Democracy is a glorious idea. The notion of free citizens governing themselves by electing the best and brightest people among them as representatives is one of the best notions that the human race has ever produced. It’s a pity that the results are so often disappointing – especially that the chosen representatives so seldom appear to be the best and the brightest, let alone the most noble and honest citizens.
Plato always comes into this argument, even though he died 2,500 years ago. He suggested that democracy gives us so many choices and so much freedom that the system inevitably drifts towards mediocrity, decadence and chaos. He called it the “Rule by the appetites.”
But, iff we are living in Plato’s age of appetites, there is some good news. He believed that this would be the most enjoyable time to be alive, simply because we can essentially return to childhood and do and believe whatever we like, for a while. The main thing is to save our political system from moving on to the final stage of Plato’s cycle, which he called the age of tyranny.
Of course Plato was an ancient Greek with authoritarian instincts who lived in the very first age of democracy, which didn’t last long. In terms of the Athenian political system, he was proved to be absolutely right. The ancient Greeks proved incapable of governing themselves. So, said Plato, the only answer was for a few superior people to take on the difficult task of ruling over the rest, wise philosopher kings who would govern for the common good.
The idea of philosopher kings makes us smile now. Imagine a society run by the philosophy department at your local university and you might be tempted to laugh out loud. But forget the antique language and think about the central idea: those who govern should be the most intelligent and the most honest people who can be found. It’s a pure Platonic fantasy, of course. But consider that every responsible profession except politics demands rigorous training, an examination of competence, and a code of ethics. Politicians need no qualifications: they get into power simply by making themselves popular with the mass of people, and that was Plato’s whole complaint about democracy.
But this may be a problem with a simple solution. Why not impose a few appropriate qualifications for political office? At the very minimum, those who govern a society of 300 million people, with global power, should understand the economic and social sciences, know at least something about the physical sciences and, perhaps most important, understand history. It’s a complicated world out there.
This test would immediately reduce the field of candidates by about 99 percent, and it could be further refined by a few basic psychological measures of aptitudes like teamwork, honesty, psychological stability, and commitment to the higher goals of the institution - in this case, The Constitution.
Frankly I think this is a brilliant idea, worthy of Plato himself. All we have to do is to persuade the democratically elected Congress to pass it into law.
Copyright: David Bouchier
