Who Should Have the Helm

I happened upon a video last night about political philosophy, different from what you might expect. The philosophy PhD, David Wood, who’s doing the Philosophy Underground video, talks about Plato’s suggestion that we ought to be ruled by philosophers. I don’t agree. Practically no one in Plato’s time or since fully agrees. And yet, there is an argument to be made. 

Wood describes an analogy Plato gives in Book 6 of The Republic. There is a ship on the high seas on which various people are fighting to take the helm. But none of the fighting men is a navigator. None of them has the skills to guide the ship where it needs to go, or to handle it in rough seas. What they are good at is fighting. So whoever is the best fighter wins the right to man the helm. But since this best fighter does not know how to navigate or steer, the ship is in dire straits, along with everyone on it. Then, of course, another fight ensues, until another fighter gets the chance to man the helm—a position for which he also has no skills.

pirates fighting for the helm
promotional image found here

The comparison is, in our world, the people who get to rule us—who get elected as our representatives in government—are not the people trained in running a country, or possibly even a large, complex organization; they are the people best at “fighting” a good campaign. They are skilled at talking people into voting for them.

Why would a philosopher, also untrained in how to run a country, be any better? The theory is that he would be better trained at thinking. He thinks about deeper meanings. For example, he sees a beautiful woman or a beautiful sunset, and he asks, “What is beauty?” Why, he wants to know, do certain things strike us as beautiful? How do we recognize beauty in the first place? And so on.

Plato's The Republic
image found here

If such a person were to recognize that something was either good or bad in a country, he would ask how we identify it as good or bad. And if it’s bad, what would need to be different to make it good? And so on, until he gets to a core principle somewhere deep within the problem. In Plato’s Republic, he gets to the bottom of these basic questions: What is justice? and Why is it better to be just than unjust?

And if you can get to a core principle—on something such as what it takes to make certain aspects of a country good to live in—you might get someone able to rule. Or at least someone who could teach a person the principles that would make for good rule.

It just so happens that the political philosophy that is the Spherical Model may supply those core principles.

Here are the principles, divided up into the three spheres: Political, Economic, and Social. Abiding by these principles will lead to freedom, prosperity, and civilization—instead of the ubiquitous alternatives of tyranny, poverty, and savagery.

 

Political Sphere:

·       The purpose of government is to protect and preserve the God-given rights to life, liberty, and property of each person individually and as a people within that government entity.

·       The government can do only those duties delegated to it by the people in written and binding law.

·       The government cannot have a right to do something that the people individually do not have the innate power to do, and therefore do not have the power to delegate to the government. Ex. 1: Government cannot confiscate property owned by one person and bestow ownership of that property on another person, because individuals do not have that right; it would be theft.  Ex. 2: Individuals have the right to defend their own lives and property, so they have the right to delegate that defense to government; delegating to government does not remove that right from individuals.

·       Governing should be done at the lowest level possible. Ex. 1: protecting local property should be done by local police. Ex. 2: protecting borders from foreign invasion should be done by the national government.

·       The government cannot cede power to any entity larger than the nation; international issues must be handled by diplomacy, preferably, or military defense when necessary.

These principles can be used by people when deciding on candidates to vote for, or on ballot propositions. The questions to ask candidates are found here. 

And the principles can be used by elected officials. The questions representatives ought to ask about policies are here. 

 

Economic Sphere:

·       The person who earned, accumulated, and owns wealth is the person who gets to decide how it is spent.

·       Taxes are acceptable only when limited to funding the duties of government enumerated in written principle-abiding law.

·       Government’s economic responsibility is limited to protecting property. (This can include the coining of money to be used as a form of exchange.)

·       Government must lawfully prevent monopoly or other economic tyranny, but otherwise must allow people the open exchange of legal goods and services.

·       Using the people’s money to achieve political aims goes against the proper role of government.       

Let’s add in a Spherical Model maxim related to that last one:

Whenever government attempts something beyond the proper role of government (protection of life, liberty, and property), it causes unintended consequences—usually exactly opposite to the stated goals of the interference.

Again, there are questions to ask a candidate to learn whether they understand the right economic principles. They can also be found here. 

 

Social Sphere:

·       Civilization requires a people who honor God, life, family, truth, and property ownership. (These are a summary of the Ten Commandments.)

·       While not all religious societies are civilized, all civilized societies are made up of a critical mass of religious people.

·       The family is the basic unit of civilized society. Whatever threatens the family threatens civilization. Therefore, preserving and protecting the family is paramount in laws and social expectations in a civilized society.

A few years ago I did a series on why honoring God, life, family, truth, and property ownership are necessary for civilization. You can read that series here:

·        Part I: Life 

·        Part II: Truth 

·        Part III: Property Ownership 

·        Part IV: God and Freedom of Religion 

·        Part V: Civilizing Religion  

·        Part VI: Repenting as a Civilization 

·        Part VII: Family Perpetuates Civilization 

·        Part VIII: Marriage 

There are also a few questions you can ask candidates concerning their understanding of civilization values, here. 

 

The US Constitution

It also just so happens that the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were written by philosophers who had read and studied and worked their way down to the core principles on which to govern. Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and others were thinkers who asked the questions that would lead to core principles.

Howard Chandler Christy's "Scene at the Signing
of the Constitution of the United States"
image found on Wikipedia

This coming Sunday, September 17, will mark 235 years since our Constitution was signed. So it would be worth celebrating with a post dedicated to how well that document aligns with the principles of freedom, prosperity, and civilization. Look for that later this week.