DDJ 44. 多藏厚亡，千里之堤

第四十四章
[原文]

名与身孰亲？身与货孰多①？得与亡孰病②？甚爱必大费③，多藏必厚亡④。故知足不辱⑤，知止不殆，可以长久。

[译文]

声名和生命相比哪一样更为亲切？生命和货利比起来哪一样更为贵重？获取和丢失相比，哪一个更有害？过分的爱名利就必定要付出更多的代价；过于积敛财富，必定会遭致更为惨重的损失。所以说，懂得满足，就不会受到屈辱；懂得适可而止，就不会遇见危险；这样才可以保持住长久的平安。

http://www.daodejing.org/44.html

矫枉必过正，甚爱必大费，多藏必厚亡。  唐玄宗儿子妻可以夺，这天可汗当得太爽，干儿子安禄山想当皇帝，人之常情； 宋徽宗花石纲瘦金体美人什么都只有最好， 儿子们都想当皇帝，一起在汴京窝里斗被一窝子端。 始皇帝就更算了，标准的二世而亡。 尺度不同，国是国，世界是世界，不能以家放大，以公司比拟。  道家知道系统scale, 将产生本质性结构脆弱。”合抱之木，生于毫末“的反面是”千里之堤，毁于蚁穴“。  这是道家儒家政策的很大不同。

http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/trumps-nafta-reversal-confirms-the-globalists-are-in-charge-for-now

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊《美国宪法》＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

The Constitution Article II.Section 1.3: The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.

This entire clause is superceded by Amendment 12.
[Article XII] (Amendment 12 - Election of President)

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;—The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;—The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.14 —The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. ratified #12 affects 8

Note 14: This sentence of Amendment XII has been superseded by Amendment XX Section 3.

Amendment XX Section 3: If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
The long story behind the original and the amendment.    

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_College_(United_States)

Electoral College merits its own book/documentary.

"The Constitutional Convention in 1787 used the Virginia Plan as the basis for discussions, as the Virginia delegation had proposed it first. The Virginia Plan called for the Congress to elect the president.^[15] Delegates from a majority of states agreed to this mode of election.^[16]However, a committee formed to work out various details including the mode of election of the president, recommended instead the election be by a group of people apportioned among the states in the same numbers as their representatives in Congress (the formula for which had been resolved in lengthy debates resulting in the Connecticut Compromise and Three-Fifths Compromise), but chosen by each state "in such manner as its Legislature may direct." Committee member Gouverneur Morris explained the reasons for the change; among others, there were fears of "intrigue" if the president were chosen by a small group of men who met together regularly, as well as concerns for the independence of the president if he was elected by the Congress.^[17] However once the Electoral College had been decided on, several delegates (Mason, Butler, Morris, Wilson, and Madison) openly recognized its ability to protect the election process from cabal, corruption, intrigue, and faction. Some delegates, including James Wilson and James Madison, preferred popular election of the executive. Madison acknowledged that while a popular vote would be ideal, it would be difficult to get consensus on the proposal given the prevalence of slavery in the South:

There was one difficulty however of a serious nature attending an immediate choice by the people. The right of suffrage was much more diffusive in the Northern than the Southern States; and the latter could have no influence in the election on the score of Negroes. The substitution of electors obviated this difficulty and seemed on the whole to be liable to the fewest objections.^[18]"

The more States in the federal system, the harder it was to pass amendments and adapt to new circumstances.  The more choices we have, the more terrible the choices get.  The more numerous members, the more fragile the organization.   甚爱必大费，多藏必厚亡。故知足不辱，知止不殆，可以长久.