DIGESTING CRITICISM, OR PLATO - ROUND 2

My parents returned from a vacation recently and made special time to read what was happening here at the blog. And even though they are the supportive parents and all, my father at least did have a criticism or two.

According to him, I need to be less caustic in my replies to comments posted; I need to remember this is about promoting debate on a medium that is the closest thing to optimal. To my argument that some of the debate is insane, or unjustifiable waste of time, he said - "So what? Learn how to deal with that too." He is right. I hate to be acknowledging this here, but hey - let's be honest, I can be exceedingly harsh sometimes, which doesn't necessarily help to get my point across. And while that might have been cute back in my teens, now I guess I am running out of excuses...

My mother came to the phone after my father; unaware of his criticism a few minutes before (she was not by him as he spoke to me), she gently suggested I should reread Plato - in her opinion, I might have come across the Socratic dialogues when I was a little too young. She says that now, in my thirties, I'd be able to really benefit from rereading some of it.

The meaning of justice, in the sense of what it means to be just, to be fair - for as long as I remember, I have been a prisoner of this concept. I don't like it when people are oblivious to unfairness (their own included) in their daily treatment of life. I like it even less when I am one of these people.

So here I am, holding Plato's Republic in my hand... Round 2.