One of the election themes from those who woke up Wednesday morning with a foreboding fear concerning election results was that our democracy is at risk. As I consider this risk, I am reminded of the words of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato.
In his “The Republic,” Plato doesn’t express high hopes for democracy as a form of government, writing:
“How does despotism arise? That it comes out of democracy is fairly clear. . . the insatiable desire for this good [liberty] to the neglect of everything else may transform a democracy and lead to a demand for despotism. A democratic state may fall under the influence of unprincipled leaders, ready to minister to its thirst for liberty with too deep draughts of this heady wine; and then, if its rulers are not complaisant enough to give it unstinted freedom, they will be arraigned as accursed oligarchs [elites] and punished.”
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