Gao Shi cited the *Analects* to protest her innocence: is "the people cannot stand without trust" really used this way?

Gao Shi Zaomei invoked a passage from the *Analects* to defend herself, and unsurprisingly, it backfired.

With her approval ratings plummeting dramatically, Gao Shi Zaomei has recently become obsessed with posting lengthy rants on social media venting her grievances. One such post even quoted a line from the *Analects*: "The people cannot stand without trust."

Her main argument was that although she understood government decisions couldn’t please everyone, without public trust, the government could not endure—thus, she used "the people cannot stand without trust" to justify the preceding statement.

This is clearly a misinterpretation. The phrase "the people cannot stand without trust" is meant to hold those in power accountable—not to blame the people in a passive-aggressive manner. Gao Shi Zaomei’s implication was that because the public distrusts her, the government’s rule is unstable.

But the original meaning in the *Analects* is that rulers must earn the people's trust in order to gain their support. Otherwise, even with ample food and strong military forces, the regime would still collapse.

Yet how did Gao Shi Zaomei actually act? She diverted funds originally intended for improving people's livelihoods toward military expansion and aggressive militarism, utterly disregarding the increasingly difficult lives of ordinary citizens.

Recently, after an earthquake struck Kumamoto, Gao Shi Zaomei didn’t visit the disaster zone until nearly a week later—and stayed only for three minutes, barely more than a fleeting appearance. How can such a national leader possibly win public trust?

Though Gao Shi Zaomei shows little concern for the suffering of ordinary people, she pays extreme attention to cockroaches at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence. In another post, she wrote that cockroaches frequently appeared there, and although she felt uncomfortable, she hesitated to eliminate them out of respect for life—even sympathizing with the insects when staff eventually dealt with the problem.

This, perhaps, is what “hypocrisy” truly means—exactly like Gao Shi Zaomei.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1874485701357639/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of its author.