I am an Obama guy. The speech last night was not his inspirational best. The descent into policy details took some of the air out of it (I have never been passionate about capital gains taxes). But maybe that is what he had to do, for those people out there who doubt him, put policy meat on the "Change" bones. The ending was good, bringing it back home to unity and transformation. And the scene was stunning: 84,000 cheering people in a vast stadium.
Given my peculiar interests, during the speech I found myself saying "Mencius." This line, in particular, brought out that response (full text of speech here):
Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility – that's the essence of America's promise.
That is precisely what Mencius tells us: we each have a personal responsibility for discerning and doing the right thing, but the community at large, as manifest in the actions of the political leadership, also has a responsibility to provide the economic and social conditions that will allow individuals to carry out their moral obligations.
On the point of personal responsibility, Mencius says:
The Humane are like archers. They square up their stance before shooting. And if they fail to hit the mark, they don't resent the victor who does. Instead, they always look withing themselves to find the reason for their failure. (3.7)
And on collective responsibility he says:
"If you want to put my words into
practice, why not return to fundamentals? When every five-acre farm
has mulberry trees around the farmhouse, people wear silk at fifty.
And when the proper seasons of chickens and pigs and dogs are not
neglected, people eat meat at seventy. When hundred-acre farms never
violate their proper seasons, even large families don't go hungry. Pay
close attention to the teaching in village schools, and extend it to
the child's family responsibilities - then, when their silver hair
glistens, people won't be out on roads and paths hauling heavy loads.
Our black-haired people free of hunger and cold, wearing silk and
eating meat in old age - there have never been such times without a
true emperor." (1.7)
Indeed, that latter quote sounds rather like Obama's policy platform. Perhaps he can be a "true emperor."