The Harm of Greed
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民之飢，以其上食稅之多，是以飢。民之難治，以其上之有為，是以難治。民之輕死，以其求生之厚，是以輕死。夫唯無以生為者，是賢於貴生。
The people go hungry because those above them eat too much in taxes; that is why they go hungry. The people are hard to govern because those above them meddle; that is why they are hard to govern. The people take death lightly because they seek too much from life; that is why they take death lightly. Now, only one who does not make living his business is wiser than one who prizes life.
The people’s hunger, unruliness, and disregard for death are all traced back to excess and interference from above.
The chapter traces conditions usually blamed on the people back to those who rule them, and each line repeats its cause as its conclusion.
The closing line turns the argument inward. Heshang Gong glosses the one who does not make living his business as someone rank and wealth cannot move: not chasing profit, and not desperately clinging to life either.
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