Comment on Frank Li on ‘Confucius on Governance’
In ancient Greece, the idea that the position in the social hierarchy should correspond to virtue/arete was not much different from Confucianism. “According to Plato, a philosopher king is a ruler who possesses both a love of wisdom, as well as intelligence, reliability, and a willingness to live a simple life.” (Wikipedia)
Things have changed a bit in the meantime. The Great Chain of Being model has been replaced by the Godfather model where sociopathology is the organizing principle with the worst person on top. Love of wisdom, intelligence, reliability, and a willingness to live a simple life have been turned on their heads.
Hollywood has produced a lot of educational material on mob rule. Compared to the three parts of The Godfather, Confucius' teachings look a bit naive. With Mr. Trump, the Chinese now learn it the hard way.
Egmont Kakarot-Handtke