The Useless Tree

Taoism

  • On Cooking Fish

    In recent weeks I have not kept up with certain blogs, most notably the excellent Chinese philosophy blog of Manyul Im.  He has a great post discussing a famous line from Tao Te Ching 60: "Govern a nation as you… Continue reading

  • More Taoist Parenting, Please…

    This story in the New Yorker, about “over-parenting,” made me think of the possibilities and virtues of Taoist parenting, which I have contemplated here.  This excerpt provides some idea of the problem of overbearing parents:   Finally comes the Last… Continue reading

  • Tao Te Ching on the Radio

    As we wait for election returns, how about something completely different.  Yesterday, while out driving around, a story about the Tao Te Ching popped up on All Things Considered.  Nothing earth shattering, just a guy, a writer, Henry Alford, not… Continue reading

  • More Thoughts on President Obama

    Last week I started to ruminate on remarks I will make tomorrow at a dinner with students.  They asked me to speak about the upcoming elections.  As I mentioned, I am looking past what I take to be a very… Continue reading

  • The Tao of Debt

    A nice op-ed in the NYT today by Margaret Atwood, expounding on the human associations of "debt."  Debtor-creditor relationships are not simply the stuff of economic calculation, they are expressions of more deeply held understandings and expectations, something easily forgotten… Continue reading

  • Taoist Debate Advice for Sarah Palin

       I have no sympathy for Sarah Palin.  She is obviously not prepared or qualified to be vice president, much less assume the presidency in a crisis. That is obvious. She did not have to accept the candidacy but she… Continue reading

  • George Bush, Taoist President

    Three years ago I joked that George W. Bush is a Taoist sage.  Well, events of the past week or so suggest that he is a Taoist president.  In the face of the greatest economic crisis since at least World… Continue reading

  • The Last Day of…

          Today is the last day of summer, but yesterday actually felt like it.  Something in the air, something about the time, made yesterday feel like a day of endings. The fact that it was the last day of the… Continue reading

  • The Tao of Fed

    I lost a bet today.  In the craziness that followed yesterday's financial news, a couple of colleagues and I disagreed on what the Federal Reserve Board would do today.  I thought an interest rate increase was all but inevitable: the… Continue reading

  • Thoughts in the Midst of a Financial Crisis

    Well, it's been a busy weekend for the captains of American finance.  Not quite the way they want to spend a Saturday and Sunday.  With Lehman Brothers bankrupt and Merrill Lynch sold off and AIG teetering on the brink of… Continue reading