I Like Plato, But Fucking Hell...
(Philosophy)Having secured his agreement, I proceeded, “Then it follows that the doctor qua doctor prescribes with a view not to his own interest but that of his patient. For we agreed that a doctor in the precise sense controlled the body and was not in business for profit, did we not?”
He assented.
“And did we not also agree that a ship's captain in the precise sense controlled the crew but was not one of them?”
He agreed.
“So that a captain in this sense is in control, but will not give his orders with his own interest in view, but that of the crew which he controls.”
He agreed reluctantly.
“And therefore, my dear Thrasymachus”, I concluded, “no ruler of any kind, qua ruler, exercises his authority, whatever its sphere, with his own interest in view, but that of the subject of his skill. It is his subject and his subject's proper interest to which he looks in all he says and does.”
—The Republic, 342 d
I always found Plato frustrating, because real world experience (aka History) provides so many counter examples to his arguments-in-a-vacuum. "Bro, listen bro, in a high-trust, homogenous ethno-state, bro..."
