College of Political Knowledge

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  Political Theory/Political History

Paper #30

I believe that politics travels in circles…..and so did the Greeks…..wish I could remember which one of the ancient political philosophers came up with the theory….but I do recall he was a Greek dude…..

Okay, the theory of recurrent cycles runs something like this…….the Greeks thought that monarchies degenerated into tyranny, tyranny was overthrown by aristocrats which degenerated into oligarchies that exploited the population, which was overthrown by a democracy, which slid into the instability of mob rule, which brought about a strong individual that set himself up as a monarch…….and the whole process would begin again…

Now in the modern world there could be a few exceptions to this theory…but the main jest of the theory is as true today as it was in 400 BC…….Greeks were pretty damn sharp in their philosophical ramblings……but when they were coming up with this theory, there were about a gazillion city states in the country and each one of them went through a process that got them to the birth of democracy….but it did not always end there……

Look around today, pick a third world country and you can plot this theory without using Google.

A good example will be Pakistan and the political upheaval the floods may have (an upcoming post, I may sure).  The military seems to be doing its  job but the government is a bit slow in response, other than looking for cash….this could be a deadly event for the present government.

It seems that Pakistani militants are trying to take advantage of the situation on the ground……

The worst floods in decades, triggered by unusually heavy monsoon rains more than three weeks ago, have overwhelmed the Pakistani state’s ability to respond.

One major risk is Islamist charities and militants successfully exploiting anger over the government response, even as the United States and international allies rush to deliver additional aid.

The senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said militants were even dispensing money for victims.

“There are certainly clear indications that the insurgents and affiliated groups are trying to use the flood and the relief from the flood to try to gain support for their broader effort of being able to control large parts of Pakistan,” the official said.

Do not look now….but those darn cycles may be in the process again……..