Most of us have grumbled about the people in charge at some point. The bad boss, the poor leader, the committee that makes a mess of things. But how often do we consider our own part in letting them get there? More than two thousand years ago, Plato pointed at exactly this. The heaviest penalty for declining to rule, he wrote, is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself. In other words, if capable, decent people refuse to step up and take responsibility, they don't actually escape the consequences. They simply hand the job to someone less able, and then have to live under that person's decisions. It's one of the oldest arguments for why good people should get involved, rather than stand back. The price of opting out isn't peace and quiet. It's being governed by whoever does show up.
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