The Tao-te Ching (pronounced in English “dow deh jing”) is said to have been written by Lao-tzu (6th century BC). However, it is not certain whether he wrote the book. Lao-tzu translates as “Old Master”. He was born in the state of Chu in China. He is said to have worked at the court of the Chou dynasty. On the day he left the courtyard to begin his own life, the gatekeeper urged him to write his thoughts in a book. Lao-tzu's work mainly illustrates Taoism, a religion founded by Chang Tao-ling in 150 AD. His main goal in this piece is to practice peace, simplicity, naturalness and humility. Lao-tzu believes that people are overloaded with temporal objects in this world. He recommends to his readers to let go of everything and always keep balance in anything. In my opinion, Lao-tzu would probably not like our government and the way people live today. The reason is that the majority of people are attached to secular things. To paraphrase the famous one, people have materialistic characteristics in today's world that are completely contrary to Lao-tzu's view. In my opinion, it is not entirely appropriate to compare our government with that suggested by Lao-tzu. When comparing two things together, the factors that affect the problem must remain equal. To illustrate, the fact that Lao-tzu wrote this book hundreds of years ago and that his audience consisted of people of his time, disobeys the comparison between his ideas and ours. Additionally, he partly practiced a popular religion at the time, Taoism. However, his book is not only about a religion, but also about moral behavior and also a guide on how to rule wisely. Accordingly, it would be reasonable to discuss what he would like about us and what ...... middle of paper ...... war. This may refer to the principle that he was at odds with the will to power. Lao-tzu advises that “[w]apons are tools of violence; all honest men hate them. Weapons are the tools of fear; an honest man will avoid them unless absolutely necessary and, if forced, will use them only with the greatest restraint. (31) However, nowadays governments tend to be more willing to participate in wars. Although we can claim that governments are trying to protect their countries and people, this nevertheless still contradicts Lao-tzu's ideals and could be considered unnecessary in his view. In conclusion, governments as we currently know them are far behind what Lao-tzu seems to believe. The reason is that he disobeys his tendency towards peace, contradicts the fact that he is against the power of people's unfinished desires, and opposes his disapproval in materialism..