I don't want to have power - what a stupid expression
Today in my ethics class I used a quote from Plato as an introduction. The quote is the following:
"He who refuses to rule is liable to be ruled by one worse than himself."
I opened the room for a discussion and let them think and question out loud.
One of the kids, a smart guy, but unfortunately leftist to the core, told me that he would refuse to rule. He would refuse to have power!
His position: All power is evil and power corrupts. That's what he was told.
So I asked him what he wanted to be if he chose a life of powerlessness.
His answer: I want to be nice.
You might think that's honorable, but that's naive!
So I asked him if he was okay with others ruling, and he said yes.
I went further and asked him if he was okay with others ruling over him, and he said yes, referring to our government.
Now I asked him if he was okay with me ruling over him. Again he said yes, since I was his teacher he would obey.
I told him to punish the beautiful girl sitting next to him in class. He refused. He said that my request was absurd. I told him to do it and my voice rose. My shoulders went back and I stood up straight.
He still refused. I went to him and in a very dominant voice pointed aggressively at the girl and told him to hit her or the consequences for him would be decisive. He himself raised his voice slightly, his body taking a protective position between me and the girl, and he said, "No, that's unfair!
I took a step back and said, "You see, we need power."
We need power over ourselves and even power to prevent evil around us.
The freedom we have comes with responsibility. And those responsibilities can only be met by strong people, not weak people.
We need power. We need to be wolves. But we also need to know how to control that power.
There is no virtue in being powerless. You are just a weakling and useless to society.
Having power but knowing how to control it is a virtue.
Of course, power corrupts. That's why we have to learn how to control power and not turn a blind eye to it. Children need to learn this so that they do not become modern slaves in this overreaching statist system.
Tomorrow's topic is my favorite Plato quote:
kidding