On Citizens, Idiots & Politicians….
A comment I ran across somewhere not long ago said the word “idiot” originated in Greece and meant “someone not interested in politics.”
That was pretty funny, I thought, and so I made myself a little sticky note to check that out sometime.
The time came for me to look that up today, and I found this interesting entry in Wikipedia…and yes, it does pretty much say that if you aren’t concerned and active in Civic Affairs you are indeed an idiot!
“An idiot in Athenian Democracy in ancient Greece was someone who was characterized by self-centeredness and concerned almost exclusively with private—as opposed to public—affairs. Idiocy was the natural state of ignorance into which all persons were born and its opposite, citizenship, was effected through formalized education. In Athenian democracy, idiots were born and citizens were made through education. “Idiot” originally referred to a “person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning”. Declining to take part in public life, such as democratic government of the city state, was considered dishonorable. “Idiots” were seen as having bad judgment in public and political matters. Over time, the term “idiot” shifted away from its original connotation of selfishness and came to refer to individuals with overall bad judgment–individuals who are “stupid.”
Now, more than any other time in history, the citizens of the world need to stand together and demand that politicians represent the will of the PEOPLE, not the will of godless, greedy multi-national corporations and banksters.
In times like these we need to pay attention to our politicians and their policies, or we’ll get skunned alive and that will indeed make us idiots!
”Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it.”
—Mark Twain
Stephanie Kelley
