Author Archives: louis

They alone, therefore, of all the citizens are forbidden to touch or handle silver or gold; they must not come under the same roof as them, nor wear them as ornaments, nor drink from vessels made of them. Upon this their safety and that of the state depends. If they acquire private property in land, houses, or money, they will become farmers and men of business instead of Guardians, and harsh tyrants instead of partners in their dealings with their fellow citizens, with whom they will live on terms of mutual hatred and suspicion; they will be more afraid of internal revolt than external attack, and be heading fast for destruction that will overwhelm the whole community.
Plato, The Republic

So just before Twitter was brought to its knees a few minutes ago, my whole stream was full of mourning for a successful business leader who made some really cool products and died today. I thought this was maybe a little much, so I went looking for a list of people who’ve died this year to provide some perspective, and found out that Wangari Maathai died last week, which doubly brought home the point I was trying to make in that I hadn’t heard about it until just now. RIP, Wangari. You did real good.