Book club: The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution

[Dill]

(05-23-2018, 06:46 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: 2. There is a brief mention of Plato, but he isn't focused on much. I would agree with you that we are in a transition, but not the one you think. We're in an oligarchy right now, and we are on the precipice to move to tyranny or democracy.

Time limits me, for the moment, to a comment only on the above.

I am not a Platonist. I was just mentioning his theory to diversify the theoretical models discussed. Plato's model is pretty linear and deterministic, an "ideal" model, but fascinating for the analogy he creates between the form of a given constitution and the individual psychology fostered in its citizens. His description of oligarchy and democracy, and how these governmental forms eliminate virtue, still has a ring of truth.