The Confucian Cycle

2,500 years ago, the Chinese sage, Confucius, observed that all governments follow a cycle: from unity, through prosperity to stagnation, then to collapse and anarchy. He taught that when government officials sought personal power or wealth instead of taking care of the people, society lost the "Mandate of Heaven" and fell apart. By "Mandate of Heaven," Confucius meant that God Himself had directed how society should work. Chinese history shows 15 or 20 collapses when government lost virtue and the country broke apart in civil war, but whenever the Chinese followed Confucius' rules, Chinese society worked well. From his day to ours, civilizations all over the world have followed the same cycle Confucius observed. Today's United States is well into the "stagnation" phase and many observers predict a collapse. But America has an advantage Confucius never imagined. Unlike the Chinese, America's voters have the power to replace their rulers and reform their government without armed revolution. The Taylors' wide-ranging tour through history, culture, and modern news sheds new light on how the past both predicts the future and can be used to alter it for the better.

About William Taylor - William Taylor's parents were American missionaries to Japan right after the Second World War. The Japanese had learned the secrets of civilization from the Chinese, so Confucian ideas were thick on the ground. Until he entered MIT in 1963, Mr. Taylor watched the Japanese use Confucian virtue to bootstrap themselves to first-world status. There were no Japanese cars on American roads in 1963 and next to no cars on Japanese roads. Cars move faster than bicycles; he was hit by cars 3 times his first year at MIT. After studying computer technology at MIT and graduating before "computer science" had been invented, Mr. Taylor worked for truly monster societies such as the US Navy, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler; middle-sized business cultures such as IBM, the New York Times, the First National Bank of Chicago, NASA, and the MIT Draper Lab; and tiny startups you've never heard of.

About Kenneth Taylor - Growing up with well-educated parents of wide-ranging, eclectic experience and interests, Kenneth Taylor was exposed from an early age to a variety of cultural touchstones. With his father working in the world of tech startups, he had a ringside seat to watch many of the principles discussed in this book illustrated in living and sometimes garish color. Working for a Japanese tech company in the mid-1990s presented a unique view of modern Confucian management. At the time, most Japanese employers were very large, very old, or both. The Japanese had recovered from the destruction of WW II by learning from other countries. Having caught up with the West, they now had to discover new ideas on their own to keep their economy growing. Mr. Taylor's employer had founded by a Japanese graduate of Tokyo University who'd been sent through MIT by a monstrous Japanese conglomerate. They expected him to work for them until he died so that they could recover their investment in his education; instead he founded a startup like so many in America at the time.

Keywords - China, America, Sage, Confucius, Government, Trade, Exports, Imports, Money, Economy, History, Culture, Rulers, Voting, War, Policy "