Open Thread

Pretty quiet. Anyone want to discuss this interesting thread?

https://kolektiva.social/@LeftistLawyer/114802508191298390

Did you read the Atlantic article? Click through the links therein?

The following link was embedded in the article: https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/ppi16.pdf

The stats don’t support your conclusion, as anyone who actually read the article would understand.

Alan Sutton: “I think it was Confucius that made the obvious point that the more laws are made, the more criminals there will be…”

Not Confucius, but Laozi, the father of Taoism. Chapter 57 of the Tao Te Ching:

Rule the country with uprightness,
Use strategy and surprise in warfare,
Take the world with non-interference.
How do I know this is so? Be observing:
The more prohibitions there are, the poorer the people become.
The more weapons there are, the more disordered the country becomes.
The more crafty men there are, the more unnatural things happen.*
The more laws are made, the more criminals there will be.

*In the contemporary sense, you can think of it as “the more lawyers there are, the more unethical things happen.”

When Westerners refer to the “Way of Tao” or simply “the Tao,” they are referencing “Tao Te Ching” by Laozi. However, “Way of Tao” is an incomplete and somewhat misleading translation of the title “Tao Te Ching”.

“Tao” means the Way, the Principle, the cosmic order, the natural law, the universal principle.

“Te” means Virtue, but it is more like innate or natural goodness, not one that is prescribed by external factors or pressures like laws. There is no direct translation in English. If you know Dungeons and Dragons, “te” is “chaotic good” instead of “lawful good”.

Together, “Tao Te” means ethnics or morality.

“Ching” means scripture, like a collection of mantras that’s to be repeatedly recited and memorized. However, Chinese is fundamentally a secular and philosophical culture, not a religious culture. So, “Ching” is more like philosophical scripture that outlines personal codes and conducts.

– – – – –

Taoism teaches “Tao Te”, i.e., let the universe guides you, let your innate chaotic goodness express itself. It is “chaotic good”.

Confucianism teaches other types of morals and virtues like ren (benevolence/humanness), yu (righteousness), li (propriety/respect), xiao (filial piety), etc., which is a more structured set of morals and virtues than Taoism. Confucianism is “lawful good”.

Buddhism is the other foundational pillar of Chinese culture. Buddhism is all about compassion and universal benevolence (which is different from the Confucian benevolence that is more selective and layered.) Buddhism is “neutral good”—doing good for its own sake, beyond laws or instinct.

Legalism is yet another foundational pillar of Chinese culture, which is just “lawful neutral”: Control, governance, and order above all—with no room or exception for compassion or humanity. Its founder was Han Feizi.

Western perspectives often emphasize Confucianism as the primary foundation of Chinese culture, but in reality, Taoism and Legalism have been equally, if not more, influential, especially in political governance and cultural attitudes toward authority (Legalism) and natural order (Taoism).

– – – – –

That’s why Chinese have 101+ different characters and words for different types of ethnics, morals and virtues, from all those different philosophies, to cover and differentiate subtle aspects and shades of ethnics, morals and virtues.

And now Christianity (the fastest growing faith in China) wants to have an influence and say in Chinese culture as well; which, frankly, I do NOT like or welcome. IMO, the morality of Judea-Christian faiths—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—is really all about submission to the “One and Only God”, exclusivity, and intolerance of other gods, of other faiths—and therefore, of other beliefs and true pluralism. Abrahamic faiths are actually less open to coexistence of other faiths and philosophies.