tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post8630154348352253202..comments2024-03-29T03:57:26.974-04:00Comments on Grim's Hall: Weber IX: Last RemarksGrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-12521201488094394082021-04-29T12:29:57.081-04:002021-04-29T12:29:57.081-04:00You’re certainly welcome. As per my post I am away...You’re certainly welcome. As per my post I am away from my shelves and with my motorcycle; but you’re correct that Athens often appointed political offices by lot. Plato is hotly against the idea; if you look back through my comments on the Laws you’ll find his remarks that you’d best pray every time you choose a political officer at random. Grimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-12296815687113349532021-04-29T12:20:53.362-04:002021-04-29T12:20:53.362-04:00Grim, most and first, thank you for continuing t...Grim, most and first, thank you for continuing this series of introductory essays about political thought. Today's problems -- and proposals -- are grounded in the human condition and there is a long tradition of thought about what is, and should, and can be. We cheat ourselves to act without the sorts of review you offer. <br /><br />Next, last, and least -- if only those with a self-assessed "calling" for politics choose to participate, all of us have a problem. If wishes mattered, I'd like to see an experiment at small scale with a bi-cameral legislature where the "representative" house is comprised of ad hoc draftees. Citizens, called by law, (rather than by God or their own self-regard) to duty no differently in concept than being drafted into a military defense, or jury deliberations, or response to weather disaster. <br />I think your Athenians had some experience of the idea. Do you have text on the shelf to confirm or disprove the validity? J Melcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14349242761775214765noreply@blogger.com