Hey Internet, how's it hangin'?

So we've hit the final week of midterms, and I'm starting to go a little crazy. I've got a bunch of essays to write throughout the next week and for some reason I'm going absolutely insane stressing over writing them; it's gotten so bad that I slept terribly last night and haven't written more than a few sentences despite being in front of this computer for over five hours.

So why not put my chronic web-surfing to use? I know this stuff is easy so I'm just gonna start brainstorming here and now, jotting down everything I can remember about Confucian thought in an effort to de-stress and find the important elements that will guarantee me an A. You see that's the real problem; I know I can pass these courses, I just want to secure the top grade and faced with my first shot to do so I can't help but feel a little nervous at the prospect of submitting 50% of my final grade while essentially writing blind.

So why does Confucius claim the village worthy is a thief of virtue (as related by the teachings of Mencius)? It's pretty simple, actually; Confucian social theory revolves around five relationships which together serve as the building blocks of human society. Avoiding for the moment details on the afore-mentioned five, the truly superior man (the junzi as I was taught in a previous course) dedicates himself to fulfilling his assigned role in all relationships with effortless perfection, with the end goal of realizing sublime enlightenment and becoming one with his given role in a perfect society. This junzi is the ideal to be chased by every citizen, and when every member of society seeks dutiful fulfillment of his duties out of an honest and open desire to better himself and serve others, then there is a perfect nation.

The village worthy (as exemplified in a short analogy within the Book of Mencius) is a man who appears to be the superior man; as Confucius says

"Those who try to censure him can find no basis; those who try to criticize him can find no faults. He follows along with all the vulgar trends and harmonizes with the sordid age. Dwelling in this way he seems dutiful and trustworthy; acting in this way, he seems honest and pure. The multitude are all pleased with him - he is pleased with himself as well - and yet you cannot enter with him into the Way of Yao and Shun."

Thus, the village worthy is someone who appears to everyone (including himself) to be the ideal citizen; he is dutiful in his relationships with others and fulfills his obligations to society. But he does it out of self-interest, rather than a commitment to the way of the junzi. Thus he is on the wrong path, and by enticing others into following that same path through his actions he is actively stealing them away from the road to enlightenment; therefore he is not only devoid of true virtue but in truth a thief, for he is robbing others of the opportunity to pursue true harmony.

Wow, that didn't really help at all.