Huainanzi - Entry 40

Trey Smith

A good rider doesn't forget the horse; a good archer doesn't forget the bow; a good leader doesn't forget the populace.

If leaders can truly love and truly benefit the populace, then everyone can follow. But even a child rebels against an unloving and abusive parent.
~ a passage from The Book of Leadership and Strategy by Thomas Cleary ~

When I gaze out at the general political situation in the US, the one important component I find missing is love. So many of our government's policies, initiatives and strategies are about lots of different things; it simply is that love is not one of them!

When you love someone, you want to nurture their growth as a caring and compassionate human being. You are keenly interested in who they are and who they can become. You want to provide them with the necessary tools so that they can build a better life for themselves and others. You want to protect them from things, situations and people that might harm them. And you want to be there for them if they ever ask for your help.

But so much of what is going down in this country today -- it's just as true in many other societies as well -- is based on suspicion, distrust, disinterest and malevolent intent. While I don't necessarily like the parent-child dynamic as a way to describe the people's relationship with government, let's go with it since it is referenced in the snippet above.

The people are rebelling via the Occupy Movement and other avenues because government has shown itself to be "an unloving and abusive parent," at least for SOME of it's children.

A few of the kids -- the one percent -- occupy most of this parent's attention. These few kids are showered with love to the point of being coddled. When they screw up -- which is damn frequent -- the parent rushes to their side and fixes the problem on the spot. When they need a little boost, they are provided with a turbo-powered elevator. When they do well, they are showered with praise and gifts.

The rest of the children, unfortunately, receive very little of this parent's attention and the attention they do receive tends always to be negative. When they screw up, they are punished severely. When they need a little boost, the parent pleads poverty. When they do well, they are chastised for not doing more.

Almost any objective observer who discovered a parent acting this way toward some of their children would label such behavior as neglectful AND abusive. Hey, if the shoe fits...

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