Principles Of Larceny
The followers of the Robber Zhi asked him, “Do robbers have any principles?”
He replied, “What profession is there which does not have its principles?
That the robber decides that there are things of value in the house shows his knowledge; that he is the first to break into the house shows his courage; that he is the last to leave show his righteousness; that he knows whether the robbery should be attempted or not shows his wisdom; that he makes and equal division of the goods shows his benevolence.
Without these five qualities, no one in the world has ever become a great robber.”
Here we see that good men do not emerge without having the precepts of the sage and that Robber Zhi could not have pursued his course without the same precepts. But the good are few in the world; those who are not good are numerous.
Then it follows
that the sage is beneficial to the world
in the few instances and is harmful in the many.
Zhuangzi by Zhuang Zhou trans. by Hyun Hochmann, Yang Guorong, Breaking Open Trunks
This rather short chapter treats the topic of larceny, of plunder. How timely is the opportunity to consider as the current administration is one that adept at plunder. The chief executive is an experienced charlatan, flimflam huckster, parlaying his name, always with the result that no one pays any attention to the real Trump hidden behind the curtain. Without need for a curtain any more as the President of the United States is the most powerful individual in the world, – his administration is all about plunder, extraction of the spoils.
Zhuang Zhou writes that we shouldn’t be fooled to believe that a predator is without principles. Surprisingly the principles of rapacity parallel those of more respected ethicists, you know, those authors who’ve published the self-help books on how to become a better person. Find lots of those on Amazon.
Self-deception is a pervasive human trait. Few are strong enough to admit that the majority of our species simply desire to follow anyone who seems “successful”, to conjure the illusion that “we” are to be ok, that he/she commanding the organization, or the party, – will take care of us…
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!*
Are you listening to me, Toto!?
I said – pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!
*a famous quote from the 1939 film Wizard of Oz.
4 thoughts on “Principles Of Larceny”
Ah, the self-help genre. It’s always seemed that the best way of helping one’s self is to write a self-help book and make a pile of dough conning people into believing they can find answers in a self-help book. A somewhat cynical point of view.
The types of issues that we humans are most in need of help, can hardly be nudged in the right direction with a book. A book can never be more than information it seems to me. Absorption of information such that one is able to act upon the insight, appears to require a certain kind of relationship. Perhaps this is at the root of the teacher-student relationship which is an apprenticeship of sorts, a resonance that transforms both teacher and student. But action is the essence of change.
There’s no better reason to learn anything new, except the expectation that one is going to be changed…
A counter poise to a cynical point of view.
My perspective lends itself to learning. I want to gain knowledge, but when a book shouts that it can help me learn, I immediately believe that it can’t. On the other hand, when I read something that offers me a new way of seeing but does not specifically tell me that it will do so, I may find a new pathway because the intent is different, if that makes sense.
The best writers leave room for the reader.