Of course, it is smart to know the ABC of " Civics " . It is smart to know " How Things Work "- even corrupt local and state governments, like what we endure here in Rhode Island. To be sure , we deviate from THE IDEAL . But as a democratic socialist I would also question the wisdom of that ideal , of thinking that completely accepted capitalism is compatible with ideal " democracy " where THE PEOPLE-not the PLUTOCRACY - really rule. How many " educated " , successful, middle class adults in " OUR democracy " go through careers and LIFE without ever imagining that things could work very differently ? Decades ago a young psychiatrist named Robert Lindner wrote a quietly subversive book titled : " Must You Conform " . Lindner viewed CONFORMITY in this society as the 11th commandment . Did Lindner ever suffer through one of those old status quo supporting , insipid , bland CIVICS courses ? His SILENCED generation exploded in the mid-Sixties. In the early 1950s the BEATS were " the only revolution in town ". The seeds of INNER FREEDOM grew in their souls .