Huainanzi - Entry 8

When rulers have many obsessions and interests, their subjects do a lot of posturing.
~ a passage from The Book of Leadership and Strategy by Thomas Cleary ~

Our leaders in the US seem obsessed with two things: wealth/power and war. They are driving our national economy into a huge crevasse in order to sustain and grow these two things. They are willing to sacrifice the needs of the vast majority so that the desires of the minority are realized.

In contrast to the machinations of the ruling class, there are two central factions that are protesting their designs: the Tea Party on the Right and the Occupy movement on the Left. Both engage in posturing in the hopes of turning public opinion in their direction. Both are reactions to the excess of the oligarchs (though it has been pointed out that the Tea Party is funded, in large part, BY the elite).

When the public is content with the direction of a nation, we don't see massive protests, demonstrations, acts of civil disobedience, boycotts and strikes. There is no need. It is when the leaders become obsessed with objectives that don't serve a public benefit that we experience unrest.

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