The Useful Sage for Tyranny 孔儒专制、西方左派、中共党朝与华人反共人士的共性

陈凯博客： www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

陈凯一语：

到头来，孔儒、西左、中共与大多数的华语系反共人士的政治世界观是同出一辙的： 父母官、救星政府、强权崇尚、万能好政府是“完美人间天堂”的首要先决。 他们所向往的不是“人崇神基良知去产生、限制、监督政府而自理自治”，而是“放弃良知与神而建立万能（好、大）政府去管人控人”。 在这些人眼里，真实、正义、自由与尊严不如“免费的午餐”来的容易与更有价值。 下面左派（洛杉矶时报）的文章进一步我的观点的真实性。

请记住： “和谐”是一个伪价值，是一种强力麻醉剂和精神毒品。 “求和谐、求同求统的人是绝不会求真实、求自由的。

Kai Chen's Words:

To the end, Confucian Chinese, liberal leftists in the West, Chinese Communist Party-State and many who claim to be anti-communist (especially in the Chinese speaking population) are really coming from the same roots of a despotic tree: Paternalistic, Savior-like, Power-thirst, omnipotent/omnipresent government is the premise of all "Heaven on Earth" theorists and benevolent despots.

What these power-mongers want is not a society with imperfect individuals following a moral compass (God, Conscience) to limit and control their government to strive for a meaningful life. What they want is to discard and relinquish individual freedom and responsibility (self-government) to yearn and to establish an omnipotent/omnipresent savior government. In these people's eyes, truth, justice, liberty and human dignity is nothing in comparison with some "free lunch" and a delusional "Heaven on Earth". The following article from LA Times (a leftist publication) today further demonstrates my point.

"Harmony" is an anti-value to be instilled into the Chinese and the world population, so individuals can forget or be paralyzed the universal/eternal/true values of mankind - truth, justice, liberty and human dignity.

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The Useful Sage for Tyranny

孔儒专制、西方左派、中共党朝与华人反共人士的共性

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-gardner-confucius-20101001,0,6766368.story

The venerable sage's teachings have enjoyed a revival in 21st century China because they serve the communist regime well politically.

By Daniel K. Gardner

October 1, 2010

Confucius, the venerable sage who lived in the 6th century BC, is enjoying a 21st century revival. His rehabilitators? The Chinese Communist Party. Yes, that party, the one celebrating the 61st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1. The same party whose chairman, Mao Tse-tung, vilified Confucius' "stinking corpse" during the Cultural Revolution and ordered the Red Guards to destroy all temples, statues, historical landmarks and texts associated with the sage. But, as China turns 61, the Great Helmsman is out and Confucius, who would have turned 2,561 on Sept. 28, is in.

(Kai Chen: The author of the article is wrong - Mao is not out and never has been out. Mao is only strengthened and legitimized now by a neo-Confucianism.)

As early as February 2005, the Beijing leadership began endorsing the sage's teachings again, citing him approvingly in a speech delivered to the National Congress by President Hu Jintao: "Confucius said, 'Harmony is something to be cherished.' " Since then the terms "harmonious society" and "harmonious world" have become mantras of the party leaders and the basis of their domestic and foreign policies. During the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics, the world was greeted not by quotations from Mao's Little Red Book but by warm homilies from the teachings of Confucius.

What explains this redemption? Confucius gave attention to two overarching matters: what makes for good government, and what makes for a morally good individual. His answers were elegant — and compelling — in their simplicity. Good government rules not by physical force but through moral force. The ideal ruler embodies virtue, which is expressed in his unfailingly benevolent treatment of the people. In turn, the people voluntarily, even eagerly, choose to follow him.

Because government, to be good, requires a good ruler — and good officials — Confucius also characterizes what makes for a good person: someone who possesses a love of learning; strives to achieve benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom; treats others as he would wish to be treated; is trustworthy and loyal as a friend, filial as a son and obedient as a subject; and, reciprocally, is affectionate and caring as a parent or an official.

(Kai Chen: No wonder the Chinese never want to destroy slavery and despotism. They always want a good master or emperor.)

What in this millenniums-old vision resonates with Beijing today?

With the proclamation "to get rich is glorious," Deng Xiaoping, China's paramount leader for two decades beginning in the late 1970s, ushered in the post-Mao era. An ideology of socialist revolution through class warfare gave way to an ideology of getting rich. And, of course, the Chinese — or at least some — have since become very wealthy indeed. But unbridled economic growth has spawned a host of problems: a widening gulf between rich and poor, urban and rural; heightened social tensions; increasing unemployment; rising crime; rampant corruption, especially among government officials and local business leaders; environmental degradation; healthcare and elderly care that is out of the reach of vast numbers of people; and a skyrocketing incidence of public protests (tens of thousands annually).

The Communist Party is neither unaware of nor insensitive to these problems. But it is determined to confront them without surrendering any of its political control or authority; it has shown little inclination to make substantive changes to the prevailing political system or institutions of government.

In the ideology of Confucianism, party leadership has rediscovered a potent language for addressing the challenges China now faces. The teachings of the sage, after all, offer the promise of social harmony. The crux of the Confucian agenda is that individuals, whatever their social or economic status, are to treat their fellow human beings empathetically and with proper respect. A philanthropic, communal spirit imbues humanity, creating a society in which "all within the four seas are brothers." Here the Beijing leadership sees an opportunity to lessen the wealth gap and ease social tensions — and at little financial cost to the government.

And if official corruption is one of the most serious grievances among the people — frequently capable of sparking social unrest — traditional Confucian teachings again provide authorities with the language to show the people that they are attacking it head-on. The official China Daily observed in 2007: "In traditional Confucianism, the cultivation of personal moral integrity is considered the most basic quality for an honest official. The qualities of uprightness, modesty, hard work, frugality and honesty that President Hu encourages officials to incorporate into their work and lifestyle are exactly the same as the moral integrity of a decent person in traditional culture."

Confucius promises a government that cares for the people, that makes their well-being its primary concern. This is to govern by virtue. And virtue creates its own legitimacy: paternalistic, affectionate care of the people by the rulers is sure to be reciprocated by the people's trust and obedience. Hu Jintao's appropriation of the language of Confucianism not only fills the ideological void left by Marxist-Leninism's demise but also suggests to the governed that, in seeking to create a harmonious society and a harmonious world, he and other officials take their "Confucian" responsibility of moral leadership to heart. Their expectation is that the people, in turn, will place trust in the government and be obedient to it, with minimal dissent. (Kai Chen: While the communist party-state wants you to follow Confucian teachings to achieve harmony, it will distract your attention to the illegitimate/criminal origin and nature of the party-state itself. Remember, government in the best case is a necessary evil. In the worse case, it is an intolerable evil. )

China's government appears determined to address the fissures and tensions born of almost three decades of unrestrained economic development. But it seems equally determined to bring about such change without reforming the prevailing one-party system of governance. The regime in Beijing, eager to keep its power intact, to maintain the political status quo, has chosen, for the time being, to goad the Chinese toward social harmony through traditional ideological and moral exhortations.

Resuscitating the sage today thus serves the party's political aims. But to conclude that cherry-picking soothing phrases from Confucian writings is the same as a genuine and enduring commitment to the vision of Confucius would be a mistake. (Kai Chen: The author, Daniel K. Gardner, has no idea what he is talking about. He does not know that the essence of Confucianism is despotic aimed to castrate each individual's conscience and ability to discern truth, to fight for justice and dignity.)

Daniel K. Gardner is a professor of history and the director of the program in East Asian studies at Smith College.

Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times