Chapter 18 - Absence

The great Tao fades away
There is benevolence and justice
Intelligence comes forth
There is great deception

The six relations are not harmonious
There is filial piety and kind affection
The country is in confused chaos
There are loyal ministers

What does this mean?

What happens when all of these humans on Earth with egos and desires are living without the Tao?  The idea here is the breakdown of virtue in the absence of the Tao.  We get benevolence, justice and intelligence.  Working for these principles and ideas seem to be a great goal.  However, they can be just as imbalancing because they bring about their opposites.

Here's another take on it.  Benevolence and justice generate human systems and like all "intelligent" human systems, they can be corrupted and twisted through that very intelligence.  Leaders attempt to control benevolence, judges control a village's justice, and teachers control the village's thoughts and culture, whether that be through a wise shaman or a learned professor.

People then force things that do not need to be forced.

If you leave it up to a single person in a small community, this is a dictatorship on a small scale no matter how nice the leader is.  They will impose whatever world views and desires onto the two virtues.  One person's benevolence or justice can become another person's suffering.

If you leave it up to a democracy, then benevolence and justice are all influenced by the emotions of the mob.  Righteousness sway much more over the actions of the community.  That punishes the cultural outcasts and sages away because they do not fit in.  Any major transgression is met hastily with pitchforks and torches instead of rationality.

Intelligence and logic can hide all of the flaws of these systems and make them seem better than they are.

Once you apply logical rules to a community, that logic can be twisted to fulfuill the ends of whoever is intellgient enough to do so.  For example, In the United States, there are brackets of income everyone fits in for tax purposes.  Once you are even a dollar over or under in your bracket for whatever reason, it can mean the difference of thousands of dollars.  The speed limit when driving is also an example.  Once you drive over the posted limit, you can pulled over and still have the same penalties against your record whether you are a mile over or twenty.

Today, the social, economic and legal systems of most countries are gigantic logical and supposedly intelligent structures.  That logic running all of civilization hides its cracks and flaws from everyone in it's complexity.

The real irony is that we constructed these largely unnecessary systems ourselves as a society.

I envision civilization as a large stone tower.  The tower is imperfect simply because humans built it.  The Tao is the cracks and space in the rock tower.  You can never completely seal it off perfectly, so that space erodes down the tower by letting in the winds of change and the water of time.

For a sage, it's bettter to flow with the water and wind that passes through than try to hold up those rocks that will eventually fall.

How can I use this?

Do not overthink virtue.  One day I wanted to practice being selfless and giving since I have never done it before.  I was going to a donut shop and had this grand plan to buy everyone a donut.  When I walked in, I started to overthink it: what kind of donut, what about a bagel, some people already ordered donuts and are just waiting.  As I was thinking about it, it became my turn to order, I got flustered and just bought my coffee and left.

This bothered me all day.  Why was it so hard for me to give?  I think my brain got in the way.  I vowed to try it again.

The next day, instead of trying to figure out exactly what to do, I made it simple and told the cashier to give the change on my gift card to the next person.  I didn't even look back at them to see who they were.  While I waited for them to make my coffee, the people who received it thanked me a ton, which I tried to be humble about and it.  It still felt really good.

So don't think and plan virtue.  Just be open to acting on it.

Do not apply complex cultural values to simple virtues.  You do not need a set of religious doctrine or social clubs to do the right thing.  In fact, many times a cultural institution can impede thought towards being humble and selfless.  If help goes to those who are more worthy when valued by a culture, it might not go to someone who needs it more.  If you believe that something judges us based on the rules of a religion in the afterlife, that prevents us from holding ourselves accountable today.