Number Fifty Three Dark Alleys of Capitalism
53
in a hurry
to get to the holiday sale
you rush past the beggar
Lesson # 53
Stick to the High Road of the Tao,
and don’t wander off down
dark alleys. Most folks get sidetracked,
and stray far away from the path.
They become addicted to greed,
grasping for what they think they need.
A few become billionaires, build
glorious mansions, and live
behind high walls.
Meanwhile, millions go hungry,
homeless, and many of the
rest of us struggle to pay for our
basic needs. To avoid facing
our suffering, we get lost in
mindless entertainment
Humanity has
strayed far from the High Road.
.
From: 81 Lessons from the Tao Te Ching
Number 53 Dark alleys
If I have just a smidgin of common sense
I’m sticking to the High Road of the Tao
and not wandering off down dark alleys
The High Road is broad and well lit
travelling on it is easy
Just let go don’t cling and don’t judge
But most folks get sidetracked
Some wander far away from the path
The lure of wealth activates greed of the ones who leave the Way
greed for more than they really need
They hoard and seek out more and more at the expense of others
with little care for their impact on people or the environment
They influence or run great nations
They become billionaires
They build glorious buildings and mansions
They spend trillions in Defense and live off the profits
Meanwhile millions go hungry homeless
and many of the rest of us struggle to pay for our basic needs
We have no time for any of that fancy spiritual stuff
Humanity has strayed far from the High Road
NUMBER FIFTY THREE
If I have knowledge and resolute faith I shall walk in the Great Tao.
If I fear, I can only behave well outwardly.
Great Tao is very straight, But the people love by-roads.
The palace may be well kept,
But the fields may be uncultivated And the granaries empty.
The Princes take more land,
At their girdle they carry a sword,
They eat dainty food,
They take possession of much gold.
That is called glorification of robbery.
It is not Tao.
Isabella Mears, The Tao Teh King, A Tentative Translation from the Chinese, William McLellan, Glascow, 1916.
Number 53 (commentary) What’s wrong with Capitalism?
“Capitalism: an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit. “
It all started with the invention of the plow. Agriculture created surplus, but at the expense of the freedom of the cow who was pulling that plow. The cow became a slave.
Nature, which used to be the place in which we lived, became a resource which we can exploit. Nature became a slave.
Surplus gave birth to excessive greed, which gave birth to enslavement of animals and then later the enslavement of other human beings. Once the physical enslavement of people was abolished, economic enslavement began. There are many forms of enslavement.
All this was done to enrich a small group, once Kings and now billionaires.
Today, either you are a billionaire, or you are working for one. You are dependent on the beneficence of someone else above you to keep your job or to buy your services, as you cling to your working wage to survive.
This is not in harmony with the way of the Tao.
Tangent and Tool #53, Maturity A question and a reflection: “Who, or what, is at fault for all this mess?” I would love to blame Capitalism for the mess we are in today. But the problem runs much deeper. We, as a species, are all in the back row of a worldwide kindergarten, arguing about how grown up we are. A few of us have moved up a few rows closer to the teacher, but maybe only a handful have made it out of there and into first grade. The maturity level of our kind is woefully abysmal, with some never making it beyond pure selfishness. Most of us are able to conform to a group norm and obey the laws of the land, but so few are able to transcend beyond that and see beyond the rigidly held beliefs of their country, their faith, their race, their culturally assigned gender roles, their upbringing. So very few can embrace everything and everyone with an open, compassionate heart. Lao Tsu saw how far we needed to go. I still hold the hope that human development could move exponentially towards greater levels of maturity at some future point. But it is hard to hold on to that hope, when we keep getting hit by spitballs from the rowdy but wealthy boys in the back row.