Political Advice from Lao Tzu | Tao Te Ching Chapter 61 Explained

A large country should take the low place like a great watershed, which from its low position assumes the female role. The female overcomes the male by the power of her position. Her tranquility gives rise to her humility. If a large country takes the low position, it will be able to influence smaller countries. If smaller countries take the lower position, then they can allow themselves to be influenced. So both seek to take the lower position in order to influence the other or be influenced. Large countries should desire to protect and help the people, and small countries should desire to serve others. Both large and small countries benefit greatly from humility. Okay, so this episode is going to be a bit shorter for two reasons. The first is that I don't consider myself much of an expert on the workings of international politics, and therefore I don't feel like I ought to comment too much on something I don't have a lot of understanding about. The second more pragmatic reason is that I have very little time today, so I'm going to need to make this video kind of short. I know, it's a bummer, but what do you do? So although I am going to abstain from commenting too much on international politics, I am going to try to look at this chapter in a more general sense, because I don't think this chapter is only useful for discussing the affairs of large countries. I think it can also be useful for our individual lives as well. In life, there are always those who are in higher positions or lower positions than others. While all people are equally important and valuable in a broad sense, not all people are equal to each other in terms of individual characteristics. For example, if you were to compare me to, say, Charles Dickens, and holy crap, please do not do that. But if you were to do that, you could say that both of our lives are equally valuable from a humanistic perspective. However, I am not equal with Charles Dickens in terms of literary talent. I'm not even on the same playing field. This doesn't make me less important than Charles Dickens, it just makes me different. Now, if you were to compare me with Charles Dickens in terms of rugby skill, it's possible that I might be superior, since although he was purported to have been quite the long-distance walker, Charles Dickens was sickly in his youth and didn't really seem to have been one for sports. Neither of these comparisons make Dickens or me more important, but they do make us different. We are differently suited for different purposes. Therefore, our best bet is to perform the purposes to which we are suited to the best of our abilities, and to be content with that. Now let's bring this principle back to countries. Large countries and small countries have different strengths and roles to play in the world. One is not more important than the other. If we think that one is more important, it's because we are only comparing specific characteristics, and we are not looking at the whole picture. Therefore, countries, as well as people, would do well to understand the role they play in the scheme of the world, and to play that part contentedly. Thanks for watching. Be sure to join the discord if you like participating in these sort of discussions, and I will see you all tomorrow for chapter 62. Peace and blessings.