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WHERE ARE WE?
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| Back in the old days of the third century before Christ, we had two great philosophers who laid out their political theories. One was Plato, the author of The Republic. Another was a student of his named Aristotle who, among other things, tutored Alexander The Great. Think we have anything to learn from these two? Anything pertinent to our situation today? Let’s take a brief look at one of them. Aristotle developed what became known as “The Golden Mean” which, at the center, was a delicate balance between a Constitutional Republic (like Plato’s) and Democracy. If you study this, you might find comparisons to the system of government left to us by our founding fathers. To the left of middle The problem is that Aristotle claimed that, if given the power, Democracy would develop into Oligarchy and, from there, would go on to become Tyranny. Do you think there’s a lesson here in terms of today’s campaign finance and absconding with tons of our “surplus” tax dollars? A government that brags about overtaxing its citizens? On the other hand…. To the right of middle If given the power, a Republic would develop into an Aristocracy and from there into a Kingdom. Think of this in terms of today’s nepotism? How many children of yesterday’s power structure are in government and entertainment? And how many Americans seem to idolize the British Royal Family? Oh, well Who cares about history? How many even read nowadays? And how can anything from that far back provide help in understanding today’s modern complexities? Whatever happened to former superpowers? Where are the Greek, Roman, Spanish, French and British empires today? How long do superpowers last anyway? And didn’t each of them arrogantly think that they had things locked during their time, that they would endure forever? Most of these former superpowers crumbled when they went too far from home. When they tried to spread their power structure and thinking throughout the world. What happened to Russia as a superpower, our old competitor? This gigantic territory with half our population is bankrupt now. But look what we have facing us in the future. China, with a territory as big as Russia’s and a population of 1.3 billion. Five times our population and a capitalistic form of communism capable of swallowing our industrial dominance. How long do you think we can afford to support that little island nation we set up and supported as a refuge for China’s former leader, Chiang Kai Chek and his entourage, one of our old World War II allies? |
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