“BEWARE OF GREEKS BEARING GIFTS” – VOTING WITH BEANS – STOICS – SOCRATES – PLATO – ARISTOTLE (Issue 427)

PART ONE

All the world loves two things, a winner and a parade. Plus we all enjoy receiving gifts. One particularly famous story of history is the one about the Greeks accepting the wooden horse as a gift. A gesture they thought represented friendship and goodwill. However, when the large wooden horse was opened, armed enemies came out and began killing onlookers. Hence the moral—–.

Ours is a young nation compared to most countries, and we owe a debt of gratitude to many like Greece for all the cultural knowledge we inherited. My 12 year old grandchild is so into Greek studies and loves it. Even has her backpack monogrammed in Greek lettering.

Years back when I was studying philosophic research, Socrates touted as the father of philosophy, and my teacher used the Socratic method of inquiry. When we think of Socrates it seems synonymous to think, “know thyself.” From his teachings and famous students, mainly Plato and Aristotle, we learn about Individualism and the Collectivism of political government.

When I was in school, it seemed the study of philosophy was mostly theory, however today that is no longer the case. We are living in an era of a battleground of ideas and the reality of individualism versus collectivism. Personal Freedom versus political government control of every facet of our lives. Time is of the essence as the march to Socialism seems to be in the last stretch, moving from creeping collectivism to leaping socialism. The United States, the great bastion of individual freedom, is under attack.

While millions are unemployed and drawing unemployment, now is a good time to renew our minds, go back and study and learn how we got to this place from the great teachers such as Socrates and his students. Read books like Rose Wilder Lane’s “Discovery of Freedom,” Robert Lefevre’s “This Bread is Mine”, Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom,” or Murray Rothbards “What Government Has Done to Our Money,” to suggest a few for enlightenment relative to what is happening, and why the loss of jobs, homes, and income. Because all of us have played a part in the past, which brought us to this brink, and must play a part in the future as conditions worsen, or improve. Things will move in one or the other direction.

It is imperative we stop and look that gift horse of the nanny State in the mouth. Consequently, the moral of the gift horse to the Greeks is an important one.

Not only that, there is much to be learned from the Greek Stoics. Known as the front porch philosophers. The spirit and intention of this group of people, was to seek truth, and supported the idea of individualism as being superior to collectivism. Their motto was, “Abstain from beans.”

In the era of the Stoics, there were no voting machines, no voting booths, but a method of dropping colored beans in a receptacle, as a way of balloting. A black bean meant no, hence the term blackballing was derived.

More on voting in Part Two.

Continued

LET FREEDOM RING

JUST ME
AC
EMAIL: annecleveland@bellsouth.net

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