Session #20 - Lets talk Politics, Part 1 - The Antique Era (West and East)

“The virtue of the gentleman is like the wind; the virtue of the small man is like the grass. When the wind blows, the grass must bend.”
— The Analects, 12.19

## Part 1: Politics in the antiquity

Politics likely emerged as soon as humans formed into groups.
But who holds power? How is it justified? What are its limits?
We’ve wanted for a long time to enter the field of political philosophy, but it is such a vast topic that it made sense to break it into smaller parts. This is why we decided to create a series with a chronological progression, starting in antiquity.

In this first session, we will explore the major political ideas that shaped early civilizations. And rather than focusing only on the Western tradition, we will also contrast it with Eastern thought.
Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Confucius all asked the same fundamental question that we are exploring today: What is the best way to order society?

We will examine:

• Plato — rule by the wisest, idealism, types of government and their degeneration.
• Aristotle — politics as balance, mixed regimes, and the common good.
• Cicero — natural vs human law, republican virtue, civic duty and stoic influence.
• Confucius — social harmony, obedience through reciprocal role-based hierarchy, authority by moral example rather than coercion.

Questions to discuss:

1. Should political authority be grounded in virtue, tradition, or consent?
2. If political authority is grounded in knowledge (Plato), who decides who truly knows?
3. Is Plato’s view of decay (aristocracy → democracy → tyranny) a trap?
4. Is Plato’s philosopher-king ideal a psychological self-projection?
5. Would you rather be ruled by a virtuous elite you cannot vote out, or an incompetent one you can?
6. Aristotle warning on demagogues, is it still current?
7. Aristotle accepts inequality as natural. Is that realism or a rationalization of privilege?
8. Can a system aimed at the “common good” legitimately exclude large parts of the population?
9. Confucius prioritizes harmony and moral duty over "natural rights" or "consent". For him social order depends on role fulfillment and reciprocity. Would you trade off harmony for conformity?
10. Is Confucian hierarchy more honest than modern claims of equality?
11. Cicero claims that all humans are born free by nature. Why does this idea appear in Rome and not in Athens?
12. Is naturalism a double-sided sword? a man is free by nature vs a man has rights by nature.
13. Does the Roman emphasis on law and institutions mark a shift from moral authority to legitimacy? Is "obedience to law" superior to "obedience to virtue" or "obedience for the Gods"?
14. Does political participation require some form of oppression? (we just push the exploitation elsewhere)?
15. Can modern technocracies be inheriting Confucian structure without Confucian virtue?
16. Is political exclusion a historical necessity? or is it still a current problem?
17. Which tradition (east vs west) better explains long-term stability and which better explains innovation? which do we prefer?

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