Plato
...s for their country’s sake, not regarding it as a distinctions but as an unavoidable task. This is one area that Plato used to ensure that whoever is placed in a leadership position should be suitably qualified to carry out his “role” in society. . For Plato, everything here on earth is a mere shadow of the forms, by definition imperfect. His state is no exception. It is marked by stratification of its inhabitants into three distinct groups: (1) guardians whose job it is to rule; (2) auxiliaries who will enforce the decisions of the rulers; and (3) farmers and craftsmen who will supply the material needs of the states. A person is suited to each of these categories by incident of birth, by the very make-up of his being, and he should be made to accept his place in life for the good of the state. Plato recognizes that the stations he prescribes for each group may breed discontent within the members. This dissatisfaction may even infect the rulers who have no wish to rule because their occupation is tying them to mundane realities when they can commune with the forms. There is no doubt that Plato’s ideal society is highly systematic. Unlike some other forms of oppression, which may exist due to evolution, tradition, or accident, Plato’s ideal society is planned out in meticulous detail - there is no place whatsoever for spontaneity and accident and individual choice. Plato assumes a complete code of human values, and is ready to assign every human want and desire its place in his totalitarian structure. The true nature of Plato’s ideal society will be invisible to the masses. They will not see that the system is rigged to keep them in their place. They will never receive the education necessary to think critically and see the truth about the state. As long as the producer classes remain unaware of their oppression, they will not revolt. Naturally, Plato does not plan on the producer classes ever finding out. It is not hard to see that the entire oppressive structure of Plato’s ideal society benefits the philosophers and the state. The producers, little more than slaves, are expected to produce the food and material goods necessary for the sustenance of society. The auxiliaries are used to keep the producers in their place, and to defend the nation from external aggression. Meanwhile, the philosophers are freed of the necessity to make a living, and may spend their lives in contemplation and comfort. They would live as parasites, sustaining themselves by feeding off the producer classes. The philosophers may claim that they are serving the general good, but there is no guarantee of this. There is no way to ‘govern’ the government, and no right of recall when the government does wrong. A great deal of the oppression suffered was internalized or self-monitored. This aspect of oppression is also present in Plato’s ideal society. The state will use propaganda, and indoctrinate society (in such a way that most citizens of the producer class may never actually see or question their own oppression). A depressingly large number of men would choose security and certainty over freedom. While Plato’s idea of the ideal society oppressive and dehumanizing, there is no point in denying that many of the producers will obediently accept their position, and not even contemplate rebellion. In this ideal society, there is a great deal of compulsion involved. The whole force of the state is ready to enforce the oppression, and keep the producer class in its place. Once the government acts to enforce oppression, as it undoubtedly would in Plato’s ideal society, the victims have no hope. However, there is no way to combat an unelected government, other than through violent revolution. It is even harder to imagine the division of a man’s soul into three areas. According to Plato: “It [referring to the soul] too is made up of three elements, the rationale, which the highest, the spirited, which has the capacity to follow and assert the claims of reason and the appetitive, the lowest in rank, which harbours man’s desires and emotion” The “rationale” was being the highest element of the soul and ascribed to the rulers. Their role was to keep the other two element of the soul (i.e the guardians and the common people) “in line”. How can one go about determining which person is “gold” and which is “bronze” or “silver”. Plato uses this distinction also in his hierarchy – where naturally, the rulers were gold, the guardians – silver and the common people – bronze. Nature plays a great role in human development. In Plato’s society, there is no room for upward mobility as once you were born within a certain strata of the society, you had to remain in that area. It is unfair to judge a child at a young age, as he may turn out to be a very different sort of person than what he appeared to be in childhood. The state is quite likely to make a misjudgment and assign a person to a lower (or higher) position in life than he could have earned if he were left free. This mistake, made in the na...