children through lack of understanding the fertility of the human race.(546b-c) The best of this offspring, still being chosen for leadership training by the older generation, are incapable of seeing truth will neglect Plato and the philosophers of old.(546d-e) One of the results will be less consideration for training in music and poetry. Straying from the good stories and allowing harmful stories to enter in leads to less appreciation for beauty. It is not the lack of beauty that results in decay. It is decay that leads to a lack of beauty. I now understand that when beauty is present, the world is most perfect. If beauty is missing it is because the world has decayed.If Plato was right, beauty can't really save the world, but behavior that leads to beauty will save the world. The next logical step for me is to look at our world today. If one says beauty can save the world, surely they must believe that the world is not beautiful in its present state and is in need of being saved. This raises the question of Plato's, or any philosophers for that matter subjectivity for what beauty really is and who is qualified to define it.Recall that Plato began with poetry and music in education to lead to appreciation to skillful craftsmanship. The goal is to strive for beauty in your own work. But today the main measure of work is its ability to earn money. The worker does whatever the one paying for the work wants. This complicates the definition of beauty today. Plato would indicate that this is because when men are taken over by the love of making money, it supercedes all else. (551a6)This compulsive quest for money and delicacies such as sex, food, and other desires results in people ruled by unnecessary desires. This is the democracy of Plato. (561d+) It also describes our democracy, to a large degree. Beauty is found in pockets, no pun intended, and is truly in the eye of the beholder. But if arrived here through the process of decay, and d...
