Locke and Demosthenes

[eriador]

Right, this is the first thread in a series of ideas I had re-reading the Ender series. I won't be around, but I'm itching to post it, so I will.

The question is this: who, in today's world is the most like Locke, and who is the most like Demosthenes? Discuss.

[anonshadow]

Which ones? Peter and Valentine's secret identities or the actual historical figures?

[Jebus]

That's what I was wondering, I assumed he meant the former, but that didn't make any sense since Demosthenes character was essentially just an extremist rabble rouser to make Locke seem reasonable, so I don't know how you could take two people from real life to match that.

[Dr. Mobius]

Are you sure he's not talking about Adam and Brent?

[hive_king]

Shouldn't this be in EG?

[Rei]

Are you sure he's not talking about Adam and Brent?

Who's who, though, Chico?

[eriador]

Peter and Val's identities of course. I'm just wondering if there's anybody who could play the role of either of those in the world today. Who could write like Locke, the elegant statesman but still have a popular following? And who could stir up the "rabble" like Demosthenes?

[SaintDrogo]

Demosthenes= the entire overly-religious Right.

Locke= hopefully someone who's coming around soonish.

[Janus%TheDoorman]

I hate to bring my own view of politics into this, but Bill O'Reilly seems to fit the mold of a demagogue to a fault. I actually made the point of watching his show at one point to evaluate the validity of that statement, and it was particularly edifying.

By comparison, Locke is unfortunately harder to pin down. If I had to pick someone, I'd say Barack Obama, who is as much a globalist as Peter ever was, though perhaps less arrogant. No one else seems to fit quite into that mold.

[Warmaker]

I would say Ann Coulter or Pat Buchannan would make a good comparison to Demosthenes.

[Jezebel]

I agree. I think that the Right (and the Christian Right especially) represents Demosthenes, at least in the United States. Worldwide it seems a lot harder to pin down. I can't really think of anybody who plays either and appeals to a HUGE swath of humanity. I think that Locke is, like others have suggest, a lot harder to pin down. The first to come to mind would be the Dalai Lama, but he's much more spiritual than political. I'd say that Locke is a political Dalai Lama.

[eriador]

Demosthenes= the entire overly-religious Right.

Locke= hopefully someone who's coming around soonish.

Amen.

As to Obama being Locke, I dunno. I don't think that he's vocal or specific enough. He is, in some ways, a demagogue, although as demagogues go, he's pretty reasonable. Admittedly, he's in an interesting spot, and just about anybody in his position has to rely on demagoguery to some degree, but I imagine that Locke would be more reasonable. Someone in the media... But I'm not enough into that world to know where to look.

P.S. Thanks Jezebel for bumping this!

[John Locke]

[quote="SaintDrogo"]Demosthenes= the entire overly-religious Right.

Locke= hopefully someone who's coming around soonish.[/quote]

Absolutely. Maybe in a few years I will be more influential and do much to bring around a world wide "Liberal (meaning full of rights) Democracy" in Peter's words. Anybody out there wish to be my Demosthenes? You wouldn't have to go to a colony world afterwords, and you definitely aren't any relation, but I you can write convincingly and hide yourself on the internet, I think our writings could help the world.
Just Kidding.
It's already copy-written.
But if it could help the world toward peace, I would do it in a heartbeat.