Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Cause for shame

As the president's nixonian brazenness elicits collusion in more and more of his supporters and allies, I need hardly repost this from Confucius:

VIII.13 
The Master said, “Be sincerely trustworthy and love learning, and hold fast to the good Way until death. Do not enter a state that is endangered, and do not reside in a state that is disordered. If the Way is being realized in the world then show yourself; if it is not, then go into reclusion. In a state that has the Way, to be poor and of low status is a cause for shame; in a state without the way, to be wealthy and honored is equally a cause for shame.” (Slingerland 82)

Comey's no hero of mine, but in a government of people with no commitment to the Way or the rites of democracy, it is no shame to be fired. In Nixon's case there were junzi (gentlemen) who resigned rather than be party to shamelessness; where are the junzi of today?