Lao-tzu and Machiavelli

Lao-tzu’s “Thoughts from the Tao’te Ching” spoke mostly about how a Master should lead, or better yet, not lead, his people. Lao-tzu stresses the importance of several ideas. One of them is that government should play a small to non-existent role in society. He believes that humans are peace loving creatures that work best under no restrictions. If you try to tell people to do something, if it is something good, then those people will go astray. To do this, Lao-tzu says that a good leader must rely on the Tao: in other words, go with the flow. Do not try to control the situation; just let things happen naturally and everything will turn out alright. Another idea that Lao-tzu mentions often is that of non-violence. He says that nothing good comes from violence. Violence only erupts in fear, so a strong leader must rely on peace and hope, rather than war, to resolve conflicts.

Machiavelli’s “The Qualities of the Prince” was a completely different read. He had many different points to make as to what qualifies a good leader. He says a prince, or a successful ruler, should be a military man who is always ready for war. He also lists other qualities a prince should have, such as knowledge of history, charisma, power, reputation, etc. Overall, a prince should be someone who is thought of as very charming and good, while they should always be ready to make difficult choices that may seem evil. This embodies Machiavelli’s most famous idea, “the ends justify the means.”

After reading these two works, I was not sure which one I agreed with more. Even though Lao-tzu paints humanity in a positive light, I am not sure that the simple mindset of a Taoist leader would actually be successful, especially in this day and age. On the other hand, Machiavelli’s prince seemed like a two-headed snake that would thrive in the modern world of government conspiracies, mass media conglomerates, and multi-billion corporations. However, there seems to be little moral or ethical guidance in this prince. All actions are taken out of necessity to stay in power. Even though it may seem like they are acting for the good of the people, the prince is actually acting just so they stay “happy” and won’t overthrow him. The people that he rules over aren’t actually free or truly happy. As interesting and pondering as both leaders were, neither the Master nor the Prince seemed to fulfill my requirements as a righteous and successful leader. 

Globalization: The Super Story

"Globalization: The Super-Story", by Thomas L. Friedman, discusses how everything is connected in today’s society. I find his organization of the global system very interesting. The balance between superpowers, supermarkets, and super-empowered individuals, shows how humanity has developed technologically and ideologically into the 21^st Century. With the advances of the internet and mass media, people have been able to find a voice to spread their thoughts. Along with technology, we now consider the idea that one person can make a difference in the world. Hundreds of years ago, people could only consider royalty of such importance. The everyday human would not feel like they were of much significance to the world. Nowadays, most people think that everyone is important and anyone can make a difference.

          The super-empowered individuals that Friedman talks about are on par with nation-states. Osama Bin Laden organized the largest terrorist attack in American history. Jody Williams won the Nobel Peace Prize by organizing an international coalition against land mines. However, most people are not on par with Nobel Prize winners or superpowers. Still, we like to think that everyone makes a difference in their own way. Whether it’s helping society progress or actually hindering progress, every person has the potential to make the world a radically different place. I like to think that my pursuit of an education towards computer science will help me be able to change the way computers work and innovate our technology so that it may become more useful or more relevant in the future. On a different note, I am also a musician and a writer because I enjoy communicating my feelings into words and sounds that other people can relate to. I feel that this other contribution towards the arts is just as important as advancing our technology.

          The concept of super-empowered individuals is what really caught my interest in this reading. Although I understand that the main point is about globalization, and I comprehend the impact that everything has upon everything else, I feel like sometimes we forget that we are all connected into the grand scheme of life. Every day that we spend, every moment that we live, every decision that we make: it all matters.