The Power of Art

What struck me the most during the Plato reading was the emphasis on censorship towards the arts. I haven’t quite been able to get my thoughts together, but I’ll try.

I think art tells the truth about life. Artists of all types are the ones who ask the “what if” questions about life. Since we’re all so different, there are different methods of creativity to express our answers to those “what if” questions. When consuming content, we all have different “levels” that we can tolerate. When art is uncensored, everyone has the freedom to establish his or her own tolerance “level” and choose what kinds of art to consume. By limiting art in the way Socrates describes, he wants to limit not only the people’s expression, but the people’s consumption of art. Then, people who want to consume more content than what he’s offering are stymied and probably frustrated. Artists and consumers of art will want to know more and why they’re not allowed to know more. Ultimately, it’s about control. He doesn’t want people to ask “what if” about their world. Instead, he wants to tell them only want he wants them to hear. But to the artists and consumers of art, this will not be enough. Even under oppression, art speaks the truth. In the proposed Republic, eventually some type of art would come forth and tell the truth about their world. This is why he fears art and wants to control it.

Thoughts on Creating Utopia

One thing that occurred to me near the end of class was that perhaps Plato fails in creating a believable utopia because he fails to integrate a method of social moderation into its governmental structure. I feel like for many of us the big problem with his ideal city is that he trusts the gold-souled Guardians to promote equality and refrain from abusing their power. While this may have seemed reasonable to him based on his personal worldview, to us it is obvious that the Guardians are human and therefore flawed. At some point, they are bound to abuse their power. One of the key indicators that a utopia has become dystopic is the presence of some sort of power imbalance where one person or group of people abuses the governmental power that is meant to moderate human behavior. I would argue that perhaps the best way to avoid this, then, is to make it so that everyone within the utopia has the same amount of power. While this may seem impossible, there are actually some groups that have implemented consensus-based policies with some degree of success. As some of you already know, I go to a Quaker Meeting (kind of like church, I can explain more when it’s relevant). At the Meeting, all major decisions that effect the group as a whole are discussed at Meeting for Business, where anyone who wishes to speak on the matter can do so and no decision is made until everyone has agreed on a way to move forward. While this would likely never work for a conventional government, it can work for groups on a national scale - the same general system is used by the entirety of Friends General Conference (the national Quaker organization my Meeting belongs to), with smaller issues being decided by individual Meetings and larger ones being passed on to larger segments of the group. So if it can work on a national scale for a religious group, could a smaller governmental group not exist in a theoretical utopian society? What are your thoughts? Sorry this post is so disorganized, these are basically just my cursory thoughts on the matter and I will likely elaborate on them later.

A Bedtime Poem by Joseph Goebbels

Listen up, children
Gather 'round before bed
And listen to a tale
Of what Fascistates said

He was old and wise
And lived in Greece
A beautiful homeland
Oh, so nice and neat!

He laid out the rules
That we all should follow
For a happy today
And a better tomorrow

For we all have a role
A part in this play
Our paradise is near
So listen what I say

To you, my son
Grow up and get stronger
A guardian of country
Of father and mother

Do not cry, do not hesitate
Do not fear death
Do not question your leader
Do not read the wrong texts

Ah, kindness and niceness
Blue eyes and niceness
Goodness and niceness
And la-dee-da niceness

To you, my daughter
Be a sweet and sure mother
If you cry, weep for country
For the strife it endures!

Do not fight, do not struggle
Do not exit your bubble
Do not question your husband
Do not ask for trouble

Ah, kindness and goodness
Blond hair and goodness
Wonder and goodness
And la-la-la goodness

So worry not
Of what all this means
Leave that to the ministers
Who worry for you

They give you a country
Of culture and art
Of pure people popping out
Of homes and of marts

They each have their purpose
Like me and like you
To build a utopia
As the Greeks sought to

No, these are not falsehoods
They're truthhoods, it's true
And falsehoods are no good
If the Führer needs you!