Political Science

  Understandin" rel="nofollow">ing the Theories Let′s talk about these theories. If you′re strugglin" rel="nofollow">ing, just thin" rel="nofollow">ink of movie Cast Away, if you have seen it. In it, Tom Hank’s character is stranded on an island alone for a long time. In his solitude, he gets so lonely that he names a volleyball Wilson and speaks to it as if it was a friend. Although at first it is only somethin" rel="nofollow">ing to do, eventually Wilson becomes real to the character. So much so, that he even mourns Wilson’s death when the volleyball is taken away by a wave. Imagin" rel="nofollow">ine spendin" rel="nofollow">ing your life this way, knowin" rel="nofollow">ing only the reflections on the wall. What would happen once your chain" rel="nofollow">ins are removed and you are taken kickin" rel="nofollow">ing and screamin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">into the light of the sun? Can you see why you may be afraid to enter this new and unknown world, where your shadows are taken away from you and revealed to be just images of other objects? Let′s now turn this allegory in" rel="nofollow">into a story about the state. Thin" rel="nofollow">ink of this way: The in" rel="nofollow">individuals chain" rel="nofollow">ined to the floor of the cave represent the people of a state. In this chain" rel="nofollow">ined position, they are only allowed to know what the state, represented by those walkin" rel="nofollow">ing behin" rel="nofollow">ind the caved in" rel="nofollow">individuals and creatin" rel="nofollow">ing the shadows on the wall, wants them to know. Of course, this changes once the people are taken out of the cave, thus risin" rel="nofollow">ing above the state and learnin" rel="nofollow">ing the truth for themselves in" rel="nofollow">in the outside world. Can you see this representation? For example, image a country where the state controls all media outlets, and censors any news comin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">into and out of the country. Can the people truly understand the true picture without all the in" rel="nofollow">information? In real life, Socrates was put to death by the state because of his apparent corruption of the youth and a lack of belief in" rel="nofollow">in the gods, which plays in" rel="nofollow">into Plato′s allegory. As in" rel="nofollow">in the story, if you rise too far above the others in" rel="nofollow">in the cave (as Socrates did) you can become a challenge to the state, or at least a state that likes to control the knowledge of its citizens. Can anyone tell me why this is?