The DESIRE TO BE RIGHT...
 

Conquer Through Inaction

Do not control the people with laws,
Nor violence nor espionage,
But conquer them with inaction.

For:
The more morals and taboos there are,
The more cruelty afflicts people;
The more guns and knives there are,
The more factions divide people;
The more arts and skills there are,
The more change obsoletes people;
The more laws and taxes there are,
The more theft corrupts people.

Yet take no action, and the people nurture each other;
Make no laws, and the people deal fairly with each other;
Own no interest, and the people cooperate with each other;
Express no desire, and the people harmonize with each other.

-Tao Te Ching

Can there be peace and harmony without the opposite though?
Does the universe need to balance itself out over time?

All very praise-worthy in Utopia, Racer. But here in our world it simply doesn't and cannot work that way. Think of the looting that always takes place in cities like New Orleans the moment after a disaster strikes. The TV networks show images of crowds of looters ransacking merchants' stores, and walking away with television sets and armfuls of shoe boxes.

Make no laws and own no interest, and the people will steal and ransack and kill. That's the simple reality. Laws are an absolute necessity in today's world. Society would crumble without them.

Well than it's accepting the flow of the changes of the world instead of becoming aggravated about laws, politics, and economy.
I believe myself, that those who do everything in their power to stop global warming, are just as much in the wrong, as people who induce it, and that what is happening to the world, is supposed to happen, and there is simply nothing we can or should do other than be grateful to witness it.
I have a friend who has become sovereign, and he is doing everything in his power to fight against the government, and change the world, becoming respectful to create a revenge plan and war, is not necessarily any different, than using violence.

Through destruction comes peace.

But on the other side of the spectrum,
Laws are destructive. Society IS crumbling with them, take a look around you. The organizations that create the laws, do not have the peoples best interest in mind. You can't honestly say that our world is run by loving facilitators.
And you can't believe what the media pumps into our brains, the media withholds information, and only doses us with enough fear to keep us in our place.
Even in ancient times, there was always a form of organization, and prestige, but it was never destructive to the people, there could be a loving system of trade. You can teach people, to follow the things that are loving, but you don't need to cage them, and sentence them to death. The world does not get anywhere with judgements. The ruler, should never be someone, who decides who should die, and who should suffer, in fact, they should love unconditionally, and come up with alternative ideas of helping people. We need to have more faith in human kind. There have been tests done, to prove that people are more honest and kind, than there are the opposite.
If there was never a rule against certain things, crime would go down, and the flow of wrong doings would balance out. If there was help for people in this world, crime wouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for your voice of realism.

Imo Individuals are free to roleplay an inactive ascetic or a moral nihilist. But the whole world won't follow them.

Life here is temporary and we all live in different circumstances. When we're safely inside and have a cup of tea, it's very easy to forget that..

There are only opposites in this low realm of duality where most of us live.

As we discover our true nature we find peace, harmony, love and joy without opposite.

Imagine how the world will change as more and more of us experience That.


Xan

Too be human is to be fallible! Yet the ego drives some of us to claim we are infallible. Sadly no one wants to be around the infallible! :(

Blackraven

Society is the way it is because of choices people make, not because laws are in place. I've lived peacably on this earth for 5+ decades and I've never had a run-in with the law, or with these so-called anti-societal organizations you mention.

Are there uncaring and self-serving individuals in politics and law enforcement? Sure. But that's the case in any occupation. I was a school teacher for years and I could write several pages on how teachers -- loving facilitators of children (or so society would like to believe) -- often have nothing but their own best interests in mind. It's human nature unfortunately.

I honestly believe we can create our own personal utopias here on earth, and I'm happy to say I'm getting close in my own life. That's as much as we can expect or hope for. And tea is a good starting point on the path to that process, yes. :smile: