UNITED NATIONS MAN AS AN END IN HIMSELF IN THE LOBBIES AND 
MEETING HALLS OF THE UNITED NATIONS, U.S . AMBASSADOR ADLAI STEVENSON 
OFTEN HEARS THE ARGUMENT OF NEW NATIONS THAT DEMOCRACY IS A 
LUXURY THEY CANNOT AFFORD . STEVENSON CAN MAKE A GOOD CASE 
TO THE CONTRARY, AS HE SHOWED LAST WEEK IN AN ELOQUENT 
ADDRESS IN MANHATTAN BEFORE THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF DEMOCRATIC 
INSTITUTIONS : " THERE IS PRECIOUS LITTLE DIGNITY OR EQUALITY IN 
OUR NATURAL STATE . MOST HUMAN BEINGS HAVE TO SPEND THEIR 
LIVES IN UTTER VULNERABILITY . ALL ARE BORN UNEQUAL, IN TERMS 
OF CAPACITY OR STRENGTH . . . AND SURVIVE ONLY THROUGH 
THE RESTRAINT SHOWN BY MORE POWERFUL NEIGHBORS . FOR NEARLY 3,000 
YEARS / WESTERN MAN' HAS STRUGGLED TO CREATE A SOCIAL ORDER 
IN WHICH WEAK, FALLIBLE, OBSTINATE, SILLY, MAGNIFICENT MAN CAN EXERCISE HIS 
FREE AND RESPONSIBLE CHOICE . " WHETHER DEMOCRACY CAN PREVAIL IN 
THE GREAT UPHEAVAL OF OUR TIME IS A VALID QUESTION . 
WE HAVE GOOD REASON TO KNOW HOW CLUMSY, SLOW, INEFFICIENT AND 
COSTLY IT IS COMPARED TO THE CELERITY, CERTAINTY AND SECRECY OF 
ABSOLUTISM . BUT THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT IT HAS SURVIVED 
. THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT EVEN THE ABSOLUTISTS MASQUERADE AS 
DEMOCRATS ; EVEN THE MILITARY AND QUASI-MILITARY DICTATORSHIPS STRIVE IN THE 
NAME OF DEMOCRACY TO MANAGE THE PUBLIC BUSINESS . AND ALL 
OF THEM SAY THAT AUTHORITARIANISM IS ONLY A NECESSARY TRANSITION TO 
DEMOCRACY . . . THE ENEMIES OF FREEDOM, WHATEVER THE MAGNIFICENT 
ENDS THEY PROPOSE THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN, THE KINGDOM OF SAINTS, 
" FROM EACH ACCORDING TO HIS ABILITY, TO EACH ACCORDING TO 
HIS NEEDS' MISS JUST THIS ESSENTIAL POINT : THAT MAN IS 
GREATER THAN THE SOCIAL PURPOSES TO WHICH HE CAN BE PUT 
. HE MUST NOT BE KICKED ABOUT EVEN WITH THE MOST 
HIGH-MINDED OBJECTIVES . HE IS NOT A MEANS OR AN INSTRUMENT 
. HE IS AN END IN HIMSELF . " THIS IS 
THE ESSENCE OF WHAT WE MEAN BY DEMOCRACY NOT SO MUCH 
VOTING SYSTEMS OR PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEMS OR ECONOMIC OR LEGAL SYSTEMS (THOUGH 
THEY ALL ENTER IN), AS AN IRREVOCABLE AND FINAL DEDICATION TO 
THE DIGNITY OF MAN. IN THIS SENSE, DEMOCRACY IS PERHAPS MANKIND'S 
MOST AUDACIOUS EXPERIMENT . 