philosopher kings with a budget

Obama and the new America?

Man is a social animal and it is thus inevitable and essential that there should be a process of enculturation that, from the outside, might look like hegemonic indoctrination. It sometimes might seem as if there is little space for free-will and individual impact - but there is in fact considerable room for manoeuvre in the details. 

There have been many empires, civilisations and city and nation states. Some have been more peaceful, spiritual and creative than others. Some have been desperately cruel, exploitative and genocidal. What makes the difference? There is no easy answer but some general patterns suggest themselves.

To the extent that a social system was consciously predetermined rather than unconsciously emergent, it will have originated in a human mind and spread from there. It would have gradually come to shape the worldview of the people in a limited geographical area.

Asoka - Buddhist Emperor

In ancient times the various civilisations were cut off from each other. They were thus free to create their own world views. In more recent times there has been an increasing globalisation of minds such that most modern, rational, cosmopolitan people think the same way. 

The dominant, contemporary, world view praises the efficacy of unregulated free market capitalism in promoting economic growth as measured by GDP. The rapid evolution of the mega-rich transnational corporations (TNCs) demonstrates the power of this world view.

Many ‘underdeveloped’ people still cling to older world views and the subcultures to which they belong. But their days are numbered. They will receive development aid that will convert them to true believers in the global, capitalist utopia  (?)

Unfortunately global capitalism is not all that its cheerleaders make it out to be. It has problems – pollution, environmental degradation, global warming, income disparity, greed, exploitation of the workers, and lack of political accountability - to mention but a few. There is imbalance. 

To quote a popular song –

It's the same the whole world over,
It's the poor wot gets the blame.
It's the rich wot gets the pleasure,
Ain't it all a terrible shame.

The sentiment is in accord with the Catholic Church which notes that “grave imbalances are produced when economic action, conceived merely as an engine for wealth creation, is detached from political action, conceived as a means for pursuing justice through redistribution."

Bill Gates - philosopher king?

And this begs the question of what Plato saw as Philosopher Kings ruling city states - "philosophers [must] become kings … or those now called kings [must]… genuinely and adequately philosophize".

BUT the wealth and the brain power exists to design and propagate a more peaceful, fair and environmentally sustainable way for mankind to be in the world. There is plenty of room for manoeuvre in the details of policies and programmes. The expertise for shaping and controlling what people think and feel is now well developed. All that is lacking is an influential cadre of the good and great with vision, will power and motivation linked to a generous budget.