IV. 5

This excerpt caught my attention for a couple of reasons. 1) How it states one of the aspects of human nature and 2) how relevant it is to our past history and even today. It has always been in the nature for us to strive for progress in fields of science, prosperity, power, etc. Whatever we can lay our hands on and put into meaningful use, it's ours! No questions ask. While the world has its share of people and governments who care for others, there are those who seek to triumph over who they consider inferior in order advance as a society. Competition and wars have left their marks for who lost or gained the most out of it. Anyone can recognize that with the best riches or economic stability, man can seek to prosper and endure as a species. The empires of old (Egypt, Persia, Roman Empire) sought to expand their cultures out into the world so they can make great advances in stabilizing the lives of their people and to enrich cultural apsects. For some time, these empires fought over what they claimed to be rightfully theirs, not giving up even the slightest inch of land to their enemies. This is connection to the verse in the excerpt "...The superior man does not, even for space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue." This idea was passed on to nations who created empires, fashioned in a similar but different way of how the Persians, Egyptians, and Romans maintained control over their territories. Nowadays, with empires as a thing of the past, people in general work to support themselves and their families financely and economically. Sadly, some can't afford to stay stable above the poverty line and end up in poor houses or in the streets. Anyone else who lives in a nice home as middle class people go to work and do what's neccessary to stay on top of their bills, so that their children can get educated and eventually live on their own. Many of the rich, however, use their money for their benefits and create taxes upon those below them financely. It's sad and many feel that there should be some kind of balance between the rich, middle class, and poor. The 'riches' stated in this excerpt may pertain to everything we want to progress in life - money, a job, and satisfying lifestyle. If there's any proper way to avoid going the opposite way of where we want, education and work are the answers for future success.