On Su Shi's Criticism of the New Policies. Su Shi's criticisms of the New Policies were, on a micro level, often correct — but they make little sense. Governing a great nation is like kneading dough: when you have too much flour, you add water. There will always be a lump of dough that complains there's too much water, but you can't listen to that lump. This is what's meant by "blame born of perfectionism." If you follow the lump's advice, nothing can ever be done — and an organization that loses its capacity for action is doomed to die. That is why the Northern Song fell in such disgrace. It deserved it.
On the other hand, in China, when you aim for ten, you might achieve six. If seven is the right answer, you're still one short.
It's like the street-stall economy — everyone talked it up, but the reality fell short. Look, even the Beijing municipal government issued a statement opposing it. Here was a genuinely benevolent policy, and Beijing still opposed it — that's the equivalent of the Conservative Faction in the Northern Song, Sima smashing the vat. Tell me, is it easy being a Prime Minister?
This is absolutely not using history as allegory for the present.