"Families, when a child is born
Want it to be intelligent.
I, through intelligence,
Having wrecked my whole life,
Only hope the baby will prove
Ignorant and stupid.
Then he will crown a tranquil life
By becoming a Cabinet Minister."
Su Tung-P'o (1036-1101) -- poem
On the Birth of His Son
Funny. There's evidence that people in all kinds of cultures have known for a long time that government is institutionalized stupidity (with a little malevolence thrown in), yet we keep putting up with it, and most of us actively demand more of it.
When our child is born, we want what we perceive to be, the best for that child. But hindsight is a wonderful thing and so, with hindsight, we can see that what we perceived to be best for the child was not best after all.
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