Dear Friends,
It seems to me, a nation, society, or group takes on the character of its leaders. An organization then is a reflection of those that lead it. This shouldn’t be a big surprise nor an astonishing insight… it’s common sense. This happens for a myriad of reasons. As Confucius said, people follow their leaders. We emulate those above us not those below… nor do we emulate virtue unless there is profit in it. Sure, we would like to think of ourselves as saints, we might fail now and then but at heart we are good people. I’m not sure about that though. Give most of us unlimited and unaccountable power and I worry even the best of us would become demons. I’m certainly not made of mithril. If the leaders are humble, thankful, and virtuous in theory the people would follow and that nation would prosper.
Every leader wants his or her nation to prosper but most are unwilling to lead by example so use law, profligate spending, and draconian punishments to keep the rest in line. Confucius was traveling through Lu State. The Duke discovered the sage was in his land and asked to see him. The Duke of Lu then asked Confucius, “How do I get the people to stop gambling, lusting after other men’s wives, and stealing?” To which Confucius replied, “You could lead by example and stop doing those things yourself…” Confucius and his disciples had to flee Lu State thereafter. You can bet Lu State wasn’t prosperous, safe, nor happy. Because that State certainly took on the Character of the Duke of Lu. In this case The Duke wanted prosperity but was unwilling to lead by example.
It’s human nature to follow one’s leaders. If they are arrogant, ungrateful, and conniving, the people will too. Cicero said, The more laws, the less justice. When a leader is corrupt they will need ever more laws. Otherwise, the people will follow and the state will become ungovernable, poor, and soon invaded. The more those laws multiply to stop human nature from operating, the less justice there will be. This is because law is written by those with the power to write it not by those without the power to write it. Therefore those with the power have a strong incentive to make it favor themselves. Even a 1 standard deviation of equality over time warps an economy to the advantage of the favored. Casinos in Vegas have less advantage. Human nature is the same now as it was in 300BC.
There is a story of an emperor erecting an obelisk in ancient China. Upon the stone he had all the laws carved so that everyone knew what the law was. The people marveled at the innovation. Soon someone thought to ask one of Confucius’ disciples about it. His disciple said, “It’s a very bad idea.” The people were taken aback. How could this supposed sage not see that now all would know and be held equally to the law? So when they pushed back he said, “Because people will argue to the head of a pin the law doesn’t apply to them.” This was about the same time rhetoricians and sophists were wandering ancient Greece teaching how to claim the law doesn’t apply to you. The ancient Greeks were just a generation or two ahead of the ancient Chinese in corruption.
This tells us that you can garner the character of a nation’s leaders by the nation. If a nation is rife with crime, poverty, and dis-cohesion, you can reliably predict that nation is run by a Duke of Lu. If the laws are so arcane that even one trained in law can’t navigate them, they serve something other than justice. Moreover, if prosperity depends on the distance from the center of power, that is an extractive economy not a productive one. These are all the characteristics of a nation that is run by people who aren’t humble, thankful, nor virtuous. This gives us a handy lever to create a prosperous society, should we decide to use it. That lever is to force our leaders to be virtuous by transparency, consequences, and accountability. That’s an easy way to create prosperity without huge economic disruption.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
