Plato’s philosopher king idea has bad company.

Many men of their own reasoning have concluded with Plato that that men cannot govern themselves wisely. Unfortunately many of these such as Hitler, Ghengis Kahn, Ceasar, Napleon, Rousseau, Marx have determined that special men have talents to govern and should be in charge, e.g. Plato’s philosopher king, Hitler’s Ubermensch. History teaches that righteousness and obedience to \the Lord lead to prosperity with freedom; that man-designed utopias inevitably fail. Put succinctly by Book of Mormon prophets: Obey God and prosper in the land. Disobey and be cut off from his presence – bringing despair and desolation. America began with men of vision who put their trust in God, but is now steadily losing its way by trusting in the widsom of men – in particular Obama who has announced to the world that America is not a Christian nation.

Or interest in this regard is The Overton Window, a NY Times Best Seller by Glenn Beck. It’s a fun, fast-moving tale of political intrigue, which examines the ideas of Thomas Payne, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and Plato, Marx, and others on how to solve man’s self-governance problems.