75. The People's Hunger｜Tao Te Ching

民（mín）之（zhī）饥（jī），（）以（yǐ）其（qí）上（shàng）食（shí）税（shuì）之（zhī）多（duō），（）是（shì）以（yǐ）饥（jī）。（）

The people go hungry because those above consume too much in taxes; that is why they go hungry.

Public hardship has material causes. Excessive extraction leaves people without enough to sustain themselves.

民（mín）之（zhī）难（nán）治（zhì），（）以（yǐ）其（qí）上（shàng）之（zhī）有（yǒu）为（wéi），（）是（shì）以（yǐ）难（nán）治（zhì）。（）

The people are hard to govern because those above interfere and impose too much; that is why they are hard to govern.

Constant intervention multiplies rules and burdens, creating the disorder that further control then tries to solve.

民（mín）之（zhī）轻（qīng）死（sǐ），（）以（yǐ）其（qí）求（qiú）生（shēng）之（zhī）厚（hòu），（）是（shì）以（yǐ）轻（qīng）死（sǐ）。（）

The people make light of death because those above pursue their own lives in excessive luxury; that is why the people make light of death.

When rulers enrich their own lives at the people's expense, the resulting desperation can make death seem insignificant.

夫（fú）唯（wéi）无（wú）以（yǐ）生（shēng）为（wéi）者（zhě），（）是（shì）贤（xián）于（yú）贵（guì）生（shēng）。（）

Only those who do not make a project of enhancing their own lives are wiser than those who prize life excessively.

Valuing life does not require constant self-enrichment. Less grasping can preserve a more genuine way of living.

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