The Useless Tree

Confucius on the AIG Bonuses

Bonuses going to AIG execs.  What would Confucius do?  He would certainly disapprove, as this excerpt from Analects 14.1 suggests:

Yuan Szu asked about disgrace, and the Master said: "To enjoy a salary when your country abides in the Way – that is fine.  But to enjoy a salary when your country ignores Way – that is a disgrace…

"Way," for Confucius implies proper social relationships being enacted by sufficient numbers of people to create a just social order and, thus, a peaceful and prosperous polity.  Our current state of economic decline and rampant venality would, I believe, fall under the "country ignores Way" rubric.  Thus the AIG execs are disgraceful.

I'm not sure, however, if Confucius would go so far toward the AIG robber-barons as he goes in Analects 11.17:

The Chi family patriarch had grown wealthier than Duke Chou himself and still Jan Ch'iu kept gathering taxes for him, adding greatly to his wealth.

The Master said: "He's no follower of mine.  If you sounded the drum and attacked him, my little ones, it wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Since the bonuses are essentially tax money, should we "attack" the AIG execs?   Confucius might look the other way…

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Sam Crane
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2 responses to “Confucius on the AIG Bonuses”

  1. Allan Lian Avatar
    Allan Lian

    “Since the bonuses are essentially tax money, should we “attack” the AIG execs? Confucius might look the other way… “
    That was a good joke!
    I have just blogged ‘On trust and respect’ along the same line about mobs (including millions of foreigners) lynching the ‘Masters of the Universe’ if the US customs (li) during the Wild West had not changed. And my thoughts on what the philosopher Yu meant (in Chapter 1. 13) which could prove useful in the current crises or in the future.
    That is if investors have not been badly burnt by placing their trust (xin) on something or someone unreliable. If they had placed their trust based on what is right (yi), they may not have to face so many problems.
    Anyway, good luck to your trip to China.

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  2. isha Avatar
    isha

    Allan:
    mobs (including millions of foreigners) lynching the ‘Masters of the Universe’???
    So, it is alright to the rob the whole world and destory the world economy, but if the guys at the receiving end raising their voice in protest, then they are mobs that are practicing “lynching”?
    While AIG execs receive $ millions for their robbery, a black man died in prison for not paying child support on time. Here is your due process.

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