Question

The accumulation of gold in the treasury of private individuals is the ruin of timocracy [a state where only property owners can participate in government]; they invent illegal modes of expenditure; for what do they or their wives care about the law? . . . . And then one, seeing another grow rich, seeks to rival him, and thus the great mass of the citizens become lovers of money. . . . And so at last, instead of loving contention and glory, men become lovers of trade and money; they honor and look up to the rich man, and make a ruler of him, and dishonor the poor man.

–The Republic,
Plato

What is the main idea that Plato states in this passage?

The accumulation of property leads to rivalry.
The accumulation of property leads to a just government.
The accumulation of money leads to a corrupt government.
The accumulation of money leads to a just government.

Answer 1

Plato is stating that the more gold that people have, and the richer they become, the more praise they receive from their peers and society.

Step-by-step explanation:

The people who are not able to accumulate gold, are shoved aside and forgotten in this new society run by the wealthy men.