I will not chew my readers’ ears by recounting the maladies of Western culture. The seriousness of the situation is known to everyone reading newspapers or watching the news. To make things worse, the cultural demise is accompanied by economic woes.
Some commentators say that the situation gets worse each day. Others say that it gets worse by the hour. They give a large number of reasons that prove that the damage is irreversible. In their gloom and doom, they do not offer the slightest sign of hope.
I personally disagree with the gloom and doom, but it would take long to present my arguments. Fortunately, Taoists do not care much one way or the other. If Western culture goes fine, they will rejoice in the general prosperity and happiness; and if it falls apart, they will figure out how to remain unaffected.
In Chapter 55 of the Tao Te Chin, Lao-Tzu formulates the principle of organic growth, namely, that we cannot manipulate societal trends to our taste. Plants will develop healthily or not, depending on the underlying circumstances, not on our taste.
How things will improve
If things are to improve, it’s because there are healthy trends at play. That’s why Taoists pay so much attention to their habits and, sometimes, to their garden; they understand very well that one’s habits constitute the basis for prosperity and happiness.
An ancient Taoist story, possibly written in the 3rd century BC, tells us about a general who conducted an all-out war and conquered a new country. He submitted the population, placed his officers in positions of power, and told them to collect as much as possible in taxes.
The officers carried out their new mission by using the only methods they knew, namely, threats and violence. They applied themselves to exploiting the local population and collecting taxes, but the results proved disappointing.
As time went by, the officers collected less and less in taxes. It was incomprehensible to them that their threats were failing to produce the desired result. Artisans dropped their tools and disappeared. Farmers refused to bring in the harvest and walked away from their farms.
The general was furious to hear that the officers had failed to increase the tax receipts. He threatened to punish the culprits, but in practical terms, he could do very little. In fact, he could not even identify them.
He consulted a Taoist hermit about his problem, but instead of giving a clear answer, the Taoist limited himself to quoting Chapter 55 of the Tao Te Ching. “Plants that are forced will not grow.”
Since the answer did not make any sense, the general opted for ignoring it. Instead, he convened his officers, ordered them to increase the pressure on the population, employing whatever means necessary.
A call for organic growth
I could go on and on with the story, but I think that the point is clear. When it comes to creating positive effects, nothing can replace organic growth. People, businesses and cities must find their own path to natural growth. The Tao cannot be coerced. It must be let alone to develop.
Why do I maintain that Western culture needs more Taoists? Because all its problems can be solved through natural growth, without need to push artificially hard in any direction. Taoists, or people with a mentality similar to Taoists, bring about their own growth without imposing on anyone.
Unlike the general in the story, they do not conduct war and have no intention of employing violence to achieve their goals. The officers in the story didn’t grasp the consequences of their actions. They did not realize that they were producing negative effects, pure losses, instead of achieving anything beneficial.
Taoists regard flexibility and softness as crucial virtues. For this reason, they will refrain from pushing growth beyond its natural speed. Plants must grow at their own speed, not faster or more slowly, and certainly, not under duress.
I regard it as highly advantageous that people adopt flexible strategies similar to Taoism. Soft, smooth growth is a thousand times preferable to the impositions of the general in the story.
Already in the 4th century BC, Yang-Tzu considered it evil to sacrifice oneself for the sake of allegedly high ideals. In his writings, he stated that a hair on his head was worthier than the whole world.
His individualistic attitude has permeated modern Taoism to a great extent. In essence, Yang-Tzu was discarding rigidity as ineffective. His condemnation includes the general and officers in the story that I have recounted earlier.
Softness and flexibility
Chapter 76 of the Tao Te Ching enunciates a crucial tenet of Taoism, one that is indispensable for addressing the problems faced by Western culture.
The Taoist solution calls for softness instead of rigidity. It’s a call for flexibility instead of impositions. Problems could be solved faster if there is a higher number of people that govern their actions by these principles.
In Chapter 76 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tzu had predicted the victory of the soft over the rigid. Do we have sufficient grounds to expect such a victory nowadays? Can smoothness, flexibility and self-reliance win over impositions, inflexibility, and dependency?
Absolutely. Not only is softness’ victory possible, but in the long term, it is the only possible victory. If only because rigid people and rigid systems are so incredibly inefficient.
As a philosophy, Taoism can provide a decisive contribution to solving many of the problems of Western culture; and as a lifestyle, it can show the benefits of alertness and flexibility.
In this case, I’m employing the term “Taoism” in the widest sense, so that it encompasses anyone who, for whatever reason or maybe through sheer trial and error, has adopted a mindset that comes close to the teachings of Lao-Tzu, Yang-Tzu, and Chuang-Tzu.
Chapter 2 of the Tao Te Ching tells us that wise individuals often get things done by doing less or by doing nothing at all. I consider it greatly beneficial that Taoists, with their behaviour and mindset, show the world the enormous benefit of letting go of questionable actions, so that solutions, like plants, can grow unimpeded.
If you are interested in putting effective insights into daily practice, I recommend my book titled “Rational living, rational working.”