That Polybius knew what he was talking about, didn't he? And, so long ago, as if the same situation existed then.

>"The common people feel themselves oppressed by the grasping of some, and their vanity is flattered by others. Fired with evil passions, they are no longer willing to submit to control, but demand that everything be subject to their authority. The invariable result is that government assumes the noble names of free and popular, but becomes in fact the most execrable thing, mob rule."
>-Polybius, 126 BC