Stayed up too late last night reading Plato’s Republic and considering the difference between the just man and the unjust man. (Yeah, I know, much more of that and people will be making fun of me. Like that’s never happened before. Or to better people than me.)

Woke up this morning to discover that the nutcases are at it again. Not that they ever really stopped.

Non sequitur? Not really.

You see, one of the points made early in the Republic has to do with the difference between the just and the unjust, and the way they view a fellow man. (Quick point of reference for the unfamiliar: The Republic, written by Plato, involves a “dialogue” between Socrates and others on a variety of subjects, including justice.) Days could be spent on the topic, but in the interest of brevity (and recognition of the fact that most of you clicked away the minute you saw the word “Plato”) let’s skip to the point: one of Socrates’ methods of exploring the difference between justice and injustice (or the just and unjust man) involves a comparison between wisdom and foolishness. Translated and interpreted slightly for our purposes: the wise man wishes to equal his peers in wisdom, whereas the fool wishes to be better (to “have more”) than fools and wise men alike - he seeks to be better than all.

True wisdom requires a person to acknowledge personal failings and the achievements of others. It mandates a level of humility not seen in the fool - whose very foolishness generally prevents him from acknowledging failure unless he finds it externally. The wise man seeks to better himself by learning from others. The fool attempts to better himself (realistically or in his own mind) at their expense.

But what does this have to do with the price of enriched uranium in Iran? Simple.

The wise man seeks to improve himself to equal his peers, to benefit others, to learn without ceasing and to participate in a community of peers.

The fool seeks to rise above even the wisest of men (in his own eyes, if nowhere else), to benefit himself, to reach a point where he can cease to learn and to control his community (only the like-minded members of which will he consider “peers”).

Ahmadinejad, and other Muslim extremists, fall soundly within Camp 2. Crying out for others to bow down and worship their might, they move ever farther from the seat of the wise. Professing themselves powerful and wise, they became fools. They seek power in order to rule, not to benefit the community of the governed. You don’t see them trying to learn even basic concepts - let alone technologies - which might improve their countries or standard of life. The technologies they want relate to war - and the power to extend their personal power and influence beyond existing borders. The community of “peers” they recognize excludes the majority of the population of the world - which, if these men have their way, will be given a choice between obedient subjugation and death.

Seeking evidence? Look at typical countries under Islamic rule. Compare them, point for point, with countries ruled by other types of government and other systems of belief. Compare average standard of living, protection of the innocent, sanctity of human life and the workings of justice. Consider what happens to dissidents and others who refuse to follow the stated policies of the ruling class. Consider the existence of slavery, injustice, torture and wrongful death (at the hands of government and others). Ponder freedom of speech, religion and the press. Look at the existence and protection of basic human rights - and I’m not talking about trumped-up statistics spouted by UNResolved issues and leftists seeking to make a point. I mean across-the-board, straight-up concrete numbers. How many killed. How many imprisoned. How many raped, tortured, interrogated.

Small wonder that Winston Churchill stated “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

Foolish men turn upon themselves and others. They cannot be trusted because they do not understand how to interact with the just. They do not seek justice, and consider it foolishness in those who do.

To assume that a foolish man can be treated as an equal in the family of nations is to participate in a farce. No functional family, no community and no nation in its right mind grants the fool equal status with the wise man. You don’t give sharp scissors to a two year-old child and leave him unsupervised. Why not? Because it’s not a matter of whether he hurts himself or someone else, it’s a matter of when.

And if the family of nations chooses to permit a fool to run amok with nuclear weapons capable of destroying thousands of innocent lives, to force his will to prevail over the sovereignty and freedom of other nations just because he yells the loudest, and to endanger the freedoms inherent in and vital to democratic states outside his borders, then the family of nations has itself become a fool.

Cross-posted to The Random Yak

Linked to the Midweek OTP at Adam’s Blog , the Tuesday OP at third world county and today’s blogrolling at basil’s blog.

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