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Another car-free day comes and goes with a sputter
By Wang Yong |
September 24, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
INTERNATIONAL Car-Free Day came and went this week, as usual a time for symbolism that then sputters to a halt.
Everywhere, cars dominated the roads on car-free day. In some cities, small symbolic areas were reserved for pedestrians and bicyclists. There were "green" gatherings and other events. Cameras caught a few leaders stylishly commuting on foot, by bus or by bike for a few hours or minutes.
It's just like the World Smoke-Free Day, Earth Hour and other such days when high-profile figures denounce high carbon lifestyles and then revert to them when the sun sets.
Many world leaders pay real attention to a car- or smoke-free day but only give lip-service to a low-carbon, smoke-free life.
Chairman Mao said: "It's easy to do good for a while, but it's difficult to do good all your life." That applies to everyone, but it carries special weight for a leader because he sets a moral example for those around him, whether in a city or a nation.
Were world leaders converted to a low-carbon way of life, they would never have tolerated or encouraged the constant expansion of private cars or increase in cigarette sales. (Bhutan is an exception, where at least resale of tobacco has been banned.)
As author Harry Kraemer observes in his popular book "From Values to Action: The Four Principles of Values-Based Leadership," what America and possibly many other regions lack today are authentic and ethical leaders.
Unlike many other treatises on leadership, which focus on personal management skills such as communication, the book published this year is a bold call for values-based leadership, for leaders with a conscience that they follow.
Kraemer is a former chairman and CEO of Baxter International, a health care company. He now teaches management and strategy at the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University.
In his book, he cites a 2010 study by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University as saying that Americans' confidence in their leaders had fallen "significantly below average" for the third year running. More than ever, American people want authentic, ethical leaders.
For Kraemer, ethical leaders possess four characteristics: self-reflection, balance and perspective, true self-confidence, and genuine humility.
He hopes a self-reflective leaders asks himself at the end of a day: "What did I say I was going to do today, and what did I actually do?" That sounds similar to Confucius' admonition for everyone to reflect upon himself three times a day.
Were world leaders self-reflective at the end of a day, they would have blushed for having reduced a car-free way of life to a one-day road show. Were they humble, they would have commuted on foot, by bus or by bike every day. Mayor Mike Bloomberg rides the subway to work in New York virtually everyday so he can talk to people and listen to them.
Calls for ethical leadership are no less strong in China than in America.
The People's Daily said in a commentary on September 8 that the ordinary people have come to lose faith in the government, media and experts.
"In some cases, Lao Bai Xing has become Lao Bu Xin," said the People's Daily in a sarcastic tone. In Chinese, Lao Bai Xing means the masses, the rank-and-files, and Lao Bu Xin means "always doubt."
The People's Daily ascribes the erosion of public trust in part to the convenient connivance of some administrative departments (or local governments), media and experts in their ultimately futile efforts to hide the truth about tragedies or scandals.
The People's Daily cited the case of bullet train crash in Wenzhou on July 23. In that case, former spokesman of the Ministry of Railways Wang Yongping gave an awkward answer to why rescuers had buried a train car instead of searching for possible life inside it first.
Knowing he could not convince the public, he said: "Whether you believe it or not, I believe it!"
In a world dominated by political agendas instead of personal ethics, people naturally align themselves with power or profit and alienate themselves from reflection and humility.
An ethical leader, as Kraemer observes, sacrifices himself for the common good. "Leadership is not about the leader. Leadership is about the growth and positive changes that a leader can bring about while working with others," he writes.
In the case of a car-free day, many leaders have yet to sacrifice their personal comfort and commit themselves to a low-carbon society by using public transport, riding a bike or walking everyday.
Everywhere, cars dominated the roads on car-free day. In some cities, small symbolic areas were reserved for pedestrians and bicyclists. There were "green" gatherings and other events. Cameras caught a few leaders stylishly commuting on foot, by bus or by bike for a few hours or minutes.
It's just like the World Smoke-Free Day, Earth Hour and other such days when high-profile figures denounce high carbon lifestyles and then revert to them when the sun sets.
Many world leaders pay real attention to a car- or smoke-free day but only give lip-service to a low-carbon, smoke-free life.
Chairman Mao said: "It's easy to do good for a while, but it's difficult to do good all your life." That applies to everyone, but it carries special weight for a leader because he sets a moral example for those around him, whether in a city or a nation.
Were world leaders converted to a low-carbon way of life, they would never have tolerated or encouraged the constant expansion of private cars or increase in cigarette sales. (Bhutan is an exception, where at least resale of tobacco has been banned.)
As author Harry Kraemer observes in his popular book "From Values to Action: The Four Principles of Values-Based Leadership," what America and possibly many other regions lack today are authentic and ethical leaders.
Unlike many other treatises on leadership, which focus on personal management skills such as communication, the book published this year is a bold call for values-based leadership, for leaders with a conscience that they follow.
Kraemer is a former chairman and CEO of Baxter International, a health care company. He now teaches management and strategy at the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University.
In his book, he cites a 2010 study by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University as saying that Americans' confidence in their leaders had fallen "significantly below average" for the third year running. More than ever, American people want authentic, ethical leaders.
For Kraemer, ethical leaders possess four characteristics: self-reflection, balance and perspective, true self-confidence, and genuine humility.
He hopes a self-reflective leaders asks himself at the end of a day: "What did I say I was going to do today, and what did I actually do?" That sounds similar to Confucius' admonition for everyone to reflect upon himself three times a day.
Were world leaders self-reflective at the end of a day, they would have blushed for having reduced a car-free way of life to a one-day road show. Were they humble, they would have commuted on foot, by bus or by bike every day. Mayor Mike Bloomberg rides the subway to work in New York virtually everyday so he can talk to people and listen to them.
Calls for ethical leadership are no less strong in China than in America.
The People's Daily said in a commentary on September 8 that the ordinary people have come to lose faith in the government, media and experts.
"In some cases, Lao Bai Xing has become Lao Bu Xin," said the People's Daily in a sarcastic tone. In Chinese, Lao Bai Xing means the masses, the rank-and-files, and Lao Bu Xin means "always doubt."
The People's Daily ascribes the erosion of public trust in part to the convenient connivance of some administrative departments (or local governments), media and experts in their ultimately futile efforts to hide the truth about tragedies or scandals.
The People's Daily cited the case of bullet train crash in Wenzhou on July 23. In that case, former spokesman of the Ministry of Railways Wang Yongping gave an awkward answer to why rescuers had buried a train car instead of searching for possible life inside it first.
Knowing he could not convince the public, he said: "Whether you believe it or not, I believe it!"
In a world dominated by political agendas instead of personal ethics, people naturally align themselves with power or profit and alienate themselves from reflection and humility.
An ethical leader, as Kraemer observes, sacrifices himself for the common good. "Leadership is not about the leader. Leadership is about the growth and positive changes that a leader can bring about while working with others," he writes.
In the case of a car-free day, many leaders have yet to sacrifice their personal comfort and commit themselves to a low-carbon society by using public transport, riding a bike or walking everyday.
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