Bit by Bit - Chapter 2, Part 11

Trey Smith

If a man follows the mind given him and makes it his teacher, then who can be without a teacher? Why must you comprehend the process of change and form your mind on that basis before you can have a teacher? Even an idiot has his teacher. But to fail to abide by this mind and still insist upon your rights and wrongs - this is like saying that you set off for Yueh today and got there yesterday. This is to claim that what doesn't exist exists. If you claim that what doesn't exist exists, then even the holy sage Yu couldn't understand you, much less a person like me!
~ Burton Watson translation ~

A world in which everyone listened only to themselves would be anarchy, the critics claim.  They are correct...except their critique is based not on internal nature but ego-driven desires.  If everyone listened solely to their egos, the world would be a cruel and brutish place, for sure.

But scrape away the ego and what do we have left?  The mind of God (for you religious folks) or the shared internal nature of humanity. 

In that case, what's wrong with anarchy?

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