First, thanks for a very intersting and informative article.

I have read much of what Dr. Giles has published here in Medium. I agree that reading his articles is very worthwhile. He always has interesting insights.

I would like him better, though, if he were more forthright, rather than starting, as he does in this book (which he has summarized in an srticle I read), with an unbiased analytical framework then bending and warping the content in an effort to show how that framework 'demonstrates' that his preferred ideology is 'good' and all others are 'bad'. I am more sympathetic to political liberalism (Gilse's ideological position) than conservativsm, but all holders of all ideologies need to be self-aware enough to understand that in the end it is all about nothing but beliefs they happen to hold--just like religion.

Ideologies (and theologies) are the basis of parties/partisanship--the fundamental threat (you and I agree, Dave) to democracy. My doubt concerning your proposed systemic change is whether it could overcome that problem. As long as the governance of society is based on beliefs, partisanship based on those beliefs, with people's psychological attachments to their beliefs, will be with us. There are isssues that are separate from beliefs, especialliy at the lcoal level--streets, garbage, sewage, etc.--but even education is now a partisan battleground.