From the Dao De Ching

I read on quite a wide range of topics, and last night I came across this, in Andrew Beaulac's "Sitting with Lao-Tzu: Discovering the Power of the Timeless, the Silent, and the Invisible in a Clamorous Modern World", which is about the Dao De Ching:

"When the Great Way is abandoned, policies for benevolence and morality are instituted.
When knowledge and cleverness appear, great hypocrisy and pretense follow in their wake.
It is when families lose their natural harmony, that family respect and love are touted.
Finally, it is when the nation is in darkness and strife that we hear of patriotic officials." 

 Verse 18

(The "knowledge and cleverness" refers specifically to political machinations/manipulations, not matters such as scientific knowledge.) 

Wow. 

Sound familiar or what? Those last two lines and the policies for morality sound like they're right out of the right wing play book.

On the other hand, policies for benevolence may have a different meaning back then (see above re "knowledge and cleverness"), but now it is just part of responsible governance.


And this dates back how many millennia?