Through a Nightmare, Darkly
From Plato to Postmodernism, we can use philosophy to understand and combat tyranny.
Cracks in the Foundation
I hate to wake up early these days, the news waiting is almost always negative. And so it was this morning when I rose at 6:30 am only to be greeted by a tweet from President Trump in his usual form: using racial stereotypes to degrade political opponents while also ‘joking’ about becoming a dictator.
I’m sure some of you are getting used to this by now, but I still struggle to comprehend it. Perhaps its why, when Trump was initially elected — and some of my friends and family suggested I was overreaching — I refused to calm down and instead kept prodding and poking, turning over rock after rock, and watching the festering critters scurry with each new discovery.
I needed not go far for such discoveries. I first turned to Plato, remembering my introduction to ethics course and The Republic where Plato sought to define the nature of justice and examine society, its different forms, and how they relate to the individual.
