Laozi has long been criticized as a tool in the hands of emperors, but some of his writing reads much like a 1990s newspaper editorial. Observing the way people shower rulers with generosity, a latter-day Laozi might have written Chapter 62 as follows: "Rather than give the newly elected president jewelry and cars, they should be teaching him how to govern."
老子書自古被誣為君王「南面之術」，但針對這些對君王說道的章節仔細讀來，還不如說彷如今天報章雜誌上的「時事評論」，看到有人對統治者錦上添花，老子說：「總統就職，與其立刻送進寶玉、汽車，還不如直接告訴他聖王之道。」