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One shall stand, One shall fall // Ian Blair

     I usually have a little introduction into my thoughts about the reading for this week before I start with the actual blog part of my post, but I can't help but think about the bone-chilling realization that awaits us in Book VIII, so my introduction this time will be brief. It is my personal opinion that if people are imperfect, then we are only capable of imperfect systems and societies consequentially. However, this does not mean that we must not aim for the closest system to perfect that we can achieve. 

    The realization I wrote of earlier is the suggestion by Socrates that tyranny stems from the system we know as democracy. At first I disagreed, it is anarchism that causes tyrannical reign as a byproduct of fulfilling its purpose of overthrowing the current power and not establishing another system. All anarchism does is create a power vacuum for another power to take over and the cycle repeats itself, right? ...Right? Quickly after this initial reaction however, I remembered of how people such as Adolf Hitler rose to power in the midst of a war torn Germany by using his gifts in speech and deception to gain a following, and ultimately power. It was not through absolute decimation, but by mass manipulation that Hitler first formed his nazi party that then used force to assert control of the country. The next question to pose is where does the tyranny begin? The obvious answer comes from the end the discussion of democracy: 

"At last, when they observe the people attempting to wrong them---not voluntarily but because of ignorance and because they are misled by slander---they become oligarchs indeed. . .The consequences are  accusations, arraignments, and litigations of all kinds originating from either sides. . .And the people---is there not always the propensity to elevate and glorify one man as the people's protector and champion?. . .Then we have located the tyrant's point of entry into society." (Plato, 257). 

In order to prevent the order democracy represents and embodies from falling into chaos, the mass majority of people in said system must be informed and educated enough so that they can't be easily manipulated against the system. Too often in modern society we face the mass spread of misinformation simply because we do not exercise our civic duties of being the wisest and most intelligent citizens that we can be; and I for one am not yet ready to see the closest example to freedom that exist today fall into the ashes of chaos and humiliation.


P.s. I commented on Hailey Morgan's and Micah's posts.

Comments

  1. Rachael GregsonOctober 5, 2020 at 3:30 PM

    Ian, you wrote on a very good point. I think this is why we should always stay on top of what's going on in the world's current events. Two things can sucker people into handing too much control to their authorities: ignorance and complacency.

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