Friday, March 23, 2012

The desire for philosopher-kings

Could be taken from Plato's The Republic, if translated to contemporary settings...



If we look at America, we find a country that is in quite a bit of psychological self-doubt at this moment.  We find a country that has had much of its government, many of its leaders, besieged by irrationality, religiosity, they don't believe in evolution, they don’t believe in climate change, we cannot pass a simple measure in Congress to extend the national debt (which is not going to not happen): how can a government that is so paralyzed by its own inability to see reason be the custodian over that critical part of every economy that a government must preside over…
…while China, governed by engineers and technocrats tends to look at reason.  There are no climate deniers in China.  I have never spoken to a Chinese who doubted evolution.  And yet the ranks of the political houses of Congress are replete with these people—and there making decisions which govern how we live and how we govern the American economy.
Intelligence Squared Podcast.  March 20, 2012.  “Does China Do Capitalism Better Than America?”  National Public Radio.

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