Was Plato Right?

 It doesn't take a single tyrant to cause oppression; think of this as a similarity to a 'death by a thousand cuts' for a society.  This author has previously commented on the impact of Social Media and the Main Stream Media (MSM) as these are just adding more and more cuts to the everyday lives of the general population.  

It is currently fashionable for many self declared minority groups to assert that they are being oppressed by any non minority group(s). Any criticism towards the self declared minority groups is considered 'punching down' and yet those same groups are being paid attention to by society at large. How is it that the current darlings of society who are being propped up by the commercial and social institutions can be considered the oppressed thus allowing them to claim that any criticism is considered punching down.  

This overall situation creates a fracturing of the society, because it effectively creates a teared class system and many people will get the impression they are second class citizens due to the fact they are not being recognized to the same level as others. This scenario has been exasperated by both Social Media companies and the MSM, which both provide pulpit and bullhorn to those who want to scream out about their cause(s).  

A friend to this author has brought up the idea that the solution to the World's woes would be a single world government. This idea is flawed on it face, for when questioned on the style of government the response was - benevolent dictatorship, this may have been said in jest, though it was not obvious. There are two conditions where a benevolent dictatorship typically works: a) parenting and b) short term projects. Eventually in a government of such magnitude and diversity within the citizenry would abandon the benevolence and leave only the dictatorship.  

It is said that 'politics is downstream from culture' and so what should be obvious to the reader and the friend is the question of, which culture is going to be used as the model for what it upstream of politics. For years in the Western World there has been a strong push of the message that 'diversity is our strength', of course there is no mention of who is in the club of 'our' as this has always been assumed.  

A flag to be raised at this time is the Story of Babel, as a reminder, the city of Babel decided to build a tower to Heaven and God was not pleased and so He divided the citizens into groups and assigned to them diverse languages, the tower was never finished and there is still fundamentally only one way to reach Heaven. 

The next consideration for this proposed global hegemony is how do politicians and staff get paid and at what rate; seeing as different area's of the world have diverse needs and can produce diverse outputs of value by both the means of production and agricultural output there might a plan put forth that payroll is going on a spectrum, will this New World Order make the Esperanto Dollar a crypto currency thing? Many people may consider that some political operators may simply construct and take advantage of whatever payment practices they put in place.  

Circling back to the benevolent dictatorship idea another item to be raised is the consideration towards what tribe is this One World Government political apparatus going to be benevolent towards. While there is the potential of this being denied in principle, in practice the idea of human tribalism is quite well known and is considered the standard. This tribalism has been shown across many civilizations and conflicts over the long history of mankind. As migration has increased due to easier means of travel coupled with some having sought to erase boarders the shift in tribalism has moved from the obvious, to the sublime and forward on to the ridiculous. 

There is strength in unity and it is within unity we find our strength, while this statement may sound fascistic, that is because it is based on the social principles of Fascism. So now it is time for the wrap-up smear as it were: a) consider the fact that many people do not consider themselves only as a member of mankind but a member of a smaller tribe, b) all people have some bigotry or prejudice in them else they would never make assumptions, c) people when given the chance will seek to improve their lives, their livelihoods and their accumulation of value to pass on to their children. 

Returning to the title of this article, as this writing is approaching the limits this author is comfortable with. Plato did support the idea of critical thinking, thus he followed in the footsteps of Socrates and this is a fundamentally right wing act – TRADITION! If the reader doesn’t understand the full caps reference please look up Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof. It is the opinion of this author that it was never Plato’s intent to suggest a world king because his world was bound to the horizon and the little that he knew of what was beyond it. Additionally, up until the time of Machiavelli, many kingdoms and principalities were not inherited. 

This author can wholeheartedly agree with Plato, at the village level the Philosopher King could be an ideal means of rule, for any ruler should always be only a stones throw away and anyone beyond that should be considered a tyrant. It is the understanding of this author that the Romans voted with stones by placing them in the pots for Yea or Nay.

 Funnily enough, it has been said that the first person to hurl an insult instead of a rock started civilization. It is the position of this author that sometimes with politicians, tomatoes are a better choice.

  

Valuing values

The public Internet, the financial market systems, and the governments have shifted many people into the mindset of the criminal. This has plunged, at this time, many peoples' lives into chaos. Please recall that many people are content with the idea that chaos is a ladder versus the idea of working towards the reduction of chaos for the betterment of the community. 

Here are the twenty classical values that embody core traits of the person you might want to be and/or 

be around:

Loyalty Spirituality Humility Compassion Honesty Kindness Integrity Selflessness Determination Generosity

Courage Tolerance Trustworthiness Equanimity Altruism Appreciation Empathy Toughness Self-Reliance Attentiveness

This writing is going to be a short one due to personal considerations for the author; it is a long form of 

the Awkward Question of the Week (AQW)

While this author considers self navel gazing a powerful tool towards self improvement, some room has

to set aside towards the examination of other peoples tummies as it were. 

The value of your friends ought to the values you hold yourself accountable for. The values of your 

community are the values you hold yourself to be accountable for.The values of your government ought 

to be what you hold yourself accountable for. 

In consideration of the 20 values above, check of the rules under the categories of self, friends, community, 

government. Then ask yourself, when people make the claim of 'diversity is our strength' what are they 

referring too?

For this author, skin colour, gender, and sexual preference seem to be absent from that traditional list above 

and that aught to be noted.

Now, this author will consider some values that have risen to the top of our current social construct:

There is just ME Online Likes Trolling Apathy  Convenience Narcissism Convenience Egocentric-ism UBI* Virtue Signaling

Don't be noticed - Cancel Culture Intolerance Tribalism Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt (FUD) Virtue Signaling Expectation What ever Capitulation  Who do I hire to fix things What Ever...

* UBI stands for Universal Basic Income - where the government takes care of all your basic needs at the 

expense of others, as the government has no money based on any value. 

Once again one can see that the immutable characteristics of a person are missing from Table #2. Perhaps

more people should consider or be apathetic to the fact that there is more to an individual person than 

just having two arms, two legs, a head on the top, or any specific amount of melamine (skin colour).

So now the choice is up to the reader and any future readers, which set of values would the reader purport 

to make a better world? The next seemingly obvious question to be asked is; a better world for whom?

One last point, what Rights do you have that those in your community do not? 

All regards, your author

Richard Danielli

-QUOTE- 

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

 -Robert A. Heinlein (July 7, 1907 - May 8, 1988)

A Grumpy Old Man (an Op-ED on history)

On the 13th of May in the year of someone's God 1966 the world was introduced to one Richard Danielli; by calculation that May the 13th was a Friday. At the time of this writing, yesterday was once again a Friday the 13th of May and Mr. Danielli celebrated his birthday with friends while sitting upon a patio, received well wishes from family and friends and a lottery ticket from a neighbor. The handling of the lottery ticket is still a question that needs to be addressed...

Is being 56 years of age old enough to become a grumpy old man is the question that this article will be addressing through examples. The premiss is to compare the understood historical time of Mr. Danielli's infancy, adolescence, the bravado of youth and adulthood. 

The reader is asked to keep in mind the influence that America has on the world.

Infancy - 1 year old:

The average home prices in Toronto in 1967 were $24,000. The war in Vietnam was still active at this time shortly after the Korean conflict halted hostilities. People were picking flowers to put in their hair and rifle barrels. Face paint was liberally applied on faces across America to symbolize peace and unity for it was the 'Summer of Love' after all. Of course Canada had to revert back to a peace time economy after the Korean conflict and the USA had to shift away from their embarrassment in Vietnam. 

Cars were mostly small, though pretty good at gas guzzling due to inefficiencies. Many people had small gardens to reap the rewards of fresh food be it the flavour or a slightly lower grocery bill; and people had the time to do the gardening. Houses were also small and most people could do their own repairs and they owned the tools and knowledge with effect. The experts were only called in for fresh construction projects and in a moment of dire need where the tool or knowledge was not available. 

Adolescence - ~13 years old:

The 70s in Toronto saw the average home price rise 141% from $29,429 in 1970 to $70,830 in 1979. 1969 heralded the era of the end of space race when Neil Armstrong placed his foot on the Moon and was able to come home to the Earth after the fact. There was at this time a shift away from war and a move towards hope and accomplishment.

Cars got bigger as did the gas guzzling. Opulence escalated  as lower level cars started to more resemble higher end motor cars by any means required. Some cars actually used wood while others adopted plastic to resemble wood. There was also an inrush of foreign manufacturers in North America coupled with an expansion of domestic brands. Obviously there was prosperity in both Canada and the USA for as the saying goes people vote with their feet. 

The Internet took its first baby step around this time when Universities, Governments and big business became adjoined at 9600-8-N-1 or even slower. Dial-up was the only option on the WAN side of things, and on the LAN side of things COAX cable was just starting to take hold. Computers were centralized and people mostly used a remote terminals or a terminal emulator. 

The bravado of youth - ~19 Years old:

Despite seeing some heart stopping interest rates, home prices in the 1980s increased by 260% from $76,000 in 1980 to $274,000 in 1989. The comfort settled in and so another round of rebellion got kicked in to gear as the mid to late 70s lead to the era of Punk and other harsh fragmentation of society. The improvements in the speed of data transference permitted ideas and images to be spread at a faster rate than ever before. Once people had a choice outside of their community they gained confidence due to online-numbers as their social community grew outside of the community they live in. 

Around this time cars got smaller once again and so did the consumption of gas as by now cars became more efficient though the cars also became more complicated. More independence was taken away from the owner; this was not a bad thing overall seeing as the car became more complicated and the owners were not as well educated as they could be to maintain the car, which stepped out of cadence, the owner or the car this will be left to the reader to determine. 

Around this time began the reintroduction of identity politics and public shame in the eye and ears of Mr. Danielli. The reader is asked to remember that this diatribe is based on the memories of Mr. Danielli during an internal interview. Society and the people there in, were being asked if not demanded of to weigh the balance based on a single topic in order to determine the goodness or the badness of an individual. It was still common place that a company's name held the name of the creator of that company.

It should be noted by the reader that in 1989 the fall of the Berlin Wall happened. 

Adulthood- 56 years old:

At the time of this writing the average home selling prices in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) area increased 15% year-over-year to $1,254,400 while decreasing 3.5% month-over-month for April 2022. The 30 year old position of comfort has come and gone by this time due to a number of reasons. At the time of this writing, student dept has climbed to the roof and the ability to buy a house dropped to the floor. There seems to be a certain ire in the air as hope goes out the window as this usually creates social change. 

The small cars of the 60s and early 70s returned with upgrades to electronics and emissions management in the form of the Fiat 500, the Mini and the Volkswagen Beatle. Other cars, mainly those built in Northern America have been homogenized into a non-distinctive shape between fabricators. Electric cars have by now been introduced, as the savior of the environment, though there is little to no regard for the source of the power required to charge that battery made from rare earth minerals; such as the generation of electricity be it from oil, natural gas or nuclear. The reader should also be reminded that more and more of the each and every car contains more plastic and that the source of plastic is oil. 

The public Internet for the most part has moved to speeds that were only dreamed of by the science fiction writers of the 1960s and 1970s, which were the earliest parts of Mr. Danielli's life. Some of these Sci-Fi writers could see the inbound problems of a communication cloud so large and blew the trumpets of warning, Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick come fist in line for the mind of this author. 

Identity politics and public shaming is now going full throttle to the point where the term 'cancel culture' has been coined. The culture has taken on a sizable shift from help thy neighbor towards don't know thy neighbor. The social pearl clutching has now accompanied the dive to the bottom of society. The North American societal 'Overton window' is once again shifting; the reins are now being held tight and are pulled upon hard; for as the saying goes the pendulum always swings because that is just what humans do from time to time. 

Society has seemingly lost any path of purpose as the societal load has been shifted away from building a culture to creating public shame. For somehow now people no longer feel comfortable putting forth a definite definition of what a woman or a man is. This has caused much concern for Mr. Richard Danielli as social leadership continues to moves further and further beyond arms length.

One of the warnings Machiavelli gives to both the Good Prince and the citizenry was that the best means towards a successful society is that the Good Prince remains present to their subjects. 

The sentence in the lines above was made evident to Mr. Richard Danielli back in the age of adolescence by his father and mother, and with high confidence Mr. Danielli asserts that his parents never read the book. Of course upon occasion Mr. Richard Danielli was left on his own or in the company of his brother. As the age of the then children climbed the alone time increased as their parents imposed more responsibility upon the then children; simple question, where is the self responsibility being assigned today that hasn't already been reassigned to the government?

(EDIT-5/18/2022) It has also been noted recently that the musical injections are returning to the pre-grunge musical era which was somewhat a return to the 1950s North American music scene; people wore suits and dresses on stage and off. The people of North America presented themselves well to their neighbors. Additionally the lyrics of many songs were relationship building and societal building; all of that changes by the year 2000.

Please remember that The Berlin Wall was built to keep people within a boarder. 

In Conclusion:

It should be obvious to the reader that every subsection of this article has a greater number of paragraphs then those that proceeds it. This is an obvious progression for Mr. Richard Danielli as he has moved through life's circle his awareness and he has grown and more of the world has been thrust upon him via the expansion of the public Internet. It is still up for debate if this awareness is for the better or for the worse personally. 

The teeter-totter of life introduces one to many characters and Mr. Danielli has not been bereft of that experience. In the last few years Mr. Danielli has taken note that a number of caricatures have also joined the public discourse; this is probably the normal in many societies throughout the ages and it simply took Mr. Richard Danielli years to see the difference.

There are a number of characters that history will just not let go of, well at least for now, and you the reader should take note as to the why. Aristotle is notable as is both Plato and Socrates for they launched some of the first studies in thinking about thinking. Obviously they were not the first though it also has to be recognized that Pythagoras and Archimedes of Syracuse provided the basics of mathematics and physics. Amadeus Mozart, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio brought forth art that so few of you can even dream of touching. Next there are the writers and the orators such as Shakespeare, Poe, Dave Allen, and Professor Peterson, for they too brought contemplation and understanding to light via words. While there are so many more to be named, there is an intended limited space for this writing. 

Upon reflection, Mr. Richard Danielli recalls with affection the times of infancy, adolescence and even bravado; though the last item was quite turbulent as it should be. In considering the current society is there still a sense of bravado in young men? Is there still a request for bravado in young women; because now that men and women are more equal to men then ever before, should any man give a shit for any woman who claims such.  

We all make choices that have consequence...

Roeing vs. Wading

In the preceding week of this article, it was leaked from the Supreme Court Of The United States (SCOTUS), in the form of a legal draft, that the highest court in the US would over turn the SCOTUS ruling from 1973 that is commonly known as Roe v. Wade. The social upheaval has been noticeable though in the mind of this author pointless and this article will attempt to explain this position along with a few other items on this subject. 

Abortion is potentially the most controversial topic in the US since the early 1970s when Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973. There is no provision in the US Constitution for abortion, what that formative document does provide for is personal privacy (14th amendment). The problem with the 1973 ruling was that SCOTUS removed the State's rights and moved those rights to the Federal level. The overturning of Roe v. Wade will simply return the decision making on and or about  abortion to the State level. The concerns for this author are the lack of understanding, reasoning and the increase potential for violence that has arose out of this document being leaked.

After fifty years of the population understanding that abortion was a right, which it is not, abortion is an action permitted under law. Not to set an equivalency, think about it as killing in self defense; there is a law against killing, though in the situation here there is an exception to that law. There are of course in the most restrictive of States exceptions to term limits on abortions, one example of this is if something goes wrong and the unborn child posses a risk to an otherwise healthy mother. This is simply not a one way street, there is pro-ported to be a case where the mother refused chemotherapy as it would kill her unborn child. 

Currently the position taken up by most of those on the political Right is 'safe, legal and rare'; in short, the idea of using abortion as a means of contraception is distasteful. The next problem the political Right has how Roe v. Wade is in direct opposition of the 10th amendment of the US Constitution, which basically states, that the actions of the individuals in a State should be left to the State they live in to determine; in other words, fifty different Petri dishes all in the same lab. 

Additionally, the ruling by SCOTUS back in 1973 set law rather than interpret a law against the US Constitution, meaning that back in 1973 when the nine men passed judgment they assumed the role of the Legislative branch, and this is what is behind the current court bringing this ruling up again. The enjoyable part of the current social conversation, for this author, is the number of Left leaning protesters and pundits whom are now demanding that men must not be involved, regardless of the fact that nine men were involved at the start of this mess. Does this mean that fifty some odd years ago the men were better? 

Turning our kaleidoscope of social understanding towards the Left now, the first item of note, is the statement - 'my body my choice' which this author considers to be sexist. The reasoning behind this consideration is that while the woman carries the baby for nine months that man pays for 18 years using his body or parts there of in order to support the child. Additionally, the 'my body my choice' position completely disregards the ideal of 'my body my responsibility'. We will circle back to this point later on. 

Also, where was the idea of 'my body my choice' in the age of COVID-19? Many people followed in lockstep on the ideas of masks and seemingly untried vaccinations as most of the research data was hidden from the conscience of the general public. For this author this presents a duality in choice as the masking up during the COVID-19 era was touted as a way to protect oneself and others, all the while, the idea of insisting the man for the night put on a condom somehow holds no equivalence. 

Another set of words printed out on signs being held up at the mostly peaceful protests reads something along the lines of - 'my body is not your baby factory'. This misplaced statement is flawed on its face because a 'factory' doesn't make choices. The greatly applauded story 'A Handmaids Tale', which is a dystopian fictional story, is the basis for this rhetoric. A factory does not decide what raw materials enter the IN door or what products exit via the OUT door; of course in an environment of constrained resources the IN door and OUT door can share purpose. Once again, baring sexual assault, a woman makes a choice, which resulted in a consequence that was considered to be an inconvenience and the resolution for that inconvenience is handled by public money. We will circle back to this point later on.

Sidebar: How is it that other choices, such as the consequences of combining drinking and driving are not also placed on the receipt of the public purse? 

An additional statement that has risen to prominence via the political Left is 'women need to engage in a sex strike'. The confusion for this author is that; the political Right has long called for abstinence as a means of avoiding the need for abortion and the political Left has now folded their hand as it were. Does the reader understand that those on the Left who adopt this proposition to create a society of abstinence reverses almost 60 years of sexual decadence based on the invention of the birth control pill?  The birth control pill was advertised as a means toward female freedom, while the end result was that it made women taxable and the creation of the dual income household thus raising the price of everything which dragged even more women into the work place, thus dragging their children into the hands of the institution know as government if the parents weren't careful. 

Another statement that has recently come out is one that states-  'Anti-abortion laws are killing us'. This can be seen expressed on a banner out side of an American church , go take a look at  the Fox News Youtube channel for more details. Once again the basic message is me, me, me, and everyone else can shove off including unborn children. The problem with this messaging,once again the laws have not changed as of the time of this writing and abortion is still available in each of the 50 states. There are eight states* which do have in place 'trigger laws' poised to make abortion illegal IF Roe v. Wade is over turned the 'if' was emphasized as the decision has not been handed down yet and yet the messages of woe have already started.   

The supply versus demand equation is never ending and the birth control pill plus an open door to abortion increased the supply thus making the 'product' cheapened in the eyes of the males and yet the females still want to be looked after. For this author there seems to be a pretty consistent messaging from the female side of society that someone else is to pay for the consequences of their choices. This does not mean all women of course have the same point of view; in fact, to those women who stand on their own or who have decided to marry and yet offer little to no complaints are the true feminists for they know their own strengths and limitations and will still navigate a reasonable life as they make their well considered choices. 

Closing the circle, the main stream media and some political commentators have told the general public that the overturning of Roe v. Wade will deprive women of the ability to get an abortion. Would this not force both women and men to consider their own personal responsibility, as the consequences of their activities will need to be considered and yet somehow this is a thing to be opposed - are the members of society now simply that tepid? 

* - Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wisconsin