Monday 23 August 2010

Aristotle: The 'evil of ignorance'



For some time the wise and learned have reflected on the use, and misuse of power, and the purpose and values within our society ...

For instance here's just a few of the things Aristotle had to say ...

"Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers"

"In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme"

"The trade of the petty usurer is hated with most reason: it makes a profit from currency itself, instead of making it from the process which currency was meant to serve. Their common characteristic is obviously their sordid avarice*"

"Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime"

"No notice is taken of a little evil, but when it increases it strikes the eye"

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it"

"All persons ought to endeavor to follow what is right, and not what is established"

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance"

"You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor"



Insights (and challenges) arguably just as, if not more, relevant today ... which capture in simple words the type of Poweromics we still face today, as well as the "evil of ignorance" (or more specifically Ignoromics**) that allows it to continue.


* Avarice - Extreme greed for wealth or material gain.
** Ignoromics - People who are either effectively ignorant of the situation (e.g. the overall environment) or not prepared to take responsibility to make sure it changes for the better.