Justin Bieber in Plato’s Republic

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.