Sunday, June 12, 2011

Real Life Tao - Do No Harm

Laugh me off as the idealistic son of a physician (which I am), but I still thought the doctor’s ethos of “first do no harm” was a notion we could all agree on. Even in this hyper-polarized Era of the Screaming Red-Faced Partisan, I thought we would witness the recent Fukushima reactor meltdown or footage of Americans setting their tap water on fire and at least agree to stop pursuing energy policies that we know endanger our health and safety — if not out of altruism, then out of self-interest.

How embarrassingly naive I was. That, or I momentarily forgot that this isn’t just any industrialized country — this is America circa 2011, a haven of hubris that has become hostile to the “do no harm” principle.

This makes us different from, say, Japan and Germany when it comes to nuclear power. Scarred by fallout, the former has canceled plans to build 14 new nuclear plants and has radically altered its energy agenda, now moving to pursue solar rather than atomic energy. Likewise, according to The Associated Press, the latter reacted to Japan’s plight by voting “in favor of a ban on nuclear power from 2022 onward.”

By contrast, in the days after the Fukushima disaster, the Obama administration not only reaffirmed its commitment to expanding nuclear power, but, according to ProPublica, also continued the policy of “routinely waiving fire rule violations at nearly half the nation’s 104 commercial reactors, even though fire presents one of the chief hazards at nuclear plants.”
~ from America’s Energy Ethos: Do, Regardless of Harm by David Sirota ~
If I had to sum up philosophical Taoism in a short phrase, I would utilize the doctor's ethos of "Do no harm." Of course, it does come with one proviso: Do no harm...beyond what each being N-E-E-D-S to survive.

As readers have pointed out, from time to time, nature can be what we humans define as violent. When an eagle dives down to sink its talons into an unsuspecting rabbit or an African lion rips into the flesh of a wildebeest, these episodes aren't for the faint of heart! It isn't a warm "feel good" moment...particularly for the prey about to be eaten!

But these "harmful" events are part and parcel of the need for each species to survive. It is the same thing as when a person harvests a carrot or rutabaga, then eats it. We are killing another form to sustain our own life.

Where we humans run afoul of the Way is when we do harm based on wants and desires, not needs. Humans don't need nuclear power; some people simply want it. A good deal of the most ardent supporters of nuclear power want it for one of 2 reasons: A) It makes them oodles of money or B) It saves them oodles of money. If money was not part of the equation, then nuclear power would be a non-issue.

On more than one occasion, my blogging compatriot Baroness Radon has advanced the idea that Taoism is meaningless IF it doesn't apply to the way a person chooses to live their life (i.e., where the rubber hits the road).

I certainly wouldn't argue with her. Consequently, the manner in which I try to incorporate the wisdom of the Taoist sages into MY life is to remember the adage: Do no harm.

This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.

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