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The 21st Century Marred By War And Conflict

Decent Essays

The 21st century marred by war and conflict; whether political, economic, or class based. Conflicts have an ability to highlight what we see to be just or unjust, and does it truly matter if we are just? The Republic, Plato brings question the definition of justice, rustling the possibilities of what justice as well as the utility and desirability of justice. The United States maintains a unique ideology of exceptionalism that its citizens often see to be just in nature, but how does it match up to Socrates’ required virtues of wisdom, appetite, and spirit? This world that I live in, this nation, that seems to be embroiled in controversy, can I claim I live in a just United States of America? Socrates says that the guardians rule through their wisdom, which was acquired in their childhood through a diverse education, “our children’s games must from the very beginning be more law-abiding, for if their games become lawless, and the children follow suit, isn’t it impossible for them to grow up into good law-abiding men” (Book IV 424e-425a). According to Socrates, the state is influenced by the childhood a community provides and that if children are raised without regard to the law they will manifest this lawlessness in their leadership. Much of Washington is the byproduct of a time when corporations and the state were becoming intertwined, and laws being manufactured to favor one’s agenda. So a congressman can follow the law, but not concern himself with the balance of his

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