Tao of Politics # 18

18

When the great Tao is abandoned,
charity and righteousness appear.
When intellectualism arises,
hypocrisy is close behind.

When there is strife in the family unit,
people talk about 'brotherly love'.

When the country falls into chaos,
politicians talk about 'patriotism'.

This one says a lot. And i cannot claim to fully understand it. But the final stanza is very clear. When the country falls into chaos, politicians talk about patriotism. This might explain why there is so much talk of patriotism in the US today. Essentially this is saying that when we talk about needing to come together, there is something going wrong. I don't know how this translates into a political party platform, but it does speak volumes about our country under the Bush administration.