The Useless Tree

Mencius

  • Richard Perle, Please Read Mencius

         One of the architects of the Iraq war, the unrepentant neo-con, Richard Perle, reflects upon the past five years of failure in a short piece in the NYT today.  He remains completely in character: he was right and… Continue reading

  • Three by Mencius on Teaching

        I’ve finished the big pile of grading I had for my larger class (33 students).  Hooray!  I still have to send comments to the twelve students in my tutorial (I haven’t forgotten you!) but the bulk of my… Continue reading

  • Who’s Important

          Sorry for the dearth of posting the last couple of days.  I’m grading.  For any academic who has faced it, you know how diverting it can be; and for those who do not have to do it, trust… Continue reading

  • Eliott Spitzer and Mencius

         I am reading Mencius with my class now; so, when I heard the news today of Eliot Spitzer’s embarrassment, I wondered what Mencius might say.  I found this passage which, while evincing a rather different sensibility toward mistresses… Continue reading

  • Douglas Feith as Mao Zedong

          One of the planners of the Iraq war, Douglas Feith has a book coming out (ht: TPM).  The Washington Post has a story about it today.       The problem for Feith is: how do you rationalize what… Continue reading

  • The Failure of American Society

       A depressing story out today:  For the first time in the nation’s history, more than one in 100 American adults are behind bars, according to a new report. Nationwide, the prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it… Continue reading

  • Why Snow Matters Politically in China

         The blizzards and associated transportation breakdowns in China of the past couple of weeks have started to raise political questions.  Indeed, any time a prime minister feels he has to publicly apologize for the weather – or the… Continue reading

  • Mencian Child-Rearing

        Jeremiah, over at the new and improved Granite Studio, calls me out on the question of child-rearing in Mencius.  Glad to be of service…     He is discussing the "household instructions" left by a scholar-official long about… Continue reading

  • IQ, The Brain, and Mencius: “Think about barley.”

        Richard E. Nisbett has a nice op-ed in today’s NYT, "All Brains Are the Same Color," in which he counters those who want to argue that intelligence (however it is defined) is primarily genetically determined: In fact, the… Continue reading

  • Mencius: To Thine Own Self Be True

    Mencius said: "If a common official cannot inspire a sovereign’s trust, he’ll never win over the people and govern them.  But there’s a Way to inspire a sovereign’s trust.  If you can’t inspire trust in your friends, you’ll never inspire… Continue reading