Damn! And there I was thinking that reinstating William Shatner as Captain of the Enterprise was humankind's last and best hope...

Geez. Gotta rethink everything now. What a drag.

Amos - The Chinese are the people who originated Taoism all right, but the present Chinese administration is anything BUT Taoist as far as I'm concerned. Confucionists have been running China for a long time, because Confucionists love rules, authority, and rigid power structures. It's them damn confucionists you gotta watch out for! Practicing Taoists are generally harmless and make excellent neighbours. They are not powermongers.

When Taoism walks quietly by, you probably won't even notice. When confucianism walks by it is accompanied by a brass band, a taxman, a judge, an executioner, and a very large army. I know you probably know this, and am mentioning it just coz I enjoy talking about such matters.

The Japanese, by the way, may be the most rigidly Confucianist society in history (though they might not call it that). Still, Japan has its Taoist types too, but they don't run the place nor would they be inclined to. Taoism lets life and others be free to run themselves in a harmonious manner and helps quietly where help is genuinely needed.

- LH