The Best Rule for Governing and Living...
Recently I was reunited with a chapbook I picked up several years ago called How to Run a Country. It's a distillation of some essays and letters by Marcus Cicero, put together by the eminent translator and scholar Philip Freeman.
Cicero was a statesman in ancient Rome around 50 BC. His thinking heavily influenced the foundation of our country. Indeed, the phrase "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," is inspired by Cicero.
Here are some passages I found meaningful enough to note. If you find any of this resonant today, do email or stop in to discuss.
On leadership: "Those who would be guardians of such important principles must be people of great courage, great ability, and great resolve.... [Some individuals] would destroy our country through revolution and upheaval, either because they feel guilty about their own misdeeds and fear punishment, or because they are deranged enough to long for sedition and civil discord, or because of their own financial mismanagement they prefer to bring the whole country down...."
On an ideal government: "... the leader of a country should strive for citizens to lead a happy life with financial security, abundant resources, good reputations, and honest virtue.... It is also the job of those running a country to make sure citizens have an abundance of the necessities of life."
On immigration: "Without a doubt what has done the most to increase the power and reputation of the Roman people is the precedent laid down by Romulus, the founder of our city... that we make ourselves stronger by welcoming even our enemies as citizens."
On running government by the use of fear: "Whoever tries to govern a country through fear is quite mad. For no matter how much a tyrant might try to overturn the law and crush the spirit of freedom, sooner or later it will rise up again...."
Cicero's basic political beliefs can be summed up as: Government should provide for people, but not overly tax individuals. Citizens should be able to defend themselves against the exceedingly wealthy who can manipulate politics. And politicians should have a manner that inspires people to become better individuals.
Cicero often warned that we should be distrustful of politicians who debase people, who are mean, and who pander. The spirit of his warnings was ultimately his downfall, as the politicians he was warning against had him murdered. Then, in a sick victory dance, they paraded his severed head around the Roman palace, as if to argue that power trumps goodness.
Yet Cicero had one more core belief... one so strong that he believed it was a natural law of the universe. In his words: "... remember what is true always and everywhere and what is the strongest support of prosperity and power, namely that kindness is stronger than fear. That is the best rule for governing a country and for leading one's own life."
It is evident that modern politicians don't read or don't agree with Cicero. But that's okay. Every day I meet people who apparently have tuned out the noise and have decided to act with goodness and kindness. The collected small actions, done in every day living by regular people, will have a far greater effect on our city, state, and country than anything a politician can do.
Perhaps kindness trumps power after all.
What are your thoughts? Stop in for some coffee and pie and let us know.
Very best wishes from
your friend,
William