Tao Insight in the DOW

The Tao Te Ching is a classic Chinese text from at least the fourth century BCE (Before the Common Era; means same as B.C. but does not refer to Christianity). I read from the Stephen Mitchell English version recently in a small group. Because the word Tao is pronounced the same as DOW, the stock market indicator, some confusion ensued. Chapter 53 goes:

The great Way is easy,
yet people prefer the side paths.
Be aware when things are out of balance.
Stay centered in the Tao.

When rich speculators prosper
while farmers lose their land;
when government officials spend money
on weapons instead of cures;
when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible
while the poor have nowhere to turn –
all this is robbery and chaos.
It is not in keeping with the Tao.

Just because the stock market DOW is at record highs, benefitting wealthy speculators, while the income gap between the richest one percent and the rest of us is at a historical high; just because the Supreme Court is prepared to disembowel Obamacare while war extends to infinity and beyond; we should not believe that a two thousand year old Chinese text has any relevance to our advanced society.
It is just one of those odd coincidences.
Burt Raabe



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