A Study of Plato and Democracy Reveals and Demonstrates a Tendency for Majority Rule to Subjugate Those Who Dissent. Democracy Today is Rigged to Serve the Needs of Elite.

A discussion about Plato and Democracy: It is common to look to the ancients for wisdom.

Democracy is considered to the best form of government, but in ancient history, people such as Plato held contempt for the idea. Many today also hold contempt.

So why would someone such as Plato question what is held to be the perfect model of government?

The answer can be found in understanding what a true democracy is.

Plato felt that leaders could easily become tyrants, and if you have a democracy, essentially what you have is a mob of tyrants as opposed to one.

One thing seems to stand out when studying the philosopher. On this theme, he appears to have been worried about the corruption of the soul.

He believed that democracy leads to the corruption of more souls than other forms of government.

Plato knew that a form of government in which there is majority rule could easily lead to the suffering of all people within that state.

When there is majority rule, the entire population is subject to that rule, and they must suffer the consequences of the majority decision, no matter if they agreed to it or not.

There is no room for considering the rights and welfare of the individual in a form of government such as democracy, where the majority rules.

Why a Majority Rule Could be Bad

One of the main reasons why a society in which the majority rules could be destructive is that no matter how many people agree, there will always be some people who don’t. Their voices will be quieted by the majority.

In a democracy, the rights of the individual are frequently trampled by the choices of the majority because there is no set laws to prevent this from happening.

When considering Plato and democracy, this was something that was obvious, even in the ancient world.

In a Perfect World

If all people in a society were good at heart, and had sufficient education to make reasonable decisions, and be unswayable by the opinions of others, a democratic society could possibly work.

Sadly, this has never been the case throughout human history.

The problem with democracy, according to the ideas of Plato and democracy, is that majority rule often falls victim to the charismatic who can easily sway the masses.

Corrupting Many Souls

When attempting to understand what a true democratic society is, it often helps to look to the paradigm of Plato and democracy.

To Plato, the thought of a democracy must have been very troubling, as his primary concern was the preservation of the soul.

He knew that it was man’s nature to be swayed by the opinion of others, and it would not be too difficult for an evil-doer to corrupt the souls of the majority of the population by simply manipulating public opinion.

Once the true nature of democracy is fully understood, it becomes obvious that there is simply no way for a democracy to exist in a free society, where the rights of the individual must always be taken into consideration.