On 06/27/2016 03:09 PM, Steven A Smith wrote: > While I am observing said hoopla with my usual "morbid fascination", I am > truly disturbed by the possibility that we ARE degenerating to a Mobocracy or > more technically, an /Ochlocracy/. I like Wikipedia's definition of the > term as: /"Democracy spoiled by Demagoguery/".
Relevant "diablog": Too Democratic? Let's See What Plato Says... http://bigthink.com/errors-we-live-by/too-democratic-lets-see-what-plato-says "6. RNG: They have, but facing that danger in democracy is different from claiming that the natural path of democracy is towards tyranny. Context is paramount. Plato makes these claims during a real downer of a discussion, a plunge into political fatalism made all the more depressing by Plato’s having just laid out a blueprint for his ideal state—The Republic—an aristocracy in its original sense, namely rule by the best, the most virtuous citizens (from arête), who, schooled in philosophy, are single-mindedly devoted to the common good. In Plato’s eyes, they alone qualify as elites, and alone can be trusted with power (precisely because they don’t want it. That’s what an education in philosophy is supposed to do to you)." -- ☢ glen ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
