Tao and Capitalism
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In our society, people have lost their sense of acting morally and being concerned with the well being of the world as a whole. Instead, people in our society are following a corrupt system known as capitalism that focuses on self-interest and individual gain. Importance is placed on material gains rather than moral principles. In the Tao Te Ching, the author, Lao Tzu, attempts to describe a way of life that frees us from greed and desires. This way of life is simply known as "the way" or Tao. Under Tao, a person focuses their energies on following a moral principle, rather than a system of government. Both Tao and capitalism stress the belief in freedom, but Tao stresses freedom from desires and greed while Capitalism believes in freedom to desire whatever a person may want. The ideas and beliefs expressed in the Tao Te Ching present a better way of life than the principles of capitalism. Such a lifestyle as the one expressed in the Tao Te Ching would be very hard to implement in our society; however, our society should examine Tao and try to employ some of Tao's beliefs. In order to support this point, a detailed description of each way of life is needed, including the advantages and disadvantages of each way of life...