What Can We Learn from the Ancient Greeks Regarding Politics?

Having read and studied the most influential philosophy book of all-time, “Plato’s Republic,” I have reached a conclusion: political corruption is part of the human condition.

I can say a lot about this book. The same issues the Ancient Greeks dealt with over 2000 years ago, we are still dealing with today. The Ancient Greeks especially had to contend with a corrupt political system that was not much different than ours today.

In around 300 B.C. there were corrupt politicians and average citizens couldn’t agree as to what justice meant in Ancient Greece. In Plato’s Republic book, Socrates had numerous dialogues with other people as to what was a just society and a proper government. Socrates and his fellows couldn’t agree with each other any more than most people in society nowadays.

From this I gather that governmental corruption and politicians who only care about themselves is just part of the human condition. There will always be enough average citizens who just don’t care and will simply go along and support such corrupt “government leaders.”

Corrupt government leaders have been going on for thousands of years. Probably the faster that people realize this instead of chasing after some false ideal, the better.

Reference:

Plato (author), W.H.D. Rouse (translator). Great Dialogues of Plato. Penguin Group (USA) LLC.