Wen Tzu - Verse 161, Part II

from Verse One Hundred Sixty-One

If you have it in yourself, you do not deny it for others; if you do not have it in yourself, you do not blame it on status. What is established among the lower echelons is not to be ignored by the upper echelons; what is forbidden to the people at large is not to be practiced by privileged individuals.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

As with so many of these passages, Lao Tzu is aiming toward the collective AND the individual simultaneously. Let's take a look at each.

Laws should apply to everyone equally. If something is deemed illegal, then it shouldn't matter if a person is rich or poor, powerful or impotent, white or black, etc. The law should apply uniformly.

Of course, our society rarely works that way. More often than not, if a person is powerful or has the right connections, they are able to get off scot-free or face a lesser sanction.

For example, if you took a look at the folks on death row in America, you would be hard-pressed to find very many wealthy individuals. By and large, most people condemned to die are poor and/or non-white.

Rich people can hire hire-powered lawyers who frequently are able, at worst, to plea bargain the charge down to a lesser offense. Poor people are assigned public defenders and, by and large, these attorneys have less experience and limited budgets. So, you can have two individuals found guilty of the same basic offense, yet one is sentenced to death, while the other faces a more lenient sentence.

On the individual level, this is Lao Tzu's version of The Golden Rule: Treat others as you desire that they will treat you. If you want respect, then you must treat others respectfully. If you desire peace, you must interact with others peaceably. If you want a fair shake in life, then you need to behave fairly toward others.

If not, then another popular adage comes to mind: People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!

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