Child Saviors and realism (was:Re: Harry's assumption VS Everyone's assumption)

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 151746

> Betsy Hp:
> Okay, this is a bit strange, and may have to do with the late 
hour, 
> but...  Training up a child to take a position where she or he may 
> have to "save the world" was once a real life endeavor.  Elizabeth 
I 
> of England, Alexander the Great, etc., real movers and shakers on 
> the world stage *were* trained as children to assume the power 
they 
> came to later in life. (And one could argue that they saved their 
> worlds when they came into their power.)  

a_svirn:
???! Could one? Elisabeth I of England wasn't even supposed to be a 
queen let along to save the world. As for Alexander the Great, I 
suppose he was schooled in the arts of war, but conquering worlds is 
not quite the same thing as saving them. 

> Betsy Hp:
I think Plato had a whole 
> thing on the perfect match between a philosopher and the ruler he 
> trains up.  And I believe Machiavelli wrote "The Prince" with the 
> idea of providing training for a child in becoming a proper ruler.

a_svirn:
I don't believe that Plato wrote for children. As for Machiavelli, 
he endeavoured to instruct aspiring princes how to save their own 
skins, rather than those of their subjects. As for "saving the 
world", I think he would have found the very idea amusing.