Thursday, October 6, 2011

Huainanzi - Entry 1

When society is orderly, a fool alone cannot disturb it; when society is chaotic, a sage alone cannot bring order.
~ a passage from The Book of Leadership and Strategy by Thomas Cleary ~
As I read this passage yesterday, it immediately brought to mind the various "Occupy" protests taking place all over the country and in other locales across the globe. One of the complaints many people have is that the movement is leaderless. There is no one charismatic figure to serve as the movement's public face.

Too often, when times look bleak and hopeless, the public craves a messiah, someone who can lead them to the promised land. However, as the above passage suggests, no singular person -- or even a divine entity -- can accomplish that!! It takes a lot of feet on the pavement to move society forward.

Those feet are in the streets today!

To read the introduction to this ongoing series, go here.

1 comment:

  1. A lot of feet on the pavement can be destructive, too. Leaderless groups (in a chaotic society) have no direction. They are like a tsunami, spreading adn washing over whatever is in the path.

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