You guys, I am tired. Worrying about current events and the pain and fear I see in my friends have exhausted me. You know, Plato and Socrates loathed democracy. Socrates believed that people very rarely took the time nor had the mental capacity to fully appreciate and comprehend that which they were voting on. Plato rejected Athenian democracy on the basis they followed citizens' impulses rather than pursuing the common good, that democracies are unable to allow a sufficient number of their citizens to have their voices heard, and that such democracies were typically run by fools.

The lack of coherent unity in Athenian democracy made Plato conclude that such democracies were a mere collection of individuals occupying a common space rather than a form of political organization. As a result, Plato accused such democracies of lacking rules outside where its citizens see fit and lacking leadership due to the notion of equality in Athenian democracy. Plato claimed that in Athenian democracy, individuals' pursuit of their own desires led to self-centredness and conflict rather than the pursuit of the common good. Due to the citizens being free to pursue their passions, Plato claimed that rational leadership was impossible in Athenian democracy as elected representatives served the citizens' passions. Plato claimed that the significance of the voice of the individual in an Athenian democracy depreciates as the population of the democracy increases.

I don't like Socrates and Plato's views on manyn things--I am more of a Stoic in my views and the sheer pessimistic views of Socrates and Plato bring me down. But as I look at the state of affairs today--first Brexit, now Trump--I can't claim their views are false. I have been reading a lot of Plato the last few days--not good for my mood but somehowe comforting because it shows these fears and worries I have are of all ages. I'm tired of thinking, though, and tired of the negative. So today I am sharing a video on ancient Athenia democracy. It won't make things better, but it gives perspective to the words and views of socrates and Plato and on the current state of events.

In this video--titled 'Ten things you really should know aboout ancient Greek democracy'--professor Paul Cartledge explores the democracy in ancient Hellas and the origins of the word, and how that distinguishes from todays notion of democracy. One of the main myths he tackles is the fact that we say there was democracy in ancient Hellas. There was no such thing. That is, there was no such one thing. Even Athens, which invented both the thing and the name, had at least three versions over a span of about 150 years. But although the ancient Hellenes have given the world democracy, ancient Greek democracy was in several crucial and fundamental respects very different indeed from, if not opposite to, what passes for democracy today.

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