Confucius Analect Reading Blog

Analect 4-12: The Master said, "If in your affairs you abandon yourself to the pursuit of profit, you will arouse much resentment."

What this analect means is that you should keep your values and morality against the temptation of profit. Many times, a person obtains profit (money) by illegal and/or immoral ways. For instance, drug dealers and people who belong to mafias win money illegally and, thus, immorally. I can personally connect this to a video-game  the Sims.

The Sims is basically a simulation of a person, family, love life, etcetera. In the Sims you may get a job and make decisions that will either get you a raise or a firing. As always, jobs don´t start with a very good pay. There is a loop to the game, though. There are several cheat codes to help you get on with your "life". The most famous is the "MOTHERLODE" command. This cheat code will give you 50,000 Simeleons (Sim currency). And just think about how useful it is since the CTRL+C and CTRL+V commands work in the game.This is how I feel about drug dealers, mafia men, and such. They are cheating life. They are doing what they shouldn't.

As the analect says, "...you will arouse much resentment.", these men will feel resented by what they have done. Yes, they will be crying in their European mansions, weeping in their silk pillows, and sadly shouting in their Rolls-Royce... but they'll feel sad, resented, melancholic, and angry with themselves. It is a way of taking everything that made life challenging. No longer did they have to worry about bringing enough money home to be able to eat, educate his children, or spend some time in vacations. No, they cheated life and it went so easy.

Although everyone wants profit, and more money, you must not abandon your values and integrity, or else you´ll end up losing yourself.