tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3662517.post8221265904071469506..comments2024-02-10T20:49:20.762-05:00Comments on bjkeefe: Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes Ipsos Custodes?bjkeefehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10967912817595826059noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3662517.post-17450903200901759962007-05-04T20:30:00.000-04:002007-05-04T20:30:00.000-04:00I love that name, Juvenal.I didn't think the line ...I love that name, Juvenal.<BR/><BR/>I didn't think the line was original with Heinlein, but that's the first place I ever heard it. Thanks for the sourcing.<BR/><BR/>If you like Heinlein on rule by the smart over the superstitious, I recommend the first of Asimov's <EM>Foundation</EM> books (confusingly titled: <EM>Foundation</EM>). <BR/><BR/>It's a common dream to wish that we could come up with a class of people who were just a little bit better in every way, who could serve as governors, isn't it?<BR/><BR/>>> sensitivity training for the fox before releasing <BR/>>> him into the chicken coop is not going to cut it.<BR/><BR/>I am so stealing this line.bjkeefehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10967912817595826059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3662517.post-20822799607408041782007-05-04T14:43:00.000-04:002007-05-04T14:43:00.000-04:00The fact that my blog of last night (Who shall gua...The fact that my blog of last night (<A HREF="http://rantingsofacrazedlunatic.blogspot.com/2007/05/who-shall-guard-guardians-themselves.html" REL="nofollow">Who shall guard the guardians themselves?</A>) coincidentally asks this very question suggests that this country is in dire trouble.<BR/><BR/>You, me, and Heinlein are all about 1900 years too late to claim credit for this question. It is a quote from the satirist Juvenal (~100 AD).<BR/><BR/>But actually the concept is a half millenium older still (according to Wikipedia), taken from Plato's <I>Republic</I>, where an <I>aristocracy</I> [rule by the best] is persuaded to reluctantly take up the burden of telling everyone else what to do. How to get the Best to lower themselves to public service? The <B>noble lie</B> (better known as <I>noblesse oblige</I>) was invented, a theme expanded on by Aldous Huxley's <I>Brave New World</I> (and yes, most of Heinlein, who didn't bother with the noble lie plot contrivance, relying on the to him much more believable lust for power of the ruler and the docile superstition of the ruled.)<BR/><BR/>In <I>Jurassic Park</I>, John Hammond insists that all the problems are due to an infelicitous choice of personnel, whereas Ian Malcolm forsaw disaster predestined by structural failures.<BR/><BR/>Obviously, sensitivity training for the fox before releasing him into the chicken coop is not going to cut it.<BR/><BR/>Those who have not yet given up on the possibility of saving our Constitution from the John Hammond's of our time might consider adding their name to this <A HREF="https://secure.aclu.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=habeas_petition" REL="nofollow">ACLU petition to Congress</A> to restore the right of <I>habeas corpus</I>.<BR/><BR/>Aristotle wrote that "law is reason devoid of passion". I for one have had enough passion from this Administration. It is time to put our trust back in reason and the rule of law.Zo Kwe Zohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11009268051282300971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3662517.post-31201653787400809732007-05-04T07:03:00.000-04:002007-05-04T07:03:00.000-04:00I've long remembered the phrase Quis Custodiet Ips...I've long remembered the phrase <EM>Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes</EM> from Robert Heinlein's <EM>Space Cadet</EM> (<A HREF="http://books.google.com/books?id=mj5U_08m5pAC&pg=PA116&ots=qU8SMqK_9x&dq=Quis+Custodiet+Ipsos+Custodes%3F&sig=TlXZxFgH9exXFM70IRZSnqnmd_Q" REL="nofollow">Google preview</A>). It means, roughly: Who will watch the watchers?<BR/><BR/>What I am asking here is: Who will watch the watchers who watch the watchers?<BR/><BR/>If I messed up the Latin, mea culpa.bjkeefehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10967912817595826059noreply@blogger.com