At first look, Socrates' city might seem just but I disagree. I don't believe that you can found anything, especially a society, on anything other than just and honest principles. Socrates did not do this when he founded, or made up his city. In fact, Socrates said that it would be perfectly ok for the leader of the city to lie to the citizens of that city. In the U.S.A our Government lies to us and that's just a fact, anybody who doesn't believe that needs to wake up, but the fundamental difference between Socrates' city and the U.S. is that America was not founded on lies and deceit. America was intended to be a country in which our government was honest. It is my personal belief that if you are going to have a truly just society then it needs to be founded on just principles.
PS: I commented on Joshua Spells post.
I agree with you on this. Socrates' "city" was "founded" on the belief that all humans are honest and good natured. Sadly, in reality that is not the case; humans are usually dishonest and greedy, putting themselves before anyone else. Yes, the goverment is corrupt but it ultamitely comes down to humans being corrupt. There are some things the goverment should not let us know off the bat just for security reasons, but they shouldn't blatently lie to our face about certian issues either. Only in finding balance does one succeed.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. I don't think our country was totally founded on the truth. In fact, it began with secret meetings, lying to the government which was our ruler, and taring and feathering or any other form of torture for those AMERICAN citizens who were still loyal to the king in Europe. The way I see it, the government is like a parents and we are their children. Parents frequently bend the truth or will not tell their children things because they believe it is what is best for them. How many parents do you know, when their preschooler asks where babies come from, tells them the whole story at that young age. There are just some things that the average citizen is not supposed to know at all, or that will know at a later time. I believe that the just ruler may lie. However, because we are talking about a just ruler here they will only lie about the things totally necessary.
ReplyDeleteAmen to this. Justice has to have a solid foundation to grow on. America may have had some sneaky people in its past but they were only sneaky in order to get out from under an oppressive monarch that was taxing them UNJUSTLY!
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