Pessimism: Evolution's sidekick
As the U.S. election mess builds speed I see more and more politics in my world. TV has it, it's all over the Net; it's even here in my blog. But in the middle of it all I find myself thinking of Plato. See, this whole government thing is all about choosing what we're all gonna agree to do, which is written down in the form of laws. Plato said a smart little bit about laws:
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
-- Plato (427-347 B.C.)
I have a hard time getting too excited about our elections when I see the folks in office proving Plato right, a couple thousand years later. In fact, it makes me think dark, depressing thoughts... which reminds me of something I read recently:
"The Earth is degenerating today. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer obey their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching."
-- Assyrian tablet, c. 2800 BC
See? I'm not the only pessimistic grumbler! Apparently this is a time-honored tradition from humanity's ancient roots. Natural Selection should've weeded this trait out if it was crap, so either Nature is busted or my pessimism is somehow "supposed" to exist. I'm not trying to bring you all down when I ramble about the darkness of the world, I'm just doing my evolution-instilled duty to my fellow man by pointing out things like, "Whoa! That's a big pile of dog shit you just stepped in! Oh man... it STINKS!"
Politics bite. Humans with power want to keep it and THAT'S the Achilles' heel of Democracy: it requires people motivated enough to achieve power over others to voluntarily surrender power to others. I can't think of ANY demographic, much less the political arena, where that happens smoothly on a regular basis, if at all. Hell, if you can think of one, I'd love to hear it; be good food for thought. So while it's nice to say that Democracy offers citizens a choice, it fails to point out the obvious costs associated with the benefits. Simplify, simplify...
Vote "Marchosias" for Emperor
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
-- Plato (427-347 B.C.)
I have a hard time getting too excited about our elections when I see the folks in office proving Plato right, a couple thousand years later. In fact, it makes me think dark, depressing thoughts... which reminds me of something I read recently:
"The Earth is degenerating today. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer obey their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching."
-- Assyrian tablet, c. 2800 BC
See? I'm not the only pessimistic grumbler! Apparently this is a time-honored tradition from humanity's ancient roots. Natural Selection should've weeded this trait out if it was crap, so either Nature is busted or my pessimism is somehow "supposed" to exist. I'm not trying to bring you all down when I ramble about the darkness of the world, I'm just doing my evolution-instilled duty to my fellow man by pointing out things like, "Whoa! That's a big pile of dog shit you just stepped in! Oh man... it STINKS!"
Politics bite. Humans with power want to keep it and THAT'S the Achilles' heel of Democracy: it requires people motivated enough to achieve power over others to voluntarily surrender power to others. I can't think of ANY demographic, much less the political arena, where that happens smoothly on a regular basis, if at all. Hell, if you can think of one, I'd love to hear it; be good food for thought. So while it's nice to say that Democracy offers citizens a choice, it fails to point out the obvious costs associated with the benefits. Simplify, simplify...
Vote "Marchosias" for Emperor