This is taken from Plato’s famous 7th Letter. It reveals his assessment of the government in his time and can be applied today.
The older I grew, reflecting upon the kind of men active in politics and the state of our laws and customs, the more I realized how difficult it is to rightly manage a city’s affairs. It was impossible to do anything without friends and loyal followers and finding such men ready at hand would be a piece of good luck, since our city was no longer guided by the customs and practices of our fathers. The corruption of our written laws and customs was proceeding at such amazing speed that whereas at first I had been full of zeal for public life, when I noted these changes and saw how unstable everything was, in the end I became quite dizzy and reframed from action, waiting for the proper time. I finally concluded that all existing states are badly governed and their laws practically incurable without some miraculous remedy and assistance of fortune. I was forced to praise true philosophy, that from her height alone was it possible to discern what the nature of justice is in the state or in the individual, and that the ills of the human race would never end until either those who are truly sincere lovers of wisdom come into political power, or the rulers of our cities learn true philosophy by the grace of God.
Concluding about the external government as he does is not that surprising, whats more enlightening is the conclusion about the individual and the impact philosophy will have on their life. Think of your mind as a type of government as Plato discusses in The Republic. What type of government is in place? Most are not governed by the best part, that of reason and philosophy and this is why we have the problems that we do. Plato suggests that if you were to allow your internal government to be ruled by reason and philosophy you would achieve the happiest life.
Moralities and the Moral Republic 