Vs. 80

Let there be
a little country without many people.

Let them have tools that do the work of ten or a hundred,
and never use them.

Let them be mindful of death
and disinclined to long journeys.

They’d have ships and carriages,
but no place to go.

They’d have armor and weapons,
but no parades.

Instead of writing,
they might to back to using knotted cords.

They’d enjoy eating,
take pleasure in clothes,
be happy with their houses,
devoted to their customs.

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu, trans. Ursula K. Le Guin

This collection of lines is near the very end of Lao Tsu’s classic. A depiction of a idealized time and place. The ideal is perfection that we never reach, always the horizon of our endeavor, the line where water meets sky on our voyage.

I notice first of all, this is a small country by comparison to an empire. This isn’t imposition of power to extract benefits, no reach of a mailed fist sometimes disguised with a velvet glove. A hallmark of a mature society is restraint, the will to say “no” to themselves and mean it. (Efficiency is not a prime value.)

In addition there’s courage enough to recognize death is the price one pays for life. Everything that lives also dies. A great and productive boundary. Mind your own business, because you are in the ninth inning of your game…

As to “national security” a sacred concept to Americans, in this small country defense does not rank so high as a budget item.

A rather weird notation about eschewing writing in favor of using knotted chords to keep accounts, maybe is a quaint attempt to make a point… A conscious attempt to stay with an older technology.

And on the positive side of the ledger: who doesn’t take pleasure in a good meal, and visual delight in a well dressed man or woman, and a comfortable living space, finally the rituals of shared holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.

To conclude I wonder that America now becomes, for many, the anti-thesis of such a pleasant, welcoming, fulfilling abode.

This tune seems a compliment to the observations of Lao Tsu. Once in a Lifetime by David Byrne and Talking Heads