Dear Friends,
It seems to me, if we truly want to change the World for the better, we must exhibit the change we want to see. Most of us would like the World to be a better place, but we are stymied at the magnitude of the task, so we placidly go along. We long for a planet where courtesy is common, where the elite follow their own rules, where children are safe and where people are free. We seek these things for us and our children but the World keeps going further and further off the rails. The answer is not violence or to coerce virtue in others but to act as we would have others act and be the change we want to see in others. If we continue down the road we are on, it will be sooner rather than later, when the government will be all powerful. The Elite will rule without oversight and corruption will flow from government like water over Niagara falls.
In the society we live in, the Elite pass more and more laws, but follow the Constitution less and less. The examples they set for us are uniformly bad. They call us greedy, for wanting to hold on to money we have earned by the sweat of our brow, even as they seize more and more of our wealth through taxation and money printing, throwing it away on pork that carry their names. We are told we have to sacrifice, while the president lavishes himself and his family with multimillion dollar vacations, at taxpayer expense. The Elite demand we give up guns even as they buy billions of rounds of ammo and thousands of armored cars to patrol our streets. We are told that we must be watched by a camera on every street corner and submit to our homes being searched without warrant, for our own good, while they cover their actions in a veil of secrecy. The cultural, societal and political elite attack morality as old fashioned while they promote immorality as enlightened, and the unbiased media see no irony in this at all. The instances of bad examples from the elite would fill volumes. Clearly, the examples we have from our elite, are uniformly negative and counter productive to a well ordered society, and we are reaping the reward.
Confucius said, “The sage kings ruled by force of personality.” He went on to say that if the sage kings wanted the people to be more pious, they were more pious themselves, if they wanted the people to be less greedy, they dampened their own rapine, and when the sage kings wanted the people to work harder, they worked harder themselves. This was a central tenet in Confucius’ philosophy. That good leaders lead by example. Since our leaders are bad examples we must be the good examples in society and thereby be the leaders our society needs. Corruption doesn’t stop at national boarders… bad examples are a problem in every nation of men on Earth.
The problem with hypocrisy, isn’t that it doesn’t garner a reaction, it is that the reaction is disgust. The beauty of good examples is that they are magnetic. We are repelled by the hypocrisy of the elite but as we follow their example we engage in hypocrisy ourselves. When we tell our children to be virtuous, but they see us following our leaders and behaving badly, they see our hypocrisy and ignore our entreaties to goodness. Our children are far removed from the elite however, and the media is full of stories of the “good life” for our children to follow, and they do. We prove the truth of this by our very own actions, teaching our children that morals and virtue are for suckers, and repel them by being corrupt, when we should be drawing them in with good examples. Our society suffers, our civilization suffers, our government grows despotic and, worst of all, our children suffer.
Since we cannot expect our political elite to set good examples, and indeed they must want corruption in our society, as shown by their actions, we must set the example. If we follow the Sage kings of ancient China we will show those around us that virtue can be lived. Our good example will draw people to follow us, while the corrupt elite repel them. The hypocrisy of the elite will repulse our children and our good examples will make them far more inclined to be civil, courteous, hard working and honest… if they see it modeled in us. So, smile at strangers, stop and let the car waiting in, tip the waitstaff well, be honest in business, and most of all, follow the golden rule… Do unto others as you would have them do unto you! The change will not be fast, it took generations to get to where we are, and many will struggle against us. But if we want change in the World, we must be the change we seek. Unless we do, no one else will, and if we do, positive change will eventually come.
Remember, Fight the power… by being the power that will be!
Sincerely,
John Pepin
