Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Four cycles of government:
Socrates speaks in Plato’s “Republic” about four forms of government that must interact in a perpetual synchronicity like a huge, human machine.
First there is the timocracy, or government by strength. This form survives by absorbing its neighbors; it must keep growing by continuously swallowing its competitors’ resources. The values of this society favor the strong, those who are most skilled in warfare.
The increase in quality of life brought about by the consumption of resources leads to a gradual shift in values from admiration of the warrior to admiration of money; resources; the spoils of war. This obsession with money shifts values to favor and admire those who are most skilled at accumulating wealth. This leads to government by the wealthy; or oligarchy.
The wealthy continue to accumulate wealth until the obsession with material gain leads to complete polarization between rich and poor. The majority is the poor and this leads to the hungry poor attacking the rich, and the rich, in order to protect themselves from the poor, must exert more and more forms of control until most freedom is lost and everything is subject to governmental restriction.
This last form of government is called a tyranny: The controlling government continues to tighten its grip on the population but finds out, too late, that a class of persons toughened by the conditions created in this social environment arises from the populace, seizes the government and commences a rule by timocracy.
And so it goes.
Do I believe this? No, but it does make me think. Right now from this post 9-11 viewpoint, America seems to be evolving from the oligarchy phase to the tyranny phase. From an American's viewpoint, the world political climate indicates that America is moving from timocracy into oligarchy.
In this worldview, true democracy might be impossible.
First there is the timocracy, or government by strength. This form survives by absorbing its neighbors; it must keep growing by continuously swallowing its competitors’ resources. The values of this society favor the strong, those who are most skilled in warfare.
The increase in quality of life brought about by the consumption of resources leads to a gradual shift in values from admiration of the warrior to admiration of money; resources; the spoils of war. This obsession with money shifts values to favor and admire those who are most skilled at accumulating wealth. This leads to government by the wealthy; or oligarchy.
The wealthy continue to accumulate wealth until the obsession with material gain leads to complete polarization between rich and poor. The majority is the poor and this leads to the hungry poor attacking the rich, and the rich, in order to protect themselves from the poor, must exert more and more forms of control until most freedom is lost and everything is subject to governmental restriction.
This last form of government is called a tyranny: The controlling government continues to tighten its grip on the population but finds out, too late, that a class of persons toughened by the conditions created in this social environment arises from the populace, seizes the government and commences a rule by timocracy.
And so it goes.
Do I believe this? No, but it does make me think. Right now from this post 9-11 viewpoint, America seems to be evolving from the oligarchy phase to the tyranny phase. From an American's viewpoint, the world political climate indicates that America is moving from timocracy into oligarchy.
In this worldview, true democracy might be impossible.
