a combination of Lao-Tzu's and Machiavelli's perspectives

635 Words3 Pages
In his text, Lao-Tzu considered that a good leader is the one who governs his people with moderation for the best result. On the contrary, Machiavelli advocated the necessity for a successful leader to take control over of his people by force. Personally, I believe that a combination of their two perspectives will actually create an ideal leader in today’s world. According to Lao-Tzu, war is not necessary. He preferred a small scale of military. However, since today the position and the possession of a good leader are always desired by many covetous men, I suppose that a smart leader today should concern war and the preparation thereof, as Machiavelli advised. Through war, he can consolidate his power, and protect his people as well as his territory. Last year, Chinese government declared to take back one of two Vietnamese famous islands, called Hoang Sa, which belonged to Vietnam for many centuries. Being afraid of inferior if a fight really happened, the Vietnam Communist Government hopelessly gave its island up to China. The main reason of this yield is that Vietnam was not ready for a war yet; and its leader didn’t have a really powerful army in hand. So, it’s willing to give up in front of stronger militaries. Another, Machiavelli argued that the leader should take control of his people by force rather than by law. Oppositely, Lao-Tzu admitted that a good leader should not rule his people, but to follow. He appeared to focus on letting the problems or situations take their course and allowing good to prevail. In fact, I believe it is not acceptable for a leader to have affair on everything his people do, but at the same time, the leader needs to present in times of need to help govern his people back to prosperity. Since America today is on a recession, and has a high rate of unemployment; it is time for a leader to be getting out solving the problem. Yet,
Open Document