Additionally, the society he's attempting to explore is a society in which justice is the single overriding principle. I think if there is anything to take away from that, it's that such a society maybe isn't so great.

His critique of democracy does absolutely have a few good points. A lot of people get really mad when they see it, but I don't think that is at all constructive. If democracy is a good idea, it must stand on its own legs. We can't counter its criticism with what it promises to deliver, but only the reality of what it delivers. Denying or attempting to conceal its problems makes addressing them that much harder, and which problems are easier to fix after having festered for a long time?

At the same time, I think the very Athenian democracy he criticized solved many of our problems today. Athenian officials had real skin in the game in a way ours do not. They risked ostracism (10 years of exile) if they misbehaved.