Tao te Ching: 57

Govern the state with correctness.
Operate the army with surprise tactics.
Administer the empire by engaging in no activity.
How do I know that this should be so?
Through this:

The more taboos and prohibitions there are in the world,
   The poorer the people will be.
The more sharp weapons the people have,
   The more troubled the state will be.
The more cunning and skill man possesses,
   The more vicious things will appear.
The more laws and orders are made prominent,
   The more thieves and robbers there will be.

Therefore the sage says:

I take no action and the people of themselves are transformed.
I love tranquility and the people of themselves become correct.
I engage in no activity and the people of themselves become prosperous.
I have no desires and the people of themselves become simple.

Again, Lao Tzu takes us back to the ideal way to govern: laissez-government. Why is it ideal? Because of the principle of wu-wei. It's an elaboration on what he meant in Chapter 48 (when I got derailed by the whole not-learning thing that keeps me from being a Taoist).

The more rules there are, the poorer people will be. How is that so? At first I thought it was simply by limiting their actions. If there are proscriptions against commercial fishing at a certain time of year, that makes the people poorer. Which is true in the short term. But this presupposes something interesting. Lao Tzu is describing an ideal state where everyone has a sense of responsibility. There's no guarantee that people will leave enough fish to spawn a new generation of fish for next year's crop.

Except that it's been done that way for thousands of years. We hear a lot about the depletion of wild populations of fish and think overfishing is to blame. Ok, partly it is. There are some corporations out there without a sense of balance. But mostly it's that the demand is so high that the entire society, from consumers to fishermen to the companies, that everyone wants a little piece of the money or the fish.

That is where we become poorer. All the regulations in place allow people to game the system and conjure money from nowhere. People are getting paid for doing nothing but manipulating the rules in arbitrary ways. Without the rules, that's not possible. It leaves it in the hands of the market, which though crooked, is a much better game than the Byzantine system of taboos and prohibitions. So the more rules there are, the more people will try to scam the system to "get theirs". It encourages the entitlement mentality.

So, is an armed society a polite society? Maybe. I'm willing to bed it's far less about the sword or firearm than it is about the discipline needed to use the thing. There are other ways to acquire that discipline though. Ultimately, I suspect it's not about the actual weaponry and that it's just a convenient handle for Lao Tzu. We're familiar with people assuming power over other people by virtue of carrying a weapon. Have you ever been in a store while it was robbed or slowed down when driving by a police officer, even if you were already at or under the speed limit? The cowing of the populace through the threat of violence and assumption of power is what troubles the state. The cunning and vicious often use these weapons to attain exactly that power. That's the core of every terrorist or freedom fighting group. It doesn't matter if your cause is just or not, you're still pitting yourself against others with power and authority you've taken from those around you by virtue of violence.

Lao Tzu's solution is to just not do these things. Take way the tools that lead to these behaviors.

Tao te Ching: 56

He who knows does not speak.
He who speaks does not know.
Close the mouth.
Shut the doors (of cunning and desires),
Blunt the sharpness.
Untie the tangles.
Soften the light.
Become one with the dusty world.
This is called profound identification.
Therefore it is impossible either to be intimate and close to him or distant and indifferent to him.
It is impossible either to benefit him or to harm him,
It is impossible to either honor him or to disgrace him.
For this reason he is honored by the world.

Again, this echoes four lines from Chapter 4. It is advice to the sage meant to bring him into harmony and out of conflict with the world.

I'd rather think about the first two lines though. They're the ones that are new ground for Lao Tzu in this chapter. The true Tao cannot be told because it is hidden and nameless. One cannot name the unnamable, so someone claiming that they can obviously does not know the true Tao. The Zen Buddhists have a silent transmission of the dharma that means the same thing, and I mentioned that briefly in Chapter 43. No one can explain Zen to you, and if they say they can, then clearly they haven't attained it for themselves. The best way to transmit the dharma is by doing and by example, letting others eventually come to enlightenment on their own.

And what of the Christians?

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: [and] he that shutteth his lips [is esteemed] a man of understanding. Proverbs 17:28

The idea of opening your mouth and revealing that you don't know what you're talking about is a common one. The man who opens his mouth and says he does usually doesn't. 

Tao te Ching: 55

He who possesses virtue in abundance
May be compared to an infant.
Poisonous inesects will not sting him.
Fierce beasts will not seize him.
Birs of prey will not strike him.
His bones are weak, his sinews tender, but his grasp is firm.
He does not yet know the union of male and female,
But his organ is aroused.
This means that his essence is at its height.
He may cry all day without becoming hoarse,
This means that his (natural) harmony is perfect.
To know harmony means to be in accord with the eternal.
To be in acord with the eternal means to be enlightened.
To force the growth of life means ill omen.
For the mind to employ the vital force without restraint means violence.
After things reach their prime, they begin to grow old,
Which means being contrary to Tao.
Whatever is contrary to Tao will soon perish.

I admit to balking at this a bit when I first read it. My worldly logic tells me that of course predators will attack a helpless infant. This isn't a matter of physical weakness though. Lao Tzu isn't advocating physical weakness but rather the harmony of youth.

The predators are not animals, per se, but the problems of a mortal life. Don't build up your defenses and don't strike out. Act in harmony with your nature and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune will miss their target or never become incensed at all. Lao Tzu points out that whatever is contrary to Tao will perish, just as he did in Chapter 30. When we fight against our true nature, we invite suffering and discrimination and death.

Tao te Ching: 54

He who is well established (in Tao) cannot be pulled away,
he who has a firm grasp (of Tao) cannot be separated from it.
Thus from generation to generation his ancestral sacrifice will never be suspended.
When one cultivates virtue in his person, it becomes genuine virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in his family, it becomes overflowing firtue.
When one cultivates virtue in his community, it becomes lasting virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in his country, it becomes abundant virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in the world, it becomes universal.
Therefore the person should be viewed as a person.
The family should be viewed as a family.
The community should be viewed as a community.
The country should be viewed as a country.
And the world should be viewed as the world.
How do I know this to be the case in the world?
Through this (from the cultivation of virtue in the person to that in the world).

I see two distinct sections to this chapter, and that means there are probably two important lessons here. First, the cultivation of virtue can and should happen at every level of human interaction, from individual (with one's own self and others) to the entire world. It builds upon itself. Persons have to cultivate their own virtue for it to grow within the family. Families have to do so before it grows in the community, and so forth. The proverbial journey of one thousand li.

The second appears to be that one shouldn't hold expectations or standards that don't apply. One couldn't hold the world responsibile for the lack of virtue in a community, for instance. It's all dependent upon the arising of virtue from person to family and on to the world.

Tao te Ching: 53

If I had but little knowledge
I should, in walking on a broad way,
Fear getting off the road.
Broad ways are extremely even,
But people are fond of by-paths.
The courts are exceedingly splendid,
While the fields are exceedingly weedy,
And the granaries are exceedingly empty.
Elegant clothes are worn,
Sharp weapons are carried,
Food and drinks are enjoyed beyond limit,
And wealth and treasures are accumulated in excess.
This is robbery and extravagance.
This is indeed not Tao (the way).

Did you catch the pun at the end? Lao Tzu is winking at us, or maybe the translator. Tao means "the way", and so the final word of this hits us on both levels.

Imagine you're driving across country to visit a relative. Great Aunt Louise is having a birthday bash and all your relatives will be there and you want to go. She's the one that gave you money and never pinched your cheeks. Would it be easier to stay on the highway if you didn't know about the World's Largest Ball of String coming up at Exit 171? Or if you don't care about string, let's call it Disneyland.

All the things you can learn that take you off the path (Tao) are nothing but distractions. You get out there and they suck you dry or they waste your time, and in the end, you haven't made it to see your family. Lao Tzu isn't advocating complete ignorance, but rather hsü as he did in Chatper 3.