Rob Riemen, Dutch philosopher and founder of the Nexus Institute, names Baruch Spinoza, the 17th century philosopher, as one of the first great minds to understand the importance of democracy. Spinoza, he says, saw that only democracy would be able to put human dignity and individual freedom first. But maintaining democracy, Riemen says, is not about institutions. Instead, it relies on cultivating the spirit of democracy through liberal education.

– Bertelsmann Foundation

La nobleza de espíritu es un fracaso espiritual. Es el peor fracaso demócrata que hay porque no generas dinero o una posicíon social, o tecnología, o ciencia, ni siquiera una educación superior o una religión para destruir el destino de la nobleza de espíritu.

Rob Riemen elaborates on the importance of Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain at the start of the Nexus Conference War and Peace.