As individuals, we are inherently more bruited than a community. Although we can consult books and friends and critics, in the end we are limited to our own single perspectives. We are only one person--looking at the world from one place, one history, one pattern of knowing. A community, on the other hand can see things through many eyes, many histories, many ways of knowing. The question is whether it dismisses or creatively makes use of and integrates that diversity. Communities are wise to the extent they use diversity well. The wisest know that every viewpoint represents a part of the truth and that it is through the cooperative creative interplay of the viewpoints that the wisest, most comprehensive and powerful truths emerge. So they engage in that interplay, that dialogue--a creative controversy or consensus process that winds its way to wise public judgment. The best government is that government which enables communities to do this--to nurture and utilizes their wisdom and resources--especially their diversity--in such a way that they require less and less government. A community that can manage itself in a wise and sustainable manner is one that has mastered democracy. They know they can't depend on leaders to do things for them. They know that democratic citizens and leaders work best in partnership with each other, co-creating each other's power. They know that leaders work must be seen as living extensions of their own will and wisdom, which must be kept active. They know that passive 'followership' abandons leaders, deprives them of the wisdom and creativity of the community, and opens them up to the corruptions of alienated power. A democratic community grows beyond dependence and paternalism. In a sense, the more democratic a society is, the more it has 'come of age'. Movements for democracy might even be seen as the maturation process of a culture. A mature society knows how to handle itself in dynamic context with others, drawing on its inner resources (its diverse members) and relating responsively and creatively with its environment. The writer believes that individuals ______.