Column #383      December 30, 2022Plato's Allegory of the Cave

Our nation’s Founding Fathers did not want a Democracy. In fact, they feared a Democracy. Yet today, based on that kind of thinking our current government would target our Founding Fathers as far-right extremists. This illustrates how corrupted our government has become in preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States.1

Most Americans do not fully understand the dangers of a democratic government as they continue to push the foundations of their government away from liberty toward democracy. We continuously hear from far left leaning politicians, bureaucrats, and citizens that our democracy is being threatened. A prime example can be found in a short essay by Patricia Hughes from Mindful Politics. In addition to a list of wrongs she stated that, “It’s not just us average Americans or those involved in politics and elections who have noticed the growing threat to democracy in the United States. More than 100 ‘scholars of democracy’ issued a warning that our democracy is in danger, largely based on efforts to restrict access to voting.”2

Hughes is not concerned about the Constitution, she is advocating a form of government our Founding Fathers deliberately wanted to avoid. Her essay is a prime example of the level of ignorance that permeates our citizenry. She doesn’t realize she is providing a great example of Plato's Allegory of the Cave which I’ll discuss more below.

What guiding lights did our nation’s Founding Fathers follow when they wrote the Constitution for the United States of America? Cato’s Letters played a part. In addition they “studied history from Athenian Democracy, to the Roman Republic before and after Caesar, to the Maritime republics of the Middle Ages (including the successful mixed-government of the Republic of Venice), and they had seen the pitfalls of the other types of governments, which had been known since the Greek philosophers.”3 4 5

When it comes to Greek philosophers, what do you know about Plato’s “Republic?” Plato wrote it approximately 2,400 years ago? In Books VIII–IX Plato categorized governments into five types of regimes: aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. Do you understand his analysis and how they lead Tyranny? Our Founding Fathers certainly did.6

Monarchy/Aristocracy (a government based on wisdom) is stable
Timocracy (a government based on honor and merit)
Oligarchy (a government based on wealth; a capitalist state)
Democracy/Anarchy (a government based on liberty and equality)
Tyranny (the most diseased kind of society)

Plato described how these governments can eventually morph from aristocracy to timocracy to oligarchy to democracy and then tyranny. A government based on democracy is the quickest to morph into tyranny. Quoting out of context—Plato said, “. . . tyranny naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme form of liberty?”

To counter the evolution of governments to morph into tyranny, the Founding Fathers opted for Kallipolis, which Plato called his “ideal Republic.” It was a mixed constitutional government of powers which is part democracy, part oligarchy, part timocracy, and part aristocracy with each higher form restraining the lower.7

Keep that in mind as you take note of how the vote has changed over the years. At first only men who owned property, who were mainly white, Christian, and over 21, had the right to vote. They elected representatives who sat in the House of Representatives. Senators were elected by state legislatures. The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.

Time went by and people wanted more freedoms. Eventually the right to vote was given to all men. Then after the Civil War men of color could vote and then eventually women. The voting age was lowered and lowering it even more is being talked about today. Over the years the election of senators was changed so they were elected directly by the general population of valid voters. And now there’s talk of doing away with the Electoral College. And to include the greatest number of voters, mail in voting and voting seasons, instead of voting days, are in play. Soon, our country will be a pure democracy which is Plato’s feared democracy.8

Lots of people praise the changes in the voting laws and the idea of our government being a full-fledged democracy. But they know nothing about Plato's Allegory of the Cave. If you aren’t aware of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, then a little study is called for. And at the same time you should start paying attention to the Twitter files and the Great Reset.9 10 11

Our nation is morphing into tyranny. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are considered old fashioned and not applicable to the conditions of modern man. It’s as if by being modern, mankind has moved beyond the natural urges that possessed people in the past. This is what we’re being told anyway which takes us back to the Allegory of the Cave.

Happy New Year!

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

For additional reading:

1. Why America's Founders Didn't Want a Democracy by Gary M. Galles from Foundation for Economic Education

2. I Do Solemnly Swear to… Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States by C. McMasters Ph.D. from The Liberty Belle

3. Current Threats to Our Democracy by Patricia Hughes from Mindful Politics

4. Cato’s Letters, 4 vols. in 2 (LF ed.)

5. Why Did the Founding Fathers Choose a Republic? by Thomas DeMichele from Fact/Myth

6. Plato's Republic | Summary, Analysis & Significance

7. How Democracy Leads to Tyranny From Plato’s Republic by Thomas DeMichele from Fact/Myth

8. Harvesting Low-Effort Votes Is Working Great For Democrats, So They’re Going For More by Victoria Marshall from The Federalist

9. Plato's Allegory of the Cave from Philosophy Vibe

10. Allegory of the Cave by Dr. Harrison Kleiner

11. Will Durant---The Philosophy of Plato