Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
- The path of the Tao is wide and simple to walk, but people still get distracted by side paths like greed.
- When this happens, governments are corrupt, crops don't grow, and warehouses are empty of wares.
- So, basically, society falls apart.
- You can always tell when a society is living without the Tao because the rulers wear fancy clothes, have dangerous weapons, and are crazy rich.
- When rulers live like this, it's the same thing as robbery, and it's totally not in line with the Tao.
- (Sounds like the TTC and the Occupy Movement would get along.)