It occurred to me last week in the course of driving a long segment of a road trip, that a lot of people’s political leanings are likely based on their Platonic ideals of what society and government ought to be like.
For example, some people’s ideas of what urban life ought to be about revolve around order, cleanliness and efficiency- cities should be clean, orderly and efficient. Others have ideals that revolve around everyone being fed, housed, and taken care of, and don’t care about cleanliness, order, etc…
How much do you think this is true? What are your Platonic ideals for society? Am I totally off the mark?
My ideal of society is one that has exactly the right mix between rights and freedom on one side, and responsibility on the other; where everyone understands what actions are necessary for a functioning society are and follows them. Then there is the other ideal that any society above subsistence level ought to channel an affordable amount of its resources towards helping those who are truly unfortunate.
When I consider those ideals, there seems to be a gap regarding anyone who, apparently voluntarily, wrecks their own life, and doesn’t want to take responsibility for doing so. Do we let them fall away, as a fair consequence of their own actions? I don’t have an ideal that covers that situation.
Platonic (or any other kind of) Ideals presume a “perfect state” that is fundamentally at odds with the flawed state of human nature, guaranteeing people will fall short of such ideals at some point. Inferring from the op, such ideals can aid and abet the adoption of misleading belief systems, setting people up for disappointment, stress and potential harm when their expectations are not met. At their worst, they provide opportunities for nefarious individuals and organized groups to exploit human failings for the purpose of gaining psychological leverage (i.e., control) over people and their lives.
Needless to say, I have little respect for the practical value of Platonic Ideals as applied to humanity or human endeavors. While the extent to which such ideals (mis)inform people’s belief systems today is impossible to know, recognition that such ideals should be aspirational (not literal) and that falling short of them is both inevitable and completely natural constitutes an important step in maintaining a reality-based perspective on life and human nature. Given due diligence over the long haul, this seems likely to diminish – if never actually eliminate – the potential for developing “unrealistic expectations” possibly leading to (avoidable) bad decisions with adverse consequences.