All at Sea

You can imagine why the term 'Ship of Fools' has been running around in my head for the last few days. I'm not even sure where I first heard it - it's one of those images that just seeps in from the general culture, and I've never previously looked up its origin. I can't be the only one thinking it, but I haven't actually seen or heard anyone write or say it yet

I've never properly looked up it's origins before, but now I know it goes right back to Plato (in Republic, 375BCE). Plato was not a democrat; in fact, his allegory is an argument against allowing ordinary people (the crew) too much say in the management and navigation of the ship (the state). But his contention was that the people who run a state must necessarily have expertise in statecraft. He also thought that, where people were competing for a role in government, they would be motivated by self-interest, rather than the good of the polity. Someone who actually wanted to make the ship sail well, rather than feather their own nest, he thought would be seen as perverse and weak

Plato's allegory also inspired a 15th century satirical book in German, lampooning the politics of the day. I like this version because it invented 'Saint Grobian' - the patron saint of vulgar and coarse people. Grobian was picked up by other authors, one of whom imagined him creating a school of manners in which people were "instructed to use one's greasy fingers to grab at the nicest portions of any dish and snatch food belonging to fellow diners"

There were no ships in the bay as we left this morning, but the mist and early light gave the impression that the sea was boiling and the sky full of anger. If I was as clever as Plato, I could build a metaphor around it