The Greek philosopher Plato criticized democracy because he argued that ruling was a skill that required specific training like practicing medicine and that most people lack the knowledge and skills to govern effectively.He argued that democracy was nothing more than a popularity contest, in that it doesn’t matter if a candidate can actually govern effectively or not because as long as they can wow and dazzle the crowd, they can gain power anyways. He believed that elected officials in a democracy would focus on pleasing the masses to maintain their power rather than governing according to what is truly best for the state.He argued that democracy would destroy itself and eventually fall to tyranny by the hands of a demagogue who gets away with it by appealing to the public’s emotions and prejudices. He believed that democracy would lead to a breakdown of the moral order, where individuals, driven by selfish desires, gain control over the state.This is all outlined in Plato’s work “The Republic”, in which he argues that a “philosopher-king” is the most effective form of government.Was he right?
>>18106900Not really. Most elected officials have had leadership roles in relevant careers (be the bureaucratic, military, commercial, academic, legal, or otherwise). Rulership is a skill, but it’s not like we have to throw people in at the deep end from day 1. Hell, we have entire institutions built to take in promising young men and women and churn out potential statesmen and shit of that nature. We have a massive cadre of well-educated and qualified people groomed not just for governance, but to provide expertise in niche fields for those chosen to govern.Most people do lack those skills, but those skills can be instilled in people through both training and experience at lower echelons of power.
>>18106900He's not completely correct because he didn't have the benefit of christian morality. To a pagan philosopher, everyone is different. If there's any grand cycle, it has to do with gods and nature, not humanity. If you want to make a super smart human, just train them in all the "smart things" and viola. Jesus 400 years later had Plato's philosophy and also incontrovertible evidence that humanity, at a base level, was holding civilization back. Pride would not be a sin to the philosopher-king, nor does Plato value the freedom to make mistakes and establish multiple systems. To him, it's an accident of history that man isn't as wise as God, because pagans didn't understand God is separate from humanity.
Yes, he was.
>>18106900>REAL philosopher-rulers have never been tried before!!!
>>18106900Is democracy nothing more than a baby making contest? Whatever demographic has the most kids gets to control the government? Sorry but I can't get behind that. If you wouldn't let random people off the street perform surgery on you or pilot an airplane why would you let them vote and decide a country's fate just because they're good at having sex and making lots of children (that someone else usually has to pay for)?Democracy is where the 51% tell the 49% how to live their lives. Democracy is when the people who have the most kids tell the people who have fewer kids who live hundreds of miles away from them how to live their lives.If you wouldn't let random people off the street perform surgery on you or pilot an airplane why should you let them vote and decide a country's fate?Would you rather have someone naturally intelligent and knowledgeable who passed all of his exams with minimal effort performing surgery on you. Or someone who "worked hard"? Would you rather have someone who's naturally good at flying planes with minimal effort as your pilot. Or someone who "worked hard"?
>>18107380people keep wearing out and you need a new one>just pick right the first time and all descendants will be the sameoof
>>18106900His critiques are a little hollow because they don't really name why democracies tend towards stagnation and oligarchy, but it doesn't make his overall thesis of the demagogue any less true. What kills democracy is not someone taking advantage of it, rather it is the natural conclusion of its managerial elite concentrating power and making political expression meaningless.
>>18108334Its not so simple. There's social and cultural changes or consequences at play too. Plato knew this because of the place and time he lived in. It is safe to say. No system publicly operated has ever lasted without degradation. Including Monarchy and Democoracy.
>>18108351I mean no elite in history has ever quite hated the people as much as the democratic elite has. Can you think of any other governmental system in which people are brainwashed into sterilizing themselves and fed poison every single day? It's like outlandishly evil and it has been directly enabled by democracy.
>>18106900Yeah he was
>>18106936>benefit of christian morality. >benefit
>>18106900Plato's philosopher king idea is, to put it simply, embarrassing. It's just him thinking "things would be ideal if I (or someone just like me) had absolute power because my understanding is superior to everyone else's." It's the kind of political theory you'd expect an arrogant teengar to come up with, not at all worthy of a philosopher, ironically.
>>18109208I would normally believe the opposite of what spammers say, but being unable to rule out reverse psychology, I will simply act like your post doesn't exist.
Fuck Plato dude. What an arrogant, know-it-all, hypocrite prick. The Athenians were in the right to shun him and his master.
FUCK YOU PLATO
>>18107380In practice national and state governments are generally indirect democracies.
>>18106900After last night's elections in Argentina I'm inclined to agree.You give shitskins the franchise and the first thing they do is vote for the Jew robbing them blind. Smh
>>18110397T. Peroncho
>>18109229In philosophy you prove him wrong using words. Even if plato is only being debunked he's still performing a service. The philosopher king is simultaneously so obvious and so hard to achieve that it's not an easy debunk after all these years, people are rushing to build an AI philosopher king on the assumed premise that it will work. It's a koan, Plato was a genius.
>>18106915I don't know about where we you live, but here most elected officials are lawyers.
