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第六十二章
[原文]
道者，万物之奥①，善人之宝，不善人之所保②。美言可以市尊③，美行可以加人④。人之不善，何弃之有？故立天子，置三公⑤，虽有拱璧以先驷马⑥，不如坐进此道⑦。古之所以贵此道者何？不曰：求以得⑧，有罪以免邪⑨？故为天下贵。
[译文]
“道”是荫庇万物之所，善良之人珍贵它，不善的人也要保持它。需要的时候还要求它庇护。美好的言辞可以换来别人对你的尊重；良好的行为可以见重于人。不善的人怎能舍弃它呢？所以在天子即位、设置三公的时候，虽然有拱壁在先驷马在后的献礼仪式，还不如把这个“道”进献给他们。自古以来，人们所以把“道”看得这样宝贵，不正是由于求它庇护一定可以得到满足；犯了罪过，也可得到它的宽恕吗？就因为这个，天下人才如此珍视“道”。
************************ Explanation ***************
人有一个很常见的心理：recency bias （鼠目寸光）
https://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/tomorrows-market-probably-wont-look-anything-like-today/?_r=0
秦以后，历史上每一个比较安定的朝代都不忘深刻反省最近500年，也就是上一个朝代，上上一个朝代的历史。2500年前的道德经生成时代的教训离大多数秦后朝代已经太久远。“道者，万物之奥，善人之宝，不善人之所保”。 老子特别强调“道”对“不善人”的重要性，可惜宋以后朝代最需要的“道”，却因为recency bias, 离道日远。 好大喜功的(秦始皇，汉武帝)，打肿脸充胖子的(秦始皇，汉武帝)；自毁长城的(秦始皇，汉武帝)，自欺欺人的（宋）；举国奴才的，跪舔为美的（元明清）; 以身饲虎的，养虎为患的（宋，南梁）； 杀人如麻的，盗夸内讧的；多姿多彩的行为艺术，令外人叹为观止。
反观美国国父，凭借N手传古典教育，战胜recency bias. 开阔思路，倒退1700年，从罗马共和国发掘失传的民主秘方，重造共和。 闻道有先后，弟子不必不如师，师不必贤于弟子。但是recency bias无形中多有束缚。
*********************** US Constitution ************
US Constitution. Article IV。Section 4
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
************************ Explanation ****************
http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/4/essays/128/guarantee-clause
"The assurance of a republican form did not appear in the Articles of Confederation. Participants in the Constitutional debate of 1787–1788 expressed varying views over exactly what constituted the "Republican Form" of government. However, there was a consensus as to three criteria of republicanism, the lack of any of which would render a government un-republican.
The first of these criteria was popular rule. The Founders believed that for government to be republican, political decisions had to be made by a majority (or in some cases, a plurality) of voting citizens. The citizenry might act either directly or through elected representatives. Either way, republican government was government accountable to the citizenry. To a generation immersed in Latin learning and looking to pre-imperial Rome for inspiration, a republic was very much res publica—the people's affair.
The second required element of republican government was that there be no monarch. The participants in the constitutional debates believed that monarchy, even constitutional monarchy, was inconsistent with republican government. In fact, when Alexander Hamilton proposed a President with lifetime tenure, the delegates so disagreed that they did not even take the time to respond.
The third criterion for a republic was the rule of law. Ex post facto laws, bills of attainder, extreme debtor-relief measures—most kinds of retroactive legislation, for example, were deemed inconsistent with the rule of law, and therefore un-republican..."
Republic vs Democracy: Scale 问题。 追求Scalable，才能得到万物之奥。
Countries transitioning to Republic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_date_of_transition_to_republican_system_of_government
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