Russell Brand and his Buddy Plato

You may remember that a little while ago I posted "Help Wanted II - `In A Democracy...'". I sought your help in tracing an excellent quote from Plato, to the effect that "In A Democracy, everyone should take a turn at governing - except those who want it."

Excellent idea, you may say.  And you'd be in great company.

I hope to post, imminently, about the kind of ... people... who seek power, in politics and also in the boardrooms of our "great" Corporations. And how they relate to certain historic figures of the last hundred years.  I hope you're intrigued.

Meanwhile, here's another version of Plato's idea, from the Scottish philosopher Billy Connolly, channelled through Russell Brand:

Like most people I am utterly disenchanted by politics. Like most people I regard politicians as frauds and liars and the current political system as nothing more than a bureaucratic means for furthering the augmentation and advantages of economic elites. Billy Connolly said: “Don’t vote, it encourages them,” and, “The desire to be a politician should bar you for life from ever being one.”

Russell Brand

Plato

The other day I told you about Russell becoming a guest editor of the New Statesman in Britain. Now his effort is out on the newsstands, and, more relevant to us, on the Internet. It's a shining gem, if a little verbose, as Brand-y Baby tends to be.

Some samples:  "I don’t vote because to me it seems like a tacit act of compliance; I know, I know my grandparents fought in two world wars (and one World Cup) so that I’d have the right to vote. Well, they were conned."

"I heard recently Oliver Cromwell’s address to the rump parliament in 1653 (online, I’m not a Time Lord) where he bawls out the whole of the House of Commons as “whores, virtueless horses and money-grabbing dicklickers”. I added the last one but, honestly, that is the vibe."

"There’s little point bemoaning... apathy. Apathy is a rational reaction to a system that no longer represents, hears or addresses the vast majority of people. A system that is apathetic, in fact, to the needs of the people it was designed to serve. To me a potent and triumphant leftist movement, aside from the glorious Occupy rumble, is a faint, idealistic whisper from sepia rebels."

"Materialism and individualism do in moderation make sense. If you are naked and starving and someone gives you soup and a blanket your happiness will increase. That doesn’t mean that if you have 10,000 silken blankets and a golden cauldron of soup made from white rhino cum your happiness will continue to proportionately increase until you’re gouched out, swathed in silk, gurgling up pearlescent froth."

Run don't walk, to read the whole damn thang, here.

Help Wanted II - "In A Democracy..."

Hi Friends and other Hippies!

In one of my first posts, I asked for some research assistance from you knowledgeable people, about tracking the source of an anecdote that I had read somewhere, that in a book by a former adviser to President Johnson, the author told how he repeatedly warned the Administration that Vietnam was a quagmire...

I got some interesting links from Eric P - would still be interested in any more info anyone can offer - details in the first  "Help Wanted" Post, below.

Now I'm looking for more assistance please - Classical studies, anyone?

Years ago, I heard that Plato, the father of Western philosophy, said (and I think it's f***ing brilliant), "In A Democracy, everyone should take a turn at governing - except those who want it."

Trouble is, I've never been able to find the source - any ideas, anyone? Perhaps in the "Republic"?

Please add your Comments below!