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| Italian Renaissance Fresco of Plato and Beebs by Tortellini |
It is obvious to any expert in Plato’s writings, especially
his extended treatment of the ideal state, that Justin Bieber should read Plato’s
Republic. I am hesitant about even
continuing with this post since the connection between the young Canadian pop
star and the ancient Greek philosopher is so obvious that it feels completely
redundant. In other words, to read Plato’s Republic is to say “Dude, Beebs, You
Got to Read this S@$&!” But since the connection between Mr. Bieber and
Plato may be lost on a very few of you, I will elaborate.
Elite audience.
Plato’s intended audience was not commoners like you and me. We should all face
it: we are the vast unwashed masses whose needs, desires, and interests are truly
small and petty when seen from the great Olympian heights of young Athenian
aristocrats. For those young, wealthy, aristocratic Greek men their birth and
social status were nature’s way of saying that they were the duly appointed
leaders and guardians. The Republic
is a training manual for those elites. To us this elitism may seem offensive. I’m
pretty sure that Plato would not care at all that we are offended. He never
really intended us to read it, so our response to it is really of no
consequence to him.
Furthermore, to accuse Plato of elitism is tantamount to
accusing fish of being wet. If we, the hoi polloi, are turned off by his
elitism than we can go back to our jobs as shoemakers or doctors or women’s
dressmakers and stop filling up our little minds with thoughts and concerns
that do not pertain to our socially mandated/gods-given tasks.
What Plato clearly has in mind is a small group of elites
who are reading his book. These elites, these Guardians, have a special kind of
knowledge. Where carpenters have knowledge of their trade and pot makers of
theirs, Guardians have the special knowledge of what genuinely builds up and
nurtures the best in the state and that which might destroy it or otherwise
proved to be detrimental. Guardians are like dogs that can be trained to
recognize friends and enemies. With their proper training Guardians distinguish
that which is edifying from that which is destructive. The state is “wise” not
because of the knowledge of people like carpenters or farmers but because the
state is ruled by the special knowledge that Guardians possess. Plato
elaborates that the state is courageous or valiant for the same reason. While individual
citizens (e.g. the great unwashed masses or simply “the rest of us”) might be
cowardly, the Guardians are not, and, lucky for us and the state, they are the
only ones who count.
We know a little bit more about Plato’s intended audience in
contrast with the rest of the people when Plato talks about temperance. Plato
explains that temperance “is the ordering or controlling of certain pleasures
and desires,” and that when these pleasures and desires are controlled a human
being demonstrates self-mastery (32). Plato explains that there are “better”
and “worse principles” in everyone. The “better principle” is smaller but with
proper education it can come to rule the “worse principle” (32). Plato’s “better
principle” includes the “simple and moderate desires which follow reason” and
which are therefore “under the guidance of mind and true opinion,” but this is
a state enjoyed by “only a few” who are the “best born and best educated” (32).
In contrast with the well-educated and wellborn elite stands the rest of the
citizens. Plato makes clear that the worse principle is not only most common
but it seems to be the dominant principle of the greatest number of people in
the state. He puts it this way: “Let me further note that the manifold and
complex pleasures and desires and pains are generally found in children and
women and servants, and in the freemen so-called who are of the lowest and more
numerous class” (32). Plato’s elites are a small group of well-educated and
wellborn citizens who use their intellect to control their passions. The rest
of us, well, we are not so lucky, but, again, lucky for us—we have them
Guardians!
Justin Bieber is part of a small, elite group. Okay, sure,
he is a musician and not a politician, but think about what Justin encounters
every day. If he leaves his home or wanders into a mall or finds himself in a
public place where a lot of young women might be, he is going to be thronged by
the “manifold and complex” desires and pains of unruly women/children. And we
all know that is it not just young women: with his power, talent, wealth, and
charm, everyone wants a piece of the Beebs! What Plato is telling this elite
young man is to keep his head, to not be sucked in to the tempestuous gales of
the passions and desires of the masses. Instead, Mr. Bieber should practice
temperance and self-mastery both with respect to himself and with respect to
his interactions with those beneath him. In addition, Mr. Bieber needs to be
careful of how even those just barely a notch below him in the social hierarchy
may still be unfortunately less controlled by reason and more by passions.
These are the people who are trying to make a buck off of the Beebs. One must
be wise enough to recognize if they are truly friends or if they are enemies in
disguise.
Virtue (and Special Temptations).
In order for elite Guardians to truly set the example and secure for their city
the peace and prosperity that could be theirs, Guardians must learn
self-control. This we just touched on, but it merits further investigation. If
one is born into an elite family/is Canadian with easily exploited musical “talent,”
such natural opportunities and advantages indicate a virtuous predisposition.
Such a predisposition needs merely to be properly trained and educated. Plato
compares this education with preparing a garment to be dyed. A garment that is
poorly prepared will not hold the dye and will end up looking ridiculous. In
contrast, a garment that is well prepared will receive the dye and remain
colorfast. A Guardian is a garment predisposed to hold the color, and those who
educate those Guardians need merely to make sure that the other preparations are
made so that courage becomes a permanent part of that garment’s quality. And
the reason why it must be permanent is because Guardians need to be brave in
the face of different circumstances and in the midst of pleasure and pain.
Plato makes clear that pleasure, pain, and fear can cause those who are not
courageous to abandon their principles, to turn a blind eye to the light of
wisdom, and to do another bad thing that I cannot think of right now but which
goes with abandoning their principles and turning a blind eye to light of
wisdom. (All I could think of were the first two, and they are pretty darn good
ones, so stop complaining.)
While elite Guardians and Justin Bieber have a natural
predisposition to virtue, they are nonetheless human and subject to the perilous
influence of pleasure, pain, and fear. In fact, the wealth, power, and
opportunities that such elites have could easily turn them in to washed out
garments if virtue has not become colorfast in them. In this respect we could
say that with special virtue, special birth, and special opportunities come
added responsibilities. Guardians/Biebers must learn self-control in order to
use their powers for good.
The Evils of Multitasking.
One of the most obvious commonalities between Plato’s Guardians and Justin
Bieber is that they are specialists. Most of us spread all of our power and
ability and time among a wide range of activities. We read and think about
foreign-policy and play fantasy football and by another cute pair of boots and
wonder what Kanye was thinking. No, really, what was he thinking?!?! We go to
public schools and learn about science and math and music and psychology and
poetry, and then we follow this up by further education in a wide range of
general studies or liberal studies or whatnot. Plato would surely shake his
head at this diffusion and dilution of one’s powers. It is as if we spend some
time learning to be a carpenter and then some time learning to be a farmer and
then some time learning to be a doctor and then some time learning to be a
soldier and turn out to be dabblers who know a little about everything but not
enough about anything. But there is something even more dangerous here. This
huge collection of dabblers, of amateurs, believe that they can form educated
or useful or important opinions about laws or foreign-policy or national
defense or fiscal priorities. And suddenly the masses are looking over the
shoulders of the Guardians curious about what the properly trained Guardians
are doing and then questioning their decisions. “Justice” for Plato means,
among other things, each person just doing well whatever that person does.
I am guessing that Justin Bieber knows this well. Who knows
what sort of public education he received, and he seems wise enough to know
that going to college would merely siphon off some of the energy and time which
he should spend on his natural born pursuits. Guardians, Justin Bieber’s, and
other elites focus on one thing, become the best in the world at that one
thing, and understand the evils of multitasking. They see clearly the message
that Mr. Michael Jordan missed: stick with what you are great at and do not
play baseball.
Censorship. I am
sure that the young guardians who Plato was educating and the young Justin
Bieber might all initially questioned the value of censorship. After all, they
might argue, since elites have a virtuous predisposition and since it might be
good for them to see and pass through the widest array of human experiences,
why should any censorship be part of their education? Plato isn’t exactly
saying that their actions or thoughts should be strictly controlled, but he
does make the case that stories about the gods or about the highest, most
important realities, especially when those stories are told to the young, can
have a strong and lasting impact. Young impressionable guardians/future Calvin
Klein underwear models should be carefully educated in stories, including
stories about the gods and/or other heroes, in ways that instill real virtue in
them. Greek Guardians should not be told crazy stuff about Zeus’s exploits, and
impressionable musicians should not be told crazy stories about the exploits of
Keith Richards and Elvis Presley. Censorship is a harsh word for the sort of
careful training in narratives and examples that these impressionable elites
deserve to truly become the leaders that they were born and bred to be.
Justin Bieber is truly a guardian of our time. He is part of
a small, wealthy, hugely celebrated and honored clique. He is equals only with
a very small group of other elites. Our small lives or interests or desires to
say hi to him and tell him that his music is infectious and makes us want to
poke our ears out means nothing to him. Plato would want him to learn
self-control and self-restraint that might allow him to stop getting tattoos
that he may regret in the future, slow it down a bit on the drinking, back off
on the street racing in six figure sports cars, and generally start to act like
someone with some kind of self-discipline. Plato would encourage him to do the
one darn thing he is good at and not anything else, pushing him along the way
toward the best stories of other famous people like himself and away from
almost everybody else in his chosen field of expertise. Justin could feel very
comfortable reading Plato’s masterpiece of political science, moral education,
and again a third thing which was going to be really cool, but I think it. Still, in spite of the fact that Bieber could
learn a lot from Plato, it should be clear to all that as quickly as possible
Plato would kick Justin Bieber out of his ideal Republic.
