Why are the people starving?I can immediately hear the anti-tax forces in this country saying, "See, even Taoists don't believe in taxes!" This illustrates one of the problems with reading things with contemporary eyes and assuming the conditions of today are the same as when the author wrote these words.
Because the rulers eat up the money in taxes.
Therefore the people are starving.
~ Tao Te Ching, a portion of Seventy-Five ~
Lao Tzu (or whoever actually wrote it) lived thousands of years ago when the feudal economic system was the status quo. Had this verse been written today, I think it would have addressed the issues in a somewhat different manner.
People are indeed starving today. Many live without adequate health care. During the current economic crisis, many ordinary folks are losing their jobs, homes and life savings. Of course, the rich seem to get keep getting richer, in part, because ordinary taxpayers are bailing them out with billions and billions of our tax dollars.
So, if Lao Tzu penned this verse today, I believe he would point out that the vast majority are not seeing an adequate return on their tax dollars. While average Joes and Janes pay their money into the sytem, it is too often not being spent in ways that benefits the body politic.
Our infastructure is crumbling beneath our feet. Schools and work programs are underfunded. Mental health services are a joke for the same reason. Environmental safeguards -- those rules put in place to protect public health -- are shelved, ignored and/or watered down. While we waste trillions of dollars on wars of aggression, we simultaneously short needed social programs and we don't even adequately treat the medical and mental health issues for those soldiers who have returned home from those wars!
In many ways, it's almost like we've returned to the feudal system. The vast majority of Americans are serfs. We are mandated to give a portion of our wages to our lord (government) who turns around and lavishes it on the barons of finance and industry (corporations) and uses another large portion to fund his many conquests (war).
"Because the rulers eat up the money in taxes."
ReplyDeleteNote the emphasis is on the rulers eating the money. As the people starve.
It is the misuse of money that is the point. The point of the rulers should be to feed the people, not themselves.
"Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists." - G.K. Chesterton
ReplyDeleteVery true on many levels. Yet the more things seem to change, the more they stay the same. Is any system of government really that different? All at the top crave power, all at the bottom crave to be at the top.Craving stems from the delusional belief in the self. You may find my blog "authentic anarchy"interesting,feel free to check it out.
ReplyDeleteDonna & Aspeboy: Good points!!
ReplyDeleteTB: Not everyone on the bottom wants to be on the top -- I don't. That said, your point generally is true.
I'll visit your blog shortly.
Of course all dont want to be on top, I dont either. I was speaking generally of the minions of blind fools who populate the world. And yes I am jaded, but look around.
ReplyDelete