I didn't say that it's implementation didn't often have certain characteristics. However, to say oligarchy supposes something is false. All it does is mean "rule by a few".
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However, to say oligarchy supposes something is false. All it does is mean "rule by a few".
Very true. One can see an oligarchy which is run in a total meritocratic fashion.“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
- John 13:34-35 (NRSV)
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Originally posted by skywalker
I didn't say that it's implementation didn't often have certain characteristics. However, to say oligarchy supposes something is false. All it does is mean "rule by a few".
It seems to me you're taking Harry Tuttle's rocky path:
-Democracy is only the rule of the people, therefore it has nothing to do with free speech!
-Yeah, but how are the people supposed to rule without their free speech, you moron?
and just to smooth things up:In Soviet Russia, Fake borises YOU.
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Originally posted by Oncle Boris
All right then. Would "imply" be a better word?
It seems to me you're taking Harry Tuttle's rocky path:
-Democracy is only the rule of the people, therefore it has nothing to do with free speech!
-Yeah, but how are the people supposed to rule without their free speech, you moron?
and just to smooth things up:
So there, Mr. Igotmyeducationfrombadmovies.
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Originally posted by Peter Triggs
Someone (Urmson?, Quinton?) once remarked something like "When you see the words 'philosophical' and 'theory' conjoined, be prepared to be disappointed." Question to Agathon: "Would you say the same thing about the words 'Apolyton' and 'philosophy'?"
I can't contribute much to these debates though. My specialization is in the minutiae of Platonic Metaphysics and Epistemology, surely something of great importance for most of the world's citizens.
Professional philosophy is much more tedious and nitpicking than the things people like to talk about on here. But small matters have big consequences.
I got bored of the God and free will stuff a long time ago.Only feebs vote.
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Ahem, further more:
free speech
n.
The right to express any opinion in public without censorship or restraint by the government.
Democracy benefits the people more when free speech is present, but it does not need to exist for a democracy to exist.
I will cite British free speech laws as an example.
But back on topic.....
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monkspider -I define inaction as inaction. What does she (Rand) define it as?
UBoris -Don't you think that the term oligarchy in itself supposes crimes long commited by ancestors which are in no way redeemable?
Think of the aristocracy or the centuries-inherited family wealth. Also consider that when I said past crimes, I also meant situations much more complex than "my grandfather nicked your grandmother's bicycle".
So, where does this lead? Well, that I got a free education from State-plundered funds make me a criminal of a sort- and that about anyone has benefitted in some way from welfare money, slavery accumulated family riches, or anything similar all make us some sort of criminals.
What about this 2$ you saved on your last purchase, because the good was produced by a worker who is forbidden by his government to form an union? Isn't that a form of plundering that needs reparations?
And about the privately-operated states: I suggest you take a look in some history books. The history of industrialization, is, quite frankly, the story of workers brutalized by the police on behalf of the "robber barons".
When a state says it's criminal for someone to go on strike, to protest against 80-hours weeks and near-starvation salaries, when a state uses the army to conquer mineral resources rich countries in Africa for its corporations to exploit it, then I call it privately ran by the financial oligarchy (*cough* England *cough* France).
The fact is, our world is an intricate pattern of plunders and replunders about which we can do about nothing- except, IMHO, making the "plunders" more tolerable to the poor by creating welfare states. Personally, I agree with Marx conception, in which a rich man exploiting the poor's only wealth- his labor-, and imposing his own conditions because he owns the means of production, is just another form of plunder by which you "alienate" one's soul.
Can you deny that this situation is absolutely unavoidable, when someone, through honest (or not, as long as he doesn't get caught) work, rises above the others and get a hold of the manufacturing process?
But how many states engaged in moral behavior? Nada? One, two...?
This is why I see the democratically ran welfare states as a counter-measure to this unavoidable, natural oligarchic system which has defined human history since the beginning. The "plunder" they impose is not only a reparation to past ones, it is also an insurance policy against future ones, in that it strives to give everyone equality in chances by providing for education and healthcare.
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Originally posted by Harry Tuttle
Hmmmm, the hamster in his brain must be running hot tonight. He hasn't responded yet.In Soviet Russia, Fake borises YOU.
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Originally posted by Harry Tuttle
Berzerker, I just looked up Bastiat. I like what I see. "If free trade does not cross borders, armies will." Very true.
Open your markets or we'll make you!!!Only feebs vote.
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Originally posted by Agathon
Yes, that just shows us the fasco-capitalist mentality doesn't it?
Open your markets or we'll make you!!!"I have been reading up on the universe and have come to the conclusion that the universe is a good thing." -- Dissident
"I never had the need to have a boner." -- Dissident
"I have never cut off my penis when I was upset over a girl." -- Dis
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Originally posted by bfg9000
Ayn Rand was the ultimate spokesman for the left hemisphere of the brain.
So all it would take for me to value her opinions would be to suffer a massive stroke?The genesis of the "evil Finn" concept- Evil, evil Finland
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