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Translation by Nina


	Dao De Jing Chapter 75 A person starves because the food is taken right out of his mouth to pay excess taxes. Thus they starve. The common people do not have a proper government because those in power take advantage of their actions. Thus the government is improper. The people take death lightly because they merely seek to survive while others take the largess. Thus death seems like an easier course. It's only without looking for a reason to be alive that you will see just how valuable and precious this life is. Commentary: 75 ~ Resentment -A person starves because the food is taken right out of his mouth to pay excess taxes. -Thus they starve. -The common people do not have a proper government because those in power take advantage of their actions. -Thus the government is improper. It seems like no matter how hard you work, the cost of living keeps increasing and the government raises taxes. Many people are just able to make ends meet financially and often have to make sacrifices merely to get by. We all have to work to earn a living and survive, but it seems that those with wealth and power take advantage of all our hard work, and we're left with crumbs. -The people take death lightly because they merely seek to survive while others take the largess. -Thus death seems like an easier course. You might wonder sometimes why you bother with it at all - it might be easier to roll over and die than to keep working so hard and have nothing to show for it. -It's only without looking for a reason to be alive that you will see just how valuable and precious this life is. Well, there's more to life than trying to climb the ladder of success or feeling resentful towards those who keep taking from you. You can mumble and grumble 24/7 about how your paycheck seems to keep dwindling, about how stupidly those in power spend your taxes, about how the rich keep getting richer without concern for YOU. Those thoughts and feelings won't change anything. There's no place to go run and hide. Isn't that depressing? There's another way of looking at it. Instead of moaning about what you don't have - or what's being taken from you - appreciate what you do have. Being rich and successful is no guarantee of happiness. The more you have, the more you might be worried about losing it. Isn't your attitude and joy of life more important than feeling resentful of what others have? Yes, life might be easier if we were able to retain more of our paycheck for the work we put in, but feeling the sunshine on your face can't be bought. Let those who prefer to struggle and complain do just that. In reality, you might have much more than those you feel are stealing from you. \| BY: Nina \| Guodian Laozi \| DDJ Concordance \| Comparisons \| From the DIO Forum \| BY: Bao Pu \| By: Joshua \| \| Return Home \| Laozi's Dao De Jing \| Your Dao De Jing \| Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) \| Links \| Meditation \| Dao (Tao) is Open Forum \| Book List \| Other Stuff \|