These days, we modern Americans rarely give a thought to the wisdom of Confucius. But maybe we should. I suspect he would have had a thing or two to say about our current national CEO, none of it good.
The Chinese Empire was perhaps the most stable and enduring civilization this world has ever known. It survived multiple millenia and numerous dynasties. The ruling ethos, "Confucianism," was based on a recognition of and a respect for social capital and the commons.
A little bit more to follow:
Confucianism was based on the idea that certain kinds of relationships must be respected for mankind to live in harmony with the earth. If the Emperor, or "Son of Heaven," did not properly respect these relationships, then Heaven would revoke its Mandate. Misfortunes, in the form of Natural Disasters, would befall the Empire.
All legitimacy, in the Chung Kuo, or Central Kingdom, was derived from the Sage Kings of the distant past. They taught the people everything important they needed to know. Sons must respect their fathers. The people must remember and perform the proper rites for their ancestors. The Son of Heaven must behave benevolently towards the people, not impoverishing them to the point that they cannot eat or prosper. And language must be respected. The Son of Heaven was the first citizen. It was up to him and his ministers to light the way for the people by upholding the laws themselves.
Words in China were not represented phonetically as they are in the West. They were represented by unchanging ideograms. The picture was the meaning. The Chinese recognized words as an important form of currency and expected the ruling class to honor them by using them truthfully. A prince could not call himself a prince if he was not benevolent (at least in theory). It was the duty of a minister to both perform the ancestral rites, and to remind the prince of his obligations to the people even if it cost him his life. If these things didn't happen, then Heaven would revoke its Mandate. There would be earthquakes, floods, typhoons, fires, plagues and wars.
Dubya has blithely broken so many of these rules. He has not shown filial piety. He has dishonored the social contract by stealing and allowing cronies to steal from the governed. He has chosen ministers who do not remind him of his obligation to remain benevolent. He has ravaged our language in order to start a meaningless war, and to plunder our commons. And by dishonoring language, he has eroded our belief in our language, perhaps the most valuable form of social capital binding our society together.
Now he is reaping the reward for all of us. The Earth and Heaven are angry and have revoked their Mandate. Global warming is Confucius' ultimate last word. We, the people have no choice but to offer up a new Son or Daughter of Heaven who will honor the ancestors and their ways by following the Constitution and international law, who will use words truthfully, who will look out for the good of the people and the commonwealth, and who will honor the father in heaven by honoring her or his mother and father on Earth (not that I'm a great fan of the first Bush either).
China was so powerful in its extended heydey that it never had a word equivalent to "infidel." A "barbarian," the nearest synonym, was merely a hapless rube, too uneducated and insignificant to acknowledge. Maybe this line of thought prevented them from entering into useless wars.
If the Son of Heaven behaves as he should, then the nations will circle him like the stars circle the North Star, and earthquakes and other disasters will cease. So saith Confucius.