In a way, Plato’s allegory of the cave applies to the citizens of the myth of metals. In Plato’s allegory, the prisoners have a misconstrued conception of what is real. They believe that the shadow of an item or figure is the item itself, and they lack the knowledge to understand that the image that they are seeing is only the form of the figure. In the myth of metals, the citizens are told that they inherently have a certain metal inside of them that sets there social standings. This is done to create a utopia. But a utopia implicitly implies that everything is good in a moral sense, yet the foundation of the society is based on lies, which is morally incorrect. I find it interesting that a society that preaches good morals can be built on an idea so corrupt.
It is fair to ask, however, whether or not this is a necessary “evil”. Does it benefit the people more than it harms them? In a society where people’s social standing remains stagnant, it is easy for people to remain complacent with their lives. Therefore, they will have little motivation to be innovative. There will be little personal success and the society will not advance. This is a better case scenario. Worst case scenario is that people who are not properly suited may be in a position of high standing. I understand that the guardians are well educated, but an excellent education does not mean that someone will be good. Being good is a combination of intrinsic attributes and extrinsic teachings. There were also examples of people who were given excellent educations but still turned out poorly. As a result, you have, at it’s best, a society that promotes overall stagnation, and, at it’s worst, rulers who are not fit for ruling, which can create substantial damage to a whole society.