This 1956 piece by the great C. L. R James sums up many of the conclusions I've come to myself over the past year as to how best to set up a civil society, especially that of the most democratic nation since ancient Athens: Australia. Ripped it off marxists.org, but James wasn't your typical Marxist and what he advocates here shares little with Marxist doctrine; in fact in modern politics it'd most likely be labelled right-wing extremist and probably racist too. NB: I can't find this particular version of the Athenian Oath anywhere; the standard versions (not the sanitised one used by assorted American schools and public departments) are essentially the same, minus the promise to hunt down and kill traitors to Athens (other versions use the phrase bring them to justice--less bloodthirsty and exciting).
Australia: not for an age, but for all time