Confucianism may be able to be realized in today’s society, but not without abandoning our entire political system. There is nothing innately wrong with Confucius’ teachings; he describes the perfect model for humanity, not a realistic one. But the United States isn’t just flawed; the traits of our government are those which Confucius singles out as the worst traits to have. If Chun Tzu is the ideal of society, then the United States is its antithesis.Confucius says, “The superior man understands righteousness; the inferior man understands profit.”

A leader ruling by Te (moral example) must show people the way of good through his own actions. “In whatever direction the wind blows, the grass always bends.” In the case of our own government, however, the leaders rule with money. Politicians can start and squelch laws and programs by regulating their funding. In turn, citizens have learned to settle disputes by suing one another. The winner is awarded money, and the loser loses money. The entire political system is run by currency - our leaders are budget managers, and we follow their lead by caring only for profit.

Confucius says that leading by punishment will create citizens who “avoid wrongdoing but will have no sense of honor and shame.” The United States government runs on this system, and its citizens do indeed have no sense of Li, propriety. For example, people don’t see speeding itself as wrong, and the only thing stopping them from speeding is the fear of getting caught. What is the punishment for getting caught? You guessed it - a monetary fine. People should do what is right without reward and stop themselves from doing what is wrong. However, in the current system, with laws specifically stating what is wrong, people see everything unstated as good, and learn only to avoid the law. The only way to control such unruly citizens is to create new laws and more severe punishments. In order to break this cycle, the government must “lead them with virtue and regulate them by the rules of propriety, and they will have a sense of shame and, moreover, set themselves right.”

Confucius says that a good government has “sufficient food, sufficient armament, and sufficient confidence in the people.” When forced to give these things up, the last to go would be confidence, and the first to go would be armament. Our government would only let go of armament as a last resort, and confidence has already been sacrificed. How else can one explain standardized testing? It must represent a lack of confidence in our teachers and students. Courts regulate even minor disputes between people. Doesn’t this show lack of confidence in people’s responsibility? Armament and confidence get mixed up with the Homeland Security Act, which improves defense at the expense of trusting people. Big Brother may keep us safe, but why should we trust our leaders when they don’t trust us?

Our government, our entire political system, is run by money and punishment. It leads to a society verging on the anarchy of Confucius’ own time. He had to imagine an ideal society even at a time when his own society was in chaos. If the United States government matches his worst examples, fits the antithesis of Chun Tzu, then we are indeed close to the same cultural abyss. However, no matter how close to anarchy we actually are, we can still attain true Confucianism. China survived a collapse of order and went on to become a strong empire. Perhaps if we follow Confucius’ examples, we can shape and change our own society so that it can reach Chun Tzu.