Chomsky and Aristotle on the Common Good

T. A. Gardner said:
The OP is just another argument in an attempt to change human nature. Humanity by its nature is not altruistic. To obtain equity among a society where the people in it are not physically, mentally, or otherwise all equal, and resources are less than universally abundant requires forced altruism on that society.



You cannot realistically expect a group of people to always act selflessly, particularly when doing so is not in their own best interests.
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That’s true, of course.

However, it appears that greed is more a driving force in our society than anything else. That’s bothersome.
 
BidenPresident said:
Aristotle took it for granted that a democracy should be fully participatory (with some notable exceptions, like women and slaves) and that it should aim for the common good. In order to achieve that, it has to ensure relative equality, “moderate and sufficient property” and “lasting prosperity” for everyone.

In other words, Aristotle felt that if you have extremes of poor and rich, you can’t talk seriously about democracy. Any true democracy has to be what we call today a welfare state—actually, an extreme form of one, far beyond anything envisioned in this century. (When I pointed this out at a press conference in Majorca, the
headlines in the Spanish papers read something like, If Aristotle were alive today, he’d be denounced as a dangerous radical. That’s probably true.)


https://1motorcyclist.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/noam-chomsky-2011-how-the-world-works.pdf
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So what?
Some old fart has an opinion.
An erroneous one - at that.

The minute you give even the slightest more credence to intellectual theories that people have...due to their 'reputation'?
That is the day you become a gullible fool.
Like the empty saps who actually base their lives on 'leap of faith' religions.
And then try and ram their God Club nonsense, down everyone else's throats.


1) democracy should NOT be fully participatory.
Only the most intelligent, well-read people (100 IQ minimum) should be allowed to vote.
We don't allow morons to judge trials.
Nor should we allow morons to choose our leaders.

2) the government has a moral obligation to make sure that every citizen has adequate shelter/food/safety/health care/education.
And a government shelter with a walk-in clinic/small hospital, free wi-fi and online, basic education in every, regional center - would cover that.
Throw in a few, necessary extras (like a reasonable-sized military - not the bloated whale we have).
And it would cost about 1/10'th of the current, federal budget.

Once, every citizen is guaranteed the basics of existence?
The rest is a bonus...and entirely up to the people alone to obtain.
 
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Earl said:
Chomsky is an anarchist and a pig.

The poor will always have with you.

Matthew 26:11
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Only a completely and willfully ignorant MAGA minion would post as you did here, Earl. I doubt you've ever read any of Chomsky's works. And what's with the biblical quote? WTF does that have to do with anything?

I defy you or any of the dummies who thanked you for your drivel to post just ONE quote from one of Chomsky's works that advocates anarchy. If you can't, then you're a perfect doormat for Trump & the current MAGA GOP congress.
 
McRocket said:
So what?
Some old fart has an opinion.
An erroneous one - at that.

The minute you give even the slightest more credence to intellectual theories that people have...due to their 'reputation'?
That is the day you become a gullible fool.
Like the gullible saps who actually base their lives on 'leap of faith' religions.
And then try and ram their God Club nonsense, down everyone else's throats.


1) democracy should NOT be fully participatory.
Only the most intelligent, well read people (100 IQ minimum) should be allowed to vote.
The reasons are obvious.

2) the government has a moral obligation to make sure that every citizen has adequate shelter/food/safety/health care/education.
And a government shelter with an attached walk-in clinic, free wi-fi and online, basic education in every, regional center - would cover that.
Throw in a few, necessary extras (like a reasonable-sized military - not the bloated whale we have).
And it would cost about 1/10'th of the current federal budget.

Once every citizen is guaranteed the basics of existence?
The rest is a bonus...ALL OF IT.
And nothing to do with the government AT ALL.
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Of course, all the "bonuses" that made it possible for YOU to be born and raised and live to the point where you can waste time BS'ing on the net is okay. All the "old farts" who created the very educational and communication system that YOU use daily only matter if they don't rock your mental comfort zone with (GASP!) critical thinking.

And despite the FACT that there are folk smarter than you and I, we still get to participate in determining a gov't (local & federal) that affects how we live....unless you're into being subjugated by an "elite"...you know, the kind of system the Founding Fathers were not about (to their version).

Chomsky wrote the book on language (linguistics) that still stands today. So yeah, his social observations are worth mulling over...as opposed to the partisan clods who have been throwing rocks at him for decades (William F. Buckley tried back in the day....got his ass handed to him on his own TV show).
 
Taichiliberal said:
Of course, all the "bonuses" that made it possible for YOU to be born and raised and live to the point where you can waste time BS'ing on the net is okay. All the "old farts" who created the very educational and communication system that YOU use daily only matter if they don't rock your mental comfort zone with (GASP!) critical thinking.

And despite the FACT that there are folk smarter than you and I, we still get to participate in determining a gov't (local & federal) that affects how we live....unless you're into being subjugated by an "elite"...you know, the kind of system the Founding Fathers were not about (to their version).

Chomsky wrote the book on language (linguistics) that still stands today. So yeah, his social observations are worth mulling over...as opposed to the partisan clods who have been throwing rocks at him for decades (William F. Buckley tried back in the day....got his ass handed to him on his own TV show).
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Dude, great stuff! Thanks for commenting. Agree completely.
 
Taichiliberal said:
Only a completely and willfully ignorant MAGA minion would post as you did here, Earl. I doubt you've ever read any of Chomsky's works. And what's with the biblical quote? WTF does that have to do with anything?
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The Bible quote (out of context) is a way to say fuck the poor. Ironic for Jesus to say.
 
McRocket said:
So what?
Some old fart has an opinion.
An erroneous one - at that.

The minute you give even the slightest more credence to intellectual theories that people have...due to their 'reputation'?
That is the day you become a gullible fool.
Click to expand...

Intelligent people are critical thinkers.
 
The misuse of "democracy" as pure democracy is discussed by Aristotle. He calls pure democracy a system where by mere population the majority confiscates the property of the few. But what Aristotle means by democracy is that the majority do have a right to make laws on how wealth is managed. For the good of democracy, the wealthy class does have to yield some power to the majority.
 
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