The Wise Ruling the Unwise

The Wise Ruling the Unwise: Seeking the Consent of the Masses The most difficult thing for a regime to achieve is that of acquiring the best ruler, with the consent of the ruled. Aristotle acknowledges this in his works The Politics, and Caius Marcius Coriolanus faces this difficult task in the Shakespeare play The Tragedy of Coriolanus. We even see this same difficult task arise in contemporary politics, as the masses are wooed one way …

…future generations with lessons on representative government. Coriolanus shows us how those deserving office should not go about seeking the consent of the ruled, while Aristotle provides a timeless observation of man and how government applies to his existence here on earth. If we apply these two schools of thought to today’s governing process we will have a clear, and reasonable way for the wise ruler to have the consent of the unwise masses.