Tao of Politics #17

17

The best leaders are those the people hardly know exist.
The next best is a leader who is loved and praised.
Next comes the one who is feared.
The worst one is the leader that is despised.

If you don't trust the people,
they will become untrustworthy.

The best leaders value their words, and use them sparingly.
When she has accomplished her task,
the people say, "Amazing:
we did it, all by ourselves!"

The importance of this one is clear - leadership needs to be invisible. When a leader is able to lead in such a way that the people don't notice their inputs, and feel as though they themselves are accomplishing great things, then you have a great power. Perhaps this is what makes Carter such a great leader, as he was not active - unfortunately, the down side of this is that the public fails to notice that they need you at all. In a democracy (a situation that probably did not exist when this book was written) it would be more practical to be the second best leader, and be loved and praised - but still manage to make people feel somehow independent. At least that way you would be able to continue that leadership a bit longer.

Clearly our current leader falls closer to the bottom. The Bush administration's use of fear to control the people and get away with the many illegal acts that he has. He is also despised by a good half of the US population. Bush also does not trust the people, which is why he has all these surveillance programs, secret detention centers, and so many confidential documents.

The Taoist party candidate would need to be open, fair, and trusting of his people.