Perhaps we can dispatch both issues
in one fell swoop. One man's statesman is another man's psychopath. If we resort to a popularity contest, I suspect we would get nowhere.
If you asked me what sort of person would make a good statesman .... I would answer that it would have to be one who functioned purely in service mode for the people, and did absolutely nothing for his own benefit. I would like to believe Gandhi was like that. He said, "Be the change you want to see in this world." I do not ever recall him saying, "Change others to suit your view!" or "Develop a crooked tongue and make out like a bandit!".
Some may say Churchill was a great statesman. Others will point out to his chemical bombing of the Kurds. It is often hard to know the truth even if you live with a person for a lifetime, though your best shot is through this intuitive knowledge.
In the land of Khi, from village to village,
You could hear cocks crowing, dogs barking.
Fishermen cast their nets,
Ploughmen ploughed their wide fields,
Everything was neatly marked out
By boundary lines. For five hundred square miles
There were temples for ancestors, altars
For field-gods and corn-spirits.
Every canton, county, and district
Was run according to the laws and statutes—
Until one morning the Attorney General, Tien Khang Tzu,
Did away with the King and took over the whole state.
Was he content to steal the land? No,
He also took over the laws and statutes at the same time,
And all the lawyers with them, not to mention the police.
They all formed part of the same package.
Of course, people called Khang Tzu a robber,
But they left him alone
To live as happy as the Patriarchs.
No small state would say a word against him,
No large state would make a move in his direction,
So for twelve generations the state of Khi
Belonged to his family. No one interfered
With his inalienable rights. ---- (Chuang Tzu/Merton)
So 12 generations later, you had a family of great statesmen ........ starting from what? |
