Hey guys! This week I read two very interesting excerpts.
One of them was "Thoughts of the Tao-te Ching" by Lao-Tzu and the
other was "The Qualities of the Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli. After
reading Lao, I had a very strong disagreement with the way he thinks government
should be run. He believes that there should be minimized government control
with the people in control of themselves. "Stop trying to control. Let go
of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself (Tzu 29)."
But I think that this method would be catastrophic for society. Everything
would collapse. Why? Lao doesn't account for human nature. The Human race is
lying, deceitful, cheating, violent and everyone has a hidden agenda. With no
government control, no laws telling people what is right and wrong, and having
them rely on their moral standards; people would kill people left and right,
steal and do whatever they wanted for what they wanted. Most people aren't this
bad but some of them are. Some people just want to watch the world burn. If
tomorrow the President of the United States of America said your government is
going to cease to exist, rule yourself, and do what you please. Everyone would
have no clue what to do, nothing would get done and the country would probably
blow up in 5 days. People need guidance, they need someone to lead them and set
the example of what to do. That's my thought on Lao. Machiavelli's thoughts on
how the Prince (leader) should rule are pretty much describing the perfect
leader. Machiavelli wants the Prince to know his country like the back of his
hand so if war comes to the country he will know how to protect it because he
knows all of the spots in his nation to camp, where he has the advantage, and
where the enemy may camp. "One learns to know one's own country and can
better understand how to defend it; second, with the knowledge and experience
of the terrain, one can easily comprehend the characteristics of any other
terrain that it is necessary to explore for the first time; for the hills,
valleys, plains, rivers, and swamps(Machiavelli 40)." Machiavelli's
biggest point in my opinion is on whether it is better to be loved or to be
feared? Machiavelli says that it is better to be feared and not hated at the
same time. I agree with his statement. If you are loved people love you but
they don't respect you, they won't listen to your orders and try to get away
with the little things that they can. But if you are feared people will take
you seriously and be afraid to do you wrong because of the potential punishment
given to them if they are caught. Lastly, Machiavelli says that a ruler must
try to be not despised or hated by keeping the people happy so they won't rebel
against him and will be his friend when needed. That's it for this week stay tuned for next week to see whats' up next!
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