Synthesis philosophica, Vol. 38 No. 2, 2023.
Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.21464/sp38207
Towards a New Timocracy
Jesús Padilla Gálvez
orcid.org/0000-0002-2890-3514
; University of Castilla-La Mancha, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, San Pedro Mártir, s./n., ES–45071 Toledo
Abstract
Since Antiquity, timocracy has been defined as the government of the rich. Timocracy arose as a degenerate form of aristocracy. The timocrats were opposed to democracy because they considered it the “government of the poor”. The rich classes have always opted for autocratic or oligarchic governments. In the last decade, Italy, the USA and England have seen the influence of rulers who belong to the billionaire class and who deliberately act against the democratic system. They assign a role to each social group and propose to reduce the tax burden on the wealthy classes. They reduce the rights of citizens by abolishing them. They are making access to knowledge and higher education more difficult. They privatise and capitalise social services and pensions. They make it difficult for citizens to participate in elections through media campaigns of discreditation and lies (fake news). In the judiciary, they are prone to reactionary ideas that restrict the rights of minorities. In the executive, they tend to increase spending on the military system for the benefit of upper class investors. This policy will be characterised as timocratic according to the definitions presented in Greek political thought.
Keywords
timocracy; democracy; oligarchy; the rich; fake news; rights of minorities
Hrčak ID:
314473
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2023.
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