In The Morning Three
When we toil our spirits and intelligence,
obstinately determined (to establish our own view),
and do not know the agreement
(which underlies it and the views of others),
we have what is called
‘In the morning three.’
What is meant by that ‘In the morning three?’
A keeper of monkeys,
in giving them out their acorns, (once) said,
‘In the morning I will give you three (measures)
and in the evening four.’
This made them all angry, and he said,
‘Very well. In the morning I will give you four
and in the evening three.’
His two proposals were substantially the same,
but the result of the one was to make the creatures angry,
and of the other to make them pleased:
an illustration of the point I am insisting on.
Therefore the sagely man
brings together a dispute in its affirmations and denials,
and rests in the equal fashioning of Heaven.
Both sides of the question are admissible.
Zhuangzi, by Zhuang Zhou, trans. James Legge, The Adjustment of Controversies
Yesterday we joined the No Kings rally, an exercise of public objection to the Trump regime. Upon reflection it is too late. I mean Trump, his narcissistic corps of cabinet members, pentagon appointees, and the MAGA collective — are symptoms of late stage capitalism, a system on the cusp of breakdown. How could I contend for this bleak scenario?
A member of the “boomer generation” I was born in 1949. I’ve not closely followed politics for most of my adult life. Still I suppose there’s no disagreement that lawmakers always, as a rule-of-thumb have worked to satisfy the group with the loudest megaphone, or those with the fattest campaign contribution check(s). Maximally generous benefits have been disbursed from the public purse, no matter if dissimulation, deceitful concealing of down-the-road consequences were necessary.
Thus, we find ourselves here, not as a fluke, but as a result of the system that we helped sustain. The ancient Taoist parable illustrates our current condition.
Imagine if you can that congress, Senate and the House, are like a zookeeper, responsible to disburse a daily allotment of food to the animals in the monkey house. And further, imagine if you can a rapport between the monkeys and keeper. Monkeys hearing the intention of the keeper to give them only three measures in the morning, react and “raise hell.” Ok replies the keeper, “you win.” I’ll give you four measures in the morning. (That’s a 33% raise!) The monkeys settle down, satisfied to have won the dispute. They fail to take the inevitable into account. Three measures are to be disbursed in the afternoon. The most important aspect of the matter is left unsaid.
No matter the number or the size of public demonstrations yet to be organized, the administration in the White House will stay as long as they choose. The LA Times reported yesterday that I5 for 17 miles was closed on account of a live fire exercise, using 155 mm howitzers.
As the old adage goes “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.” We are about to eat an extended and bitter meal.
3 thoughts on “In The Morning Three”
What we can do to deal with the zookeeper is limited at best. Although I fully understand the analogy, our demonstrations only serve to piss him off more. Perhaps those surrounding him will see the importance of public appeal for their own political sake? Just a thought or maybe even a futile wish that will evaporate like so many other wishes.
Does violence negate more violence? We definitively know the answer to this rhetorical question since violence actually only brings about further violence until there is a triumphant victor. And yet my gut wants to bludgeon the autocrats into submission even though I intellectually know that is a dead end scenario. And so I continue to believe that somehow good will win out over evil though I don’t know how that will be possible given the limitations of human nature.
Becoming “human” to contribute to the mutual well being of others and of the earth entails the arduous mastery of our emotional weather. Yes, violence does begat violence, a a rule of thumb. It is clear though that life itself is a matter expression of energy, imposition, as someone once said “only an idiot or a god could live without appropriation.” Non-violence is useful – but only to a point.