I was reading about the new legislation in the Queen’s speech today. It seems that we need to have a new law passed for everything, further invasions of our privacy and our rights eroded.

It’s amazing what they can push through, mention the word Terrorist since 9/11 and you can wave through almost any measure you want, consider the new National DNA database, there are people on there who haven’t been convicted of a crime!

It’s almost as if we’re considered suspect simply by default, though Lao Tzu does have advice for us on this one:

“The highest rulers, people do not know they have them
The next level, people love them and praise them
The next level, people fear them
The next level, people despise them
If the rulers’ trust is insufficient
Have no trust in them

Proceeding calmly, valuing their words
Task accomplished, matter settled
The people all say, “We did it naturally”“

This is illuminating as it suggests a position far removed from the one we currently see in public figures. Lao Tzu suggests a more humble approach, indeed I’ve recently read comments by people saying that our leaders need to take a moment and remember who they really work for. The lack of trust they have in us is unsettling, the need to remember that somewhere in all the rules and cameras and the surveillance the spirit of the society that they’re trying to protect will get lost.

They are so attached to the idea of defending Britain and it’s people from every imagined aggressor that the country will be stifled by the grip they’ll have on it; the people will eventually be injured both in spirit and prospects, maybe even physically by the very measures and officers supposed to protect them.

I personally think they’re taken the exact wrong approach, the threat of terror needs to be tackled on a community level, it’s not a matter of arresting people it’s preventing them becoming extremists in the first place. I remember a point made by Robert M. Pirsig that when someone is deemed insane they’ve possibly subscribed to a view of the world that has higher quality for them than everyone else’s. I think the best view to take with those who would destroy our society is to reach out to them and show them the higher quality in our society.

Imagine a way forward that doesn’t involve more expenditure for the military industrial complex and security services. I wish it would catch on, I can’t see much of a future in mistrust and fear.

It’s interesting to watch the approach of some folk to technology. There seems to me to be a view that technology is the enemy, there is a negative view of tech. Speaking as an IT guy, I couldn’t disagree more. When dealing with recalcitrant, misbehaving tech, the key is to remember that it’s nothing personal. Getting all wound up won’t help, sometimes it can be like opening a stubborn lock, you have to know how to jiggle it, I’ve started to think that it might be an ego issue on the operator’s part. I include myself in that, of course.

I always try to bear in mind that computers and technology are as much a part of Tao as everything else.

To misquote Pirsig, “Tao rests as easily at the heart of cyberspace as it does in the heart of a forest. To think otherwise is to demean Tao”

Continuing my previous post, I’ve been carrying on with my decluttering, large amounts of old stuff have vanished both from my physical environment and from the PC.

It’s important to do this as the stuff gets under your feet and hampers you when acting. I was thinking of Wu Wei, or “effortless action”, how can one’s actions be anything near effortless when you’re having to fight through mental and physical junk all the time?

It’s not just about clearing things up, as I find clutter affects my mood, but also about the distractions. Late last year I was listening to a Dharma talk at a local Buddhist centre, the monk told about the Death meditation and elaborated on the need to seize the moment when doing self development, after all, we didn’t know how long we had.

I find that getting rid of clutter cuts out the distractions, and when you think about what I just wrote, that’s a very important thing to do.