Trolling the Athenian Illuminati is not what got Socrates a death sentence, however. Socrates’s sophistry was mainly a front for antidemocratic, authoritarian views. He believed that only reasonable, logical, and competent people should be in charge. He believed that men of merit should be elevated into positions of power. The problem, which is more obvious to our modern eyes than it has been in decades, is that the idea of a meritocracy is almost in direct conflict with the idea of a democracy. Democracies tend to elevate any person with enough wealth and charisma to stand out in a crowd.
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