The rest of Tao Te Ching was like hearing Lao Tze complain about bad governments and give his opinion on how he thought it should change. It seems as if the whole book had just been centered on that particular point. All the aspects of Tao applied to his reasons of how the government was wrong and how a government which followed the Tao would be a perfect country. He was almost painting his own version of Utopia.
What the Tao Te Ching highlights the most is the state of not acting. Therefore, Lao Tze uses it to criticize the rulers, and model a type of government he wants to be ruled by.
He says that a government that interferes too much causes people to starve, rebel and lose the value for their life. Like the book said:
" Why are the people starving? Because the rulers eat up their money in taxes...Why are the people rebellious? Because the government interferes too much... Why do the people think so little of death? Because the rulers demand too much f life."(pg.77, chapter 75). In other words, a leader who interferes is a bad ruler. "The more laws and restrictions there are, the poorer the people become...The more rules and regulations, the more thieves and robbers."(pg.59, chapter 57).
What Lao Tze wants is a government that rules with little actions. He almost wants a ruler to make the presence of a ruler, but make no restrictions over the people. This way, he thinks that people will freely do good, and respect one another without caring about having wealth or food, and live happily ever after!
There's something about that magnificent view that just doesn't fit well. I think Lao Tze hasn't heard about the Tree of Knowledge and doesn't know that people on the inside tend to look for the best for themselves. People are not going to follow the Tao unless someone somehow forces them to. However, he doesn't want a ruler to force laws upon them, so there's a small complication between what he wants and what lies between the possible limits.
Anyway, I just wanted to point out that his dreamed Utopia is not possible inside the normal parameters of the universe and human capabilities.
Monday, May 10, 2010
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