're wondering why our leaders no longer seem especially interested in your health or happiness or prosperity, that's the reason. They don't have to be interested. Our population is too big. Why should your opinion matter? You're one of many. Previous generations of Americans didn't live in a country like this and they would be stunned by the attitudes that are so common now -- attitudes we take for granted. "Arresting people for walking through the US Capitol building? How is that a crime?" nineteenth century Americans would wonder.
For most of our history, Americans believed they owned the Capitol. They thought it was theirs because they assumed this was their country, political leaders told them that it was. After the 1904 presidential election, Teddy Roosevelt greeted voters in person on the lawn of the White House. It was his home, he lived there, but it belonged to them. Attitudes like that are long gone. They're the victim of population growth. The Athenians invented democratic government, but at its peak, Athens only had about 8,000 voters. So, past a certain scale, democracy can't function very well. The concept of the citizen becomes too abstract.