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Show THE AMERICAN WAY mm CHINESE WISDOM By Gegrg P.JLJiiJ The people of the world are presently choosing between two philosophies of government the Government-Owns-You kind as exemplified by Russia, and the You - Own-The-Government type of which the U.S.A. is the leading exponent. I Throughout history the world has been cursed with leaders, who on the pretext of helping the so-called common man, have seized power. Always the lot of the common man eventually has been made more difficult, not bettered. Dictators, no matter how well intentioned they may have been when they took over, always have succeeded in destroying des-troying themselves and the peoples who were foolish enough to turn over the reins of government govern-ment to them. Kung Fu-Tse, Chinese philosopher philoso-pher of the 5th Century, B. C, more popularly known as Con-i fucius, said a number of things that are very pertinent to the present day, although spoken I over 2,400 years ago. ' When asked for a definition of . good government, Confucius ' said: "It consists in providing enough food to cat, in keeping soldiers to guard the Stale, and in winning the confidence of the people. If one of these three things has to be sacrificed, sacrifice sacri-fice the soldiers. And if of the two remaining things, one has to be sacrificed, - let it be the food, for from the beginning men have always had to die. But without the confidence of the peoDle no government can stand at all." When someone inquired of him as to when is good government, Confucius said: "Government is good when it makes happy those who live under it, and attracts those who live far away." And to one who wished to know the essentials of good government, gov-ernment, he said, "The wise and good ruler is benevolent without expending treasure; he lays burdens bur-dens on the people without causing caus-ing them to grumble; he has desires de-sires without being covetous; he is serene without being proud; he is awe-inspiring without being ferocious. And how is he benevolent benevo-lent without expending treasure? In imposing burdens, he chooses the right time and the right means, and nobody can grumble." grum-ble." ' " And even before Confucius, 1 another Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, of the 6th Century, B. i C, had this to say: "In the highest high-est antiquity, the people did not know they had rulers. In the next age, they loved and praised them. In the next, they feared I them. In the next, they despised them. . . If the government is' prying and meddling, there will be constant infraction of lhTlaw . . . The people starve because those in authority over them devour de-vour too many taxes. . . , The people are difficult to govern because those placed over them are meddlesome." A study of the writings of these wise old Chinese philosophers philoso-phers would certainly do no harm to some of our bureaucrats who now "pry and meddle" and "devour too many taxes" on the banks of the Potomac. From Confucius and Lao Tzu they would learn that "Without the confidence of the people no government gov-ernment can stand at all." As a matter of fact, it would not be amiss for some of our elected representatives at Washington Wash-ington to absorb a bit of Chinese wisdom. |
