system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why is The Republic revered when it doesn’t really fit with Western views?

Genuine question coming from someone who has read several of Plato’s dialogues and am about halfway through The Republic. His views on the perfect society include things like censorship and a class system. 

I like Plato, but I’m wondering why The Republic is considered fundamental in political science and Western thought, yet the ideas seem completely different.

Edit: Thank you to everyone for the comments. I just expected a brief explanation, but got way more! I'll try to respond to several of you.
gpt
The fact that a philosophical treatise includes or endorses ideas we wouldn't feel comfortable espousing today does not mean that the text itself can't be illuminating in various respects—in fact, I'd argue that precisely because it seems antagonistic to modern values, it can help us shed light on them and understand them more clearly. Philosophical texts are not books of answers, but rather books of questioning.