Sociology of Plato and Martin Luther Junior

According to Plato and Martin Luther Junior, ideal society is the society, which cares about the welfare of others. Plato says that the ideal state is where one is required to assist the other for the common good of the greater humanity. On the other hand, Martin Luther King sees ideal society the one, which allows free choice of religion and at the end be able to contribute to the welfare of the society (Flynn 345).

Justice

In a given leadership and government, the key pillar towards realizing stable and well-balanced state is. Dr Martin Luther king Junior, while in jail in Birmingham in 1963, said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” To Martin Luther the injustices present in the world are key to the rotten leadership and governing of states. The form of injustices in the world range from inequity, chauvinism, discrimination, and racism. As a civil rights activist, Martin always advocated for justice and freedom. He was optimistic that if each government embraced the element of justice, then the world would be a just and comfortable place to live. This concept has been handed down to generation to the 21st century where it is an issue in many states. Plato in his book, The Republic expounds justice (Power 142) said that justice entails the external and the internal harmony where the external harmony is what the state structures must provide it. In addition, Plato puts that, for one to live a good life there must be a balance between the external and internal harmony. Plato and Aristotle puts that no matter how any state is effective and well articulated, it should be changed or abolished if it is unjust. They viewed justice as the key pillar of moral concern in the states and the social institutions. Justice, according to Plato and Martin Luther has to be embraced and practiced by each society to ensure equity for all (Wareham 453).

The two leaders, Plato and Martin Luther Jnr, observe that justice constitute a state where its citizens enjoy elements of equality. Many states have been grabbling with harsh and oppressive regimes as witnessed lately in the Arab world. Countries, which have experienced, political instability as a result of oppressive leadership include Yemen, Syria, Egypt, and Libya. The revolutions in the Arab countries are as a result of unjust regimes. Many countries, especially the ones hit by historical injustices have embarked on setting of truth and justice commissions. These commissions are given priority of ensuring that records are straight on the past injustices. These commissions use justice as the tool towards reconciling the concerned groups in the conflict. Justice previously was a community affair but due to the growing nature of justice it has become a thing of the global concern. In many states, presence of peace, guarantees economic progress and prosperity for all the citizens in all regions. This places as the pillar towards peaceful and development-oriented state (Berman 76).

Democracy

Democracy is also one of the pillars towards an ideal society. In His book, The Republic, Plato observes that countries, which have well, established democracies, are devoid of power manipulation by the leaders. He said that the modern politics is of the economic values and the changing times. He said that big democracies like America have different political and economic needs as compared to small countries like Sweden. Plato further observed that, in the well-established economies, the moral leadership is of benefit to the citizens of that state. Leaders in these democracies, when got in corruption deals, are not only given a leeway but educated on the drawbacks of the vice. In addition, Plato observes that people have the power to determine the government deals by providing checks and balances. According to Martin Luther, democracy in the word will be a form of government. Democracy provides a platform for the citizens of that nation to participate directly in matters that affect the state. Democracies thus become of significance when it allows citizens to exercise their rights and liberties without any restrictions. In the absence of democracy, the state stability becomes shaky (Flynn 346).

For the last one year, they have been uprising, protests, and demonstrations in the Arab nations. This is linked to the governments and leadership styles, which do not respect the will of the majority. This is witnessed in the Arab nations where their leadership styles are authoritarian in nature. The leadership in his case favors few individuals and groups, thus ignoring the needs of the majority who in turn revolt. In the well-established democracies, there is no room for violence as the government in place is legitimately in place, and its existence has support of the people. The leadership is the reflection of the population (Power 145).

Good democracies will provide citizens with an element of equal representation. The leaders who seek for the election offices must convince the majority that they can lead them. In democratic nations, the constitution overrides the individual interests. In his book, ‘The Republic,’ Plato points that democracy can be turned by evil men and used for their own selfish interests. He observes that the case of Hillary Clinton in the Nazi Germany is an example of how democracy failed. The leader uses his power in the leadership position to rob the public property. In his view, Plato says that some democracies serve to encourage corruption. Recently we have heard countries like South Africa expelling ministers faced with corruption cases (Flynn 345).

Peace

Peace also is an essential element towards building a stable and well-established government and leadership. Many states more than often invest more in the military to provide security and maintain law and order. Law and order are key to the development and progress of every nation in the world. In the book, ‘The Republic,’ Plato observes that the major cause of the revolts and the uprising are due lack of peace in the world. Absence of peace leads to wars, which has hit many nations and is due to lack of proper leadership and the relevant governance structures (Kii 234).

Absence of peace has led many countries to undergo political instability. The war results from poor government planning to address the issues, which affects the state. Countries like Iraq and Afghanistan in the past have not experienced peace and in the end led to the suffering of its citizens. This leads to the humanitarian crisis in these states. The war also leads to the destruction of property and loss of lives of the citizens of the countries concerned. Because of poor leadership styles, there have been wars in the Arab countries, which have led to serious repercussions. This has happened in countries like Tunisia, Yemen, and Libya (Wareham 455).

In his dream towards an ideal state, Plato observes that the individual soul has three personalities, which are the appetite, which looks, for the physical satisfaction; the sprit, which entails the social concern; and the reason, which looks, at the truth aspect. He explains that a just society is one which is individuals dedicate their energies to the good of the society. The citizens also practice wisdom, courage and make decisions based on the common good, and justice. According to Martin Luther, an ideal society in terms of morals is one, which allows its people to choose denomination freely. This he said was practicable as long as the individual contribute to the society (Power 142).

Morality

It is evident that to realize an ideal society, the leadership, and the government should lead at the forefront in terms of morality. Virtues in the leadership position play a major role in dictating the triumph of a given regime. The government regimes, which treasure moral values, will find that there is progress. Ethics creates a government, which is just to its citizens, the government which values the rights of each citizen. The moral principles within a given government will ensure that the government does the right thing for his people. Studies have shown that those leaders who do not respect the human rights are not morally upright. Through evil nature, they practice inhuman activities like raping, or even practicing corruption. In some years back, Bill Clinton of America was found having sex in the white house with Monica Lewinsky. This was due lack of the morals, which befits the leader of such caliber (Power 142).

Causes of Revolts in Middle East and North Africa

The year 2011 has been hit by much unrests and uprising in the Middle East and some parts of the North Africa. The protests started in Tunisia in December 2010 where citizens they wanted to oust the 23 years reigning president. The revolts have since then spread to the rest of the Arab dominated countries, which include Egypt, Algeria, Yemen, Libya, and Iran (Berman 76). One of the causes of this uprising is the presence of the authoritarian regimes. The authoritarian regimes do not guarantee the freedom of expression, which has been cited as the main cause of the revolts. These regimes fear that if they allow freedom of speech then the subjects will threaten their tenure. The regimes also tend to alter the constitution especially the parts, which seem to contradict their re-election. According to the recent world ranking of democracies, the countries facing the revolts were all lowly ranked. In the 178 rankings, these nations ranged at 122 and 146, where 178 is the least democratic country. These regimes are also oppressive in dealing with activist groups, as they do not want their hidden evil issues to be revealed (Kii 233).

Another issue, which contributed to, the uprising in the Arab countries, is the high rate of unemployment. Most of the people especially the youth in these countries are educated and unemployed. The unemployment is due to the poor government policies, which never articulate on the economic growth. The unemployment rate in some of these countries like Libya and Yemen was 35% and 30% respectively. This is because of inadequate governance structure and ineffectual leadership strategies. The youth, being the largest percentage, were the most affected thus they channeled their untapped potentials into protest (Wareham 456).

The other cause of the uprising was low income per capita incomes. This creates inequality, which is due to the inadequate government policies. The gap between the poor, compared the rich has grown larger and larger. Research conducted shows that the income discrepancies were due to the gravitation of the oil companies thus benefiting the cronies of those holding powerful positions in the government. Corruption contributed to the income inequality within the population. Corruption arises due to the privatization of most of multi –oil companies by the governments, which allowed corruption. Inequality arises mostly due to the combination of factors like corruption, poverty, unemployment, and inability to air dissent (Kii   234).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the ideal state, according to Plato and Martin Luther Junior is the one, which practices principle of democracy. These principles will enable an individual to express views freely without restriction. It is also, where leaders in the elective positions lead to fair and transparent electoral process. In an ideal society, there is the need for the leaders to uphold the morals that are acceptable to the society. Justice also demands that all sectors of governments and any citizens should undergo fair justice as per the set laws of the land. Peace also plays a critical role in ensuring that the government and its people prosper well. Concisely, the revolts and the uprisings in the Arab countries are because of the poor economic policies and poor leadership styles, which are not accommodative (Wareham 456).