There was a bloke called Jacob Bronowski who made a TV series called the Ascent of Man.

It outlined how although Darwin had traced the Descent of Man from primeval origins - in a sort of I am descended from Henry VIII - fashion Dr. Bronowski wanted to show how mankind had begun to cope with the fruit of the tree of Knowledge.

He made a memorable scene in the dirt - dirt made up of human ashes - around a concentration camp and over the series contrasted that with standing on a beach looking into a sunset and quoting Sir Isaac Newton : If I have seen so far it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.

The present US and UK governments appear to have a Year Zero - Cambodian - approach to the interpretation of the concept of democracy. Sent the intellectuals into the paddy fields and let the ordinary people trust their instincts.