from Verse One Hundred Twenty-OneTherefore yin and yang have roundness and squareness, shortness and longness, survival and destruction; the Way gives them direction. Sunken in mystery, with no concern, your state of mind is very subtle and your relation to the Way is very accurate. Death and life are part of the same design, the evolution of myriad things combines into one Way.~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~
As I read these words this afternoon, my mind turned to the destruction and carnage that has befallen Haiti. Earthquakes are part of Nature. The same is true for hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, blizzards, etc. And while the Way makes no distinctions as it winds its way through our lives, the distinctions made by humans do make a big difference on who survives and who perishes.
Some horrific earthquakes have struck various parts of California over the past few decades, yet we don't hear of possible death tolls in the hundreds of thousands. The reason current conditions in Haiti are so severe is because of the widespread poverty of her people. There are many reasons why Haiti is so impoverished and it's not the scope of this post to delve into such an analysis. Suffice it to say that one of the things Lao Tzu cautions us about again and again plays a huge role -- contrivance.
Various people and organizations -- both outside and inside Haiti -- have contrived to ensure most of the people are poor. When calamity strikes an impoverished area, the results that we see paraded on the news hour after hour are to be expected. Nature can deliver a knockout blow to the strongest infrastructure, but when the infrastructure is weak to begin with, then people don't even have a prayer!
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
Some horrific earthquakes have struck various parts of California over the past few decades, yet we don't hear of possible death tolls in the hundreds of thousands. The reason current conditions in Haiti are so severe is because of the widespread poverty of her people. There are many reasons why Haiti is so impoverished and it's not the scope of this post to delve into such an analysis. Suffice it to say that one of the things Lao Tzu cautions us about again and again plays a huge role -- contrivance.
Various people and organizations -- both outside and inside Haiti -- have contrived to ensure most of the people are poor. When calamity strikes an impoverished area, the results that we see paraded on the news hour after hour are to be expected. Nature can deliver a knockout blow to the strongest infrastructure, but when the infrastructure is weak to begin with, then people don't even have a prayer!
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
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