This is super interesting! I enjoy studying various religious/philosophical/ spiritual beliefs but have never learned much about Taoism. It seems to connect very well with anarchy/voluntaryism. I love the quote you used that said
“When taxes are too high, people go hungry. When government is too intrusive, people lose their spirit. Act for the peoples benefit. Trust them; leave them alone.”
That sums things up very eloquently.
I also really enjoyed the quote about weapons where it said...
“Weapons are the tools of violence; all decent men detest them.
Weapons are the tools of fear; a decent man will avoid them except in the direst necessity and, if compelled, will use them only with the utmost restraint. Peace is his highest value.
If the peace has been shattered, how can he be content?”
It reminds me of the verse from the Bible that Jordan Peterson talks about that says “the “”meek”” will inherit the earth” but the word used for meek more closely means something like those who know how to use weapons but choose to keep them sheathed.
I’m definitely going to look more into learning about Taoism after reading this : ). Very interesting post!
Thanks! There are SO many great quotes like that in the Tao Te Ching. Kind of the whole focus of this book was that if you go to the core spirituality & tenets of any of these beliefs (and not the monolithic religions that have formed around most of them), they are all fairly anarchist/voluntaryist in nature.