Gain or loss, what is worse?
When the government is quite unobtrusive, people are indeed pure. When the government is quite prying, people are indeed conniving.
The high must make the low its base.
What resists, persists.
The highest virtue does nothing. Yet, nothing needs to be done. The lowest virtue does everything. Yet, much remains to be done.
Simply see that you are at the center of the universe, and accept all things and beings as parts of your infinite body. When you perceive that an act done to another is done to yourself, you have understood the great truth.