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"\[T\]he central flaw of the good society is not democracy but that democracy is imperfect. Only when all vote \-\- all but the eccentric few \-\- will the good society achieve its urgent goals.
"It is inevitable that critics . . . will say as with one voice that what is here written is out of step with the times. The fortunate, including those who speak for them and those allied in politics, are securely in command. They are the political reality; so they will be for the foreseeable future.
"Not necessarily. Let there be a coalition of the concerned and the compassionate and those now outside the political system, and for the good society there would be a bright and wholly practical prospect. The affluent would still be affluent, the comfortable still comfortable, but the poor would be part of the political system. Their needs would be heard, as would the other goals of the good society. Aspirants for public office would listen. The votes would be there and would be pursued. As now with the safety net, health care, the environment and especially the military power, the good society fails when democracy fails. With true democracy, the good society would succeed, would even have an aspect of inevitability" (142 f.).