One main tenet of Conficianism is that the son should do what the father does. This is completely wrong. Where would we be if Isaac Newton, Thomas Jefferson or Henry Ford did what their fathers did?
Marxism was credible in China. It was credible in China because Conficianism created a rigidly stratified society in which people were born into classes; and the idea that one class was exploiting the other was credible. It was also credible in India, which had a similar system with the castes. Marxism was not credible in America, and the charge against it was not lead by the “elites” but by the regular people. That is because in America we do not have this kind of stratification, and people can rise as high – or fall as low – as their efforts would take them.
We see some people seeking to re-create similar conditions in the West. We see this especially with the Jehovah's Witnesses. And what I say to these people is this. They did not do what their parents did. They joined Jehovah's Witnesses, of which their parents were not a part. This means that they do not have the logical prerogative to demand such things of their children.
Now it is completely valid to see what you do as being important. It is not at all valid to see what others do as not important. I have seen among doctors, engineers and the military among others the attitude that only what they do matters and that nothing else does. This attitude is wrong. There are many different things that need to be done, and there are many important pursuits. Once again, it is valid to see what you do as important. It is not valid to see what others do as not important. What an engineer does is important; but so is what the farmer or the salesman or the businessman does. And of course it is the artists who get claimed the most as doing the least of value; yet the Western civilization derives a vast bulk of its pride from Shakespeare, Michelangelo and Mozart.
The people who want to re-create conditions such as those of Confucianism will be re-creating conditions preceding the rise of Marxism. This means that they will be re-creating conditions that lead to the rise of Marxism, and they will be slammed with something like Marxism, yet again. Some people just don't learn their lesson. We see people wanting to take things back to 1950s, which means that they will be re-creating conditions that lead to 1960s, and they will be slammed with something like 1960s, yet again. Same is the case with people who want to take things back to the way they were before there was a labor movement. Don't these people ever learn?
Now there are many valuable things that have come out of China. But that is not due to Conficianism. That is due to the fact that here is a vast country with many hard-working and disciplined people. If they had practiced Christianity instead of Confucianism, they would have gone even farther than they have gone. The Chinese have learned a lot from the West, and they have rightfully applied the workable methodologies such as science and business. So now China is again rising, and it well should.
But one thing that happens when countries rise is that they empower wrongful ideas within them. When Muslims learn technology, they use it to fly airplanes into skyscrapers. The Hindus and the Chinese have done a lot to influence Western society. Some of these influences – such as yoga and meditation – are valid. Others, such as Confucianism, are not.
Now many people in the West have not taken seriously the threat that is posed by things such as Confucianism. I want to help them to see that threat. Once again, if the son did what the father does, then most of what we have in the Western civilization would not have existed. Most of our major contributors did not do what their fathers did. They did their own thing. And if they had done what their fathers had done, then these contributions would not have happened. We would not have Newton's laws. We would not have American democracy. We would not have our industrial might.
The liberal-minded cultures in the West have embraced political correctness, in which they have abetted these wrongful attitudes. And it is oddly now the conservatives who are doing the most to preserve our cherished freedoms. I want to see the Left get its head out of its ass and see what is happening. Confucianism is wrong. The caste system is wrong. A son should not do what his father does; the son should do what he is himself good at. And it is completely wrong for people claiming allegiance to liberalism to adopt such attitudes.
In places with systems such as Confucianism, once again, Marxism is credible. In places where there is no such stratification, it is not. The best way to prevent things like Marxism from happening is to prevent social stratification, and to allow people the freedom to do their own thing whatever their parents had done. So if you want to prevent Communism, prevent social stratification. And if you want to preserve liberty, then protect the liberty for people to make their own choices in life.
I think that this is something on which both the Left and the Right should agree. And they should present a united front to fighting this kind of stratification. Once again, in rigidly stratified societies, things such as Marxism are credible. So if you want to prevent Communism or to protect your freedoms, then you should be confronting such things as Confucianism and not only take the defensive posture but in fact go on the offensive.