The Useless Tree

Politics

  • Inspiration

    "It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it." — Aung San Suu Kyi. "Fear – The PAP’s… Continue reading

  • April 5th

        Thirty years ago today a crowd of people gathered in Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing.  They were ostensibly mourning the death of Zhou Enlai, the longstanding Prime Minister who had died in January.  A formal public… Continue reading

  • The Politics of Postmodern Confucianism

         I have been thinking a bit more about my earlier post on postmodern Confucianism.  And here’s a question: why on earth would the editors of People’s Daily open up this kind of conversation?  Don’t they realize that bringing… Continue reading

  • Thinking About Revolution

       Tomorrow at 8:30 AM, I will walk into a classroom and begin a course on contemporary Chinese politics.  The starting point, of course, is The Revolution.  This may be the most daunting aspect of the class: how can I… Continue reading

  • Tom DeLay Finds Way (Tao)

         The political scandals washing across Washington have brought down one of the mighty: Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) today abandoned his bid to remain House majority leader, bowing to pressure from a growing number of fellow House Republicans who… Continue reading

  • Are There Any Noble Leaders Here, Either?

      Reflecting on my last post, I have to recognize that contemporary American politics is also painfully short of noble leaders, as defined by the Tao Te Ching.   Remember this excerpt: The people are impossible to rule,and it’s only because… Continue reading

  • A Class

        An emailer asked that I post the syllabus for one of my courses, "Asia and the World."  It does not deal with Chinese philosophy, but is, rather, an introduction to Asian politics and history, centering on the question:… Continue reading

  • China: Pop Culture Leads – Freedom Follows

         In our continuation of IR week, here is another piece, published in the LA Times on August 3, 2003, that considers the significance of cultural change, especially pop cultural change, in China.  Continue reading

  • Mao as a failed legalist

         A new biography of Mao Zedong by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday is a reminder of just how bad that world-changing leader was. For a perceptive review see Perry Link in a recent TLS.       Mao was… Continue reading

  • Karl Rove and Han Fei Tzu

         Cynical, power-hungry, hard-ball politics were not invented by Machiavelli, even though we often invoke the adjective he inspired.  Rather, Machiavelli is the Italian Han Fei Tzu (ca. 280-233 BC).  Han is primarily concerned with how the ruler can… Continue reading