There is a reason that wise leaders once studied the Classics. There’s a reason democracy was born in the Agora where open debate and discourse were first heard in ancient Greece. It was in the Agora on Mars Hill in Athens where Paul first preached Christ to the Greeks. And, as importantly in Plato’s work on political philosophy, “The Republic” Plato warns of the dangers of democracy decaying into tyranny.
I quote from https://classicalwisdom.com/plato-and-the-disaster-of-democracy/ , “At this point, the newly appointed leaders become very nervous. It was so easy to depose their predecessors, so why not them? These democratic leaders will realize that they are only easily supported when there is a war that the people can rally behind. And so the democratic leaders will unnecessarily become involved in violent affairs, creating wars to distract the people. To ensure their power, the leaders will create laws to bolster their position. The rulers will impose heavy taxes against the commoners to ensure they are unable or unwilling to fight back against this. And any who do oppose the leaders will be labeled as an enemy and persecuted as a spy. It is for this reason that there must always be some enemy combatant that the leader can cast blame upon.
Plato continues in his discussion by explaining that these leaders will eventually become unpopular, an unavoidable result. Those who once supported this ruling class begin to rebel against the would be tyrant. At this point the citizens will try to get rid of whatever man is currently in office, either by exile or impeachment. If this is not possible, the ruler will inevitable strike down any political opposition he may have.
Hated by the people, these leaders will request the presence of a body guard. And now he is a tyrant, the leader has no choice if he wishes to rule. Elected by the people, yet now he is protected from them. Plato predicts that this tyrant will appeal to the lowest form of citizen. He will make soldiers of the slaves and the degenerates. The tyrant will pay them to protect him from the ordinary citizens. And now the leader is a tyrant, born from democracy and propped up by the demand for liberty. And in our quest for liberty, we instead created a monster.”
How prophetic and appropriate given the current situation. Our common quest to live together as good citizens is hitting some illiberal and authoritarian roadblocks. Currently we live in a society where many claim to laud tolerance while becoming increasingly intolerant of open political and philosophical discourse. Our political leaders eschew real debate since they’ve been overtaken by ideologies, pork barreling and towing the “party line”. Our elected representatives no longer represent their constituents, rather they represent their party and its leaders. Votes are bought and sold with the taxpayers’ own money. Philosophies have decayed into ideologies which in turn have devolved into party policies. Elected representatives who speak out on behalf of their constituents are forcibly removed from their posts, yes Mad Max Bernier, I am writing about you. Liberals have become the opposite of Classically Liberal, conservatives are growing their tent to include those who hold values which run contrary to small 'c' conservatism, the socialists not only do not defend the rights and needs of workers, socialist policies have driven the very businesses which once employed blue collar workers out of the provinces and country, the green's policies are so unfounded in real science that they are unable to present actual data which can demonstrate that their policies work, and the libertarians have deserted Classical Liberalism to pursue a practically anarchist agenda. Everywhere we are witnessing the stifling of debate from our High Courts, to the floors of parliament where valid answers are seldom forthcoming in question period through to our institutions of higher education where grad students like Lindsay Shepherd are silenced by those who have been given the sacred duty of enlightening rather than indoctrinating OUR children. Worse, the Fourth Estate is the cheerleading squad for the silencing of diverse opinions while hiding behind ridiculously false claims of supporting “diversity”. Diversity to those who attempt to censor the actually diverse opinions of others means accepting people who look different but sound exactly the same. Diversity of opinion is labelled as hateful, far right, intolerant, and fascist despite the censors behaving exactly like fascists.
My wife often provides me with little sound bites of wisdom. The one which struck me most emphatically was her observation that we are in desperate need of a New Age of Enlightenment. Remarkably it was not long after she made this remark that Dr. Jordan B Peterson began his meteoric rise to prominence. Equally remarkably is the misquoting and misunderstanding of what it is Dr. Peterson is actually saying in his lectures. Certainly, there is nothing in them that was not told to us as a matter of course by our parents, grandparents and teachers when I was young. OK, well that was some time ago, I grant you. What makes Peterson remarkable is his ability to frame his discussions intelligently and, in a manner which affords all of us an opportunity for self examination and improvement. Odd that he and others who advocate for open discourse in good faith are now labelled (after all this is what the radical left does best, namely divide individuals into groups and label them) as the “Intellectual Dark Web” when their goal is to create enlightenment. Moreover, and most importantly, their goal is to put primacy back where it belongs, on the individual. This was the greatest achievement of English Common Law. The law is blind to our group identity. The law only cares about the individual. And so does God. Each of us are accountable alone for our actions. If there is hope for a balance and an open and tolerant future it will be found in the restoration of the individual to his/her proper place of pre-eminence and accountability. Every single attempt at collectivism has invariable resulted in tyranny. The needs of the many never trump the need for the voice of the individual to be heard free of censor!
