I’m 76 and recently I discovered a new word. I’ve become a collector of tshirts, mostly political in nature. While looking for a new tshirt with a google search, I uncovered a tshirt with a single word, KAKISTOCRACY! Not being familiar with the word, I did a Google search for more information about the word.
A definition: government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state, and from Wikipedia: Kakistocracy is government by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous people. The word was coined as early as the 17th century and derives from two Greek words, kákistos and krátos, together meaning ‘government by the worst people’.
There was an Economist article about the word Kakistocracy where the word was declared the 2024 word of the year. I wanted more information about the word, some history and maybe how the word describes out present situation with the government of Trump.
Synonyms for kakistocracy, a government run by the worst or least qualified people, include kleptocracy (rule by thieves), idiocracy (rule by fools), corruptocracy, and ineptocracy, all highlighting corruption, incompetence, or poor leadership, though none perfectly match its specific Greek root meaning “rule by the worst”. While there isn’t a single perfect synonym, these terms capture aspects of a kakistocracy, emphasizing bad governance, corruption, or lack of qualification in leadership.
Not much more was available, so I went to my source for any information of a philosophical nature, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. A search using the word Kakistocracy didn’t turn up much, but I did find a scholarly article on ‘Corruption’. A cursory reading of the introduction suggested several rereads to grasp an understanding where I can share with others. A few ideas I was able to process is corruption is both personal and institutional and is the “despoiling of the moral character of persons”.
I did buy the tshirt.
Here's A Thing... 