THE BIG SHOWDOWN SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE : PLATO V DEMOCRACY (DEMOCRACY REPRESENTED BY MR GEORGE DUBYA BUSH (and his secretary))

Host:

Tonight, live on channel 5, we have a very special treat. Two of the finest thinkers in world history, two of the smartest men alive (or dead) battling it out for your amusement. Will they don their boxing gloves? pull out their pistols? or even dare to brave the realms of the deep sea wrestling?

No, theirs will be a battle of wits, a battle of ideas, an intellectual fight to the death.

The subject of tonight's hot discussion, animated debate: Democracy.

In the left corner; the defender of freedom, the warden of the poor man's rights, the advocate of power to the people; Mr George Dubya Bush.

Opposing him tonight; the old man with a grudge, the supporter of all things Good and the bag of bones in the corner starting to smell; all the way from ancient Greece; Mr Plate-o

Plato:

Good evening, its nice to be here.

Dubya:

how are yawl?

Plato:

I would like to start by saying that I believe democracy is fundamentally flawed. It promotes anarchy, it results in tyranny, and it means that people like my opponent here are given more power than they can mentally cope with.

Dubya:

If I may, mr plato, democracy is the cornerstone of my great nation, without it poor people without rich fathers would have no control over their lives, they wouldn't be able to decide freely and fairly who should govern them.

Plato:

Who is to say that they should mr Bush? The poor people in your 'great nation' are amongst the most illiterate in the developed world and they consistently achieve less academically than many other countries. Do you believe they should be given the right to have their say on such important matters as who should govern the country, when they do not all clearly understand what is needed of a ruler, nor even how they should go about choosing one?

Jimmy:

If we don't give the people the ability to cast their vote we risk turning into a dictatorship, we risk the segregation and separation of society. Some would end up with more power than they deserved, many with less. Who are we to say that just because someone has had more schooling they should be given more freedom?

Plato:

Sir, If you suspend a knife above a flame for a long period of time what will happen to that knife?

Jimmy:

it will become hot surely?

Plato:

yes, it surely will...

Dubya:

huh?

Jimmy:

I don't see the relevance...

Plato:

...now would a child who had never experienced such things as knives or burning heat, who had never been taught of the virtues of not touching such burning hot knives, would a child like this be unhurt by touching said knife?

Jimmy:

no, sir he would not. The knife would burn the poor thing's hand.

Plato:

my point precisely. Would you then hand such a knife to such a child knowing that it would burn the 'poor thing's' hand?

Jimmy:

no, I couldn't bring myself to do so.

Plato:

Then why propose to give something so powerful as the ability to alter one's life irrevocably, to a group of people whom you know do not understand all the implications and nuances involved with such an ability and who are very likely to be hurt by the process?

Dubya:

us politicians don't wanna hurt anybody. we're trained to do our jobs, so that the people will be protected when under our control.

Plato:

but if the people have the freedom to express their opinions and change rules, regulations and even governments with their votes, you, the politicians have no real control. You are simply slaves to the masses, the often uneducated masses, the lumbering beast. You do not truly understand what it needs, you simply provide what it wants for fear of being evicted from your perches on capital hill. The beast itself doesn't necessarily want what is good for it; I have already pointed out that the populace you seem to have so much faith in isn't quite what one would call a bunch of intellectuals, they understand little to nothing about what is needed for their proper governance. You personally though, and I do not automatically speak about all politicians, albeit there are few better, know nothing at all about true governing and provision for those in your care.

Jimmy:

Yet its all perfectly clear to man who has been dead for over two thousand years.

Plato:

people, their actions and reactions do not change. Over the course of time, the same mistakes are made, the same cycles repeat over and over. The materials available to the politician these days may be more advanced than in ancient Greece, but the basic principals of governance, and the requisite character traits of the real ruler, the able politician have not changed.

No government can function adequately if the politicians are grounded in this world. If they live for worldly pleasures and if they crave power.

All modern governments have been arranged in a hierarchical system, this means that it is possible to work your way upwards, along the political ladder of power, so to speak. This is exactly what every politician thus tries to do. They elbow others out of the way, they spout phrases like 'for the good of the people' or 'the good of the country' but they mean 'for the good of myself'. There is constantly a struggle going on beneath the surface of every almost every department of every government in the western world.

I ask you can a man perform a task, function in the way he is supposed to function, when his mind is preoccupied, engaged in something entirely unconnected and more interesting to him?

Jimmy:

I'd say he couldn't very well, no.

Plato:

So if almost every politician is struggling with their petty differences and contrivances, their plans for workplace domination, how can the government as a whole function correctly?

Imagine a centipede trying to walk in a straight line if each leg has a mind of it's own and is moving at a different speed trying to move in a different direction from all the others. Would this centipede move in it's desired direction?

Dubya + Jimmy:

no.

Plato:

For a government to function, it's members must be focused on their jobs, they must desire above all else in their work to achieve the end of moving in the government's desired direction, not their own.

For this to be possible politicians must have something other than personal power to aim for, they must treat their roles in government as unavoidable necessities, not pleasurable experiences which will make up for their own misfortunes and inadequacies.

This is only possible for those who have glimpsed the divine world, the world of the intellect, of philosophy. The man who understands the true nature of justice, who has seen the Form of Justice, can apply the dim shadow of justice in this world of particulars. If one has seen the Good, they will be able to do good for the people when they are performing their roles as politicians. They will not merely be throwing biscuits to the savage beast, they will understand its needs and not fear its retribution.

Democracy allows those who know nothing to have power, it teaches politicians to fear the people and to only do what they will want as opposed to need, it encourages the eternal muddle of government and in the end will almost inevitably lead to maltemper and in extreme cases anarchy.

Jimmy:

you said that before, how can democracy lead to anarchy? I don't see that as a possibility.

Plato:

Do you agree that Democracy comes from Oligarchy? A society ruled by those with the most money. The poor will eventually revolt and gain power, sharing power out amongst all of them in the form of democracy, yes?

Jimmy:

like the French revolution? yes, I agree.

Plato:

Oligarchy was bound to fail as it's main principal, it's driving force was the excessive desire for money. Democracy is bound to fail for similar reasons. The driving force behind democracy, it's main principal is the excessive desire for freedom.

Dubya:

what's so wrong about that?

Plato:

Firstly, as excessive desires can never be satisfied there can never be satisfaction. Desires should be tamed by the other parts of the soul, an excessive appetite is necessarily an insatiable one, and will only lead to discontent.

Secondly, in this case, the case of excessive desire for freedom, the receipt of such a desire can only, and again necessarily, lead to anarchy.

Let me explain; If all men are equal, they all have the same rights, they have the choice to do what they want, and are not obliged to do anything anyone else tells them to, unless they are so inclined. If their country is under attack, they are not obliged to fight for it, if the law says they should not kill, they are not obliged to listen to it. This is a true democracy, where everyone has the same amount of control, the same amount of freedom. This anarchy is the true democracy, there is nothing to stop anyone doing anything.

Dubya:

but we have laws, people cant just go around killing each other

[to jimmy] can they?

Jimmy:

[in a whisper] no they cant.

Plato:

then your 'great' nation, with it's 'great' freedom, is not free. Your 'democracy' is not democratic. People do not have equal power, there are some who can do what they want, others who are bound by more constraints. The men at the top of your hierarchical command structure are given more leeway than those poor  people living in poverty in the slum areas of your cities.

Is this your democracy?

Is this your great nation?

Until your politicians are picked from the best minds, from the most philosophical minds, and your people are educated in an enlightening and enlightened way, your democracy is nothing, and your great nation is nothing but a collection of hypocritical miscreants.

V

"the most enlightened man ever"

"the most powerful man on earth"

END

Dwaine Martin