Plato on Tyranny

Plato, Republic, Book 8: How democracies devolve into tyranny. ‪@PhiloofAlexandria‬

[@GA-lf2uh]

Fascinating course - thanks for all your work on your lectures and for making them free via youtube!

[@PhiloofAlexandria]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@FFS704]

This is very much happening in England today. Kier Starmer, a tin pot Stalin, is behaving very much like a Tyrant

[@mikelynn8977]

The best government is that which is the smallest.

[@towardsthelight220]

This is happening in America today.

[@kevintewey1157]

Joe Biden The Dictator

[@contestofnerds]

good stuff, thank you

[@neuro.weaver]

The original meaning of tyrant was the Greek equivalent of shogun: someone who rules like a king, even if he has no hereditary claim on the throne. However, very quickly it acquired the modern meaning: an autocrat ruling through totalitarianism.

[@franklinifejiofor]

Sounds like what they're doing to Donald Trump

[@savvageorge]

Trump is a tyrant pretending to be an oligarch. He has very poor business credentials, most of his businesses lose money and generate large amounts of debt.

[@kredit787]

Coincidence, re-reading these chapters now

[@楠炯遊戲]

Well that's the definition of a populist government. I mean US.

[@Lebowski098]

Blackeyes

[@AkashBiswas001]

Wow🪄❤️

[@hellenicculture8169]

ολιγαρχια δεν σημαινει οπωσδηποτε ομαδα πλουσιων αυτο ονομαζετε πλουτοκρατια ολιγαρχια μπορει να ειναι και η δικτακτορια

[@kallianpublico7517]

Did Plato have an understanding of economics? If he did did he have an analogy to the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution? Did he have an analogy to automation, genetic research? What is the criteria for an excellent government? A good economy or good administrators? How do the two relate to each other in an aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy and democracy. Plato seems lacking in understanding, in details. It depends on the honesty and honor of people instead of the aims of good governance. If the aims of good government are protecting the people from external enemies, and, internally, maintaining a rational economy with justice and health; then Plato seems to work for small populations. For large populations with global repercussions, and use of resources, technical considerations arise. Who, in modern society, is trained or can be trained to deal with all these details? Certainly not individuals. If a group then what kind of group? Has there ever been a discussion about the types of individuals making up the group or series of groups of which this government consists? Not just moral honor but technical experience? What happens when there is a lack of technical know how? What kind of government is that? Is anarchy the solution to preventing these large, cumbersome and incompetent nations from arising; or is there an "emerging" technocracy being birthed in the halls of modern companies and multinational organizations?

[@kevintewey1157]

Watch Biden

[@TheDanhewitt]

Watch DeSantis

[@notexactlyrocketscience]

be wary of trump and his enablers

[@PhiloofAlexandria]

Indeed-watch everybody. At this stage, Plato is saying, there are dangers on both sides. And the center rarely holds.

[@kevintewey1157]

@@TheDanhewitt damn it no pun intended there but DeSantis does possibly Trump Biden for trouble

[@kevintewey1157]

@@notexactlyrocketscience oh please CIA tell me all about Trump and his enablers you don't have anything what the fuck are you talking about they all take money from the billionaires do you think yours are better? That's a sad elitist

[@BAfan2024-n5n]

Great overview. I can see this happening in the U.S. now.

[@stephenkalatucka6213]

Most conspicuous is the degradation of morals by de-funding police, and DAs who catch and release career criminals. George Soros has funded the campaigns of liberal DAs nationwide. It's almost like the mega-rich want chaos and confusion!

[@GenX-Memories]

Wow! 2020-2024 in the US anyone?

[@braxtongrundy4625]

Here

[@LighteningSage]

You are so good at teaching ‘between the lines’, you are a natural. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@julesjgreig]

Timely, thank you

[@lonaghareb8204]

i am thankful beyond words for this significant lecture , hope you a great health

[@BlazRa]

Damn I just made some spiced coffee with honey and I think I got like a buzz .

[@al4381]

With this seemingly accurate observation having been around for over 2000 years I feel like we don't really have any excuses for all the mistakes made these last centuries.

[@CjqNslXUcM]

There's a difference between acknowledging and acting upon. We often observe people who are especially good at diagnosing other peoples problems in life fail at remedying their own. There might be underlying material conditions that inevitably produce a certain hierarchy, as Marx would point out. In the same way, certain power structures might facilitate transitional dynamics, be it through Ceasar, Hitler or Stalin. Another explanation is that Plato is not quite correct about the instability of democracies. Overthrows of democracies are memorable and our judgment might therefore be mislead by the availability heuristic. Democracies might turn out to be relatively stable under certain conditions according to the data. Plato is only giving us a very generic outline of the timeline of a transition to tyranny which we are matching much too eagerly to our existing knowledge (confirmation bias).

[@GonzoJohnny]

True, the information is available yet many actively ignore reality without having any valid excuses. This goes for all that keep actively working for the perpetrators as well as the perps.

[@nephiindustries]

Hope your Thanksgiving was warm, Professor Bonevac!

[@PhiloofAlexandria]

It was great! Have good holidays!

[@MindyoDam-buzinez]

8:10 Plato sounds like a Putin puppet

[@sebatianalvarado7171]

sound like this happening anywhere ... ??

[@TakashiAmanoOriginal]

He is describing Brandon and his handlers to the T

[@cas343]

...Are you trying to tell us something?

[@Mageroeth]

The moral degradation is a real thing, regardless if your running a big state a company or a household.

[@CjqNslXUcM]

Are you focusing only on the political philosophy aspects of the Republic, or are you going to come back to book 4 through 7 later?

[@PhiloofAlexandria]

I'm going to come back to some aspects of those, but I've already done videos on the central parts, e.g., kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJWTpGx8nZmEatE

[@CjqNslXUcM]

@@PhiloofAlexandria Thanks Professor Bonevac!

[@studyphilosophy3629]

sir, you are kinda jacked

[@towardsthelight220]

What's that supposed to mean?

[@uniphcommunity.thewhitetower]

An excellent presentation of the usual tactics a tyrant uses to gain popularity! Much appreciated Dr. Bonevac!