forever salt water room

I TAKE goodness in this sense, the affecting of the weal of men, which is that the Grecians call philanthropia; and the word humanity (as it is used) is a little too light to express it. 

 Goodness I call the habit, and goodness of nature, the inclination.  This of all virtues, and dignities of the mind, is the greatest; being the character of the Deity: and without it, man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing; no better than a kind of vermin. Goodness answers to the theological virtue, charity, and admits no excess, but error.  The desire of power in excess, caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess, caused man to fall: but in charity there is no excess; neither can angel, nor man, come in dan ger by it.  

The inclination to goodness, is imprinted deeply in the nature of man; insomuch, that if it issue not towards men, it willtake unto other living creatures; as it is seen in the Turks, a cruel people, who nevertheless are kind to beasts, and give alms, to dogs and birds; insomuch, as Busbechius reporteth, a Christian boy, in Constantinople, had like to have been stoned, for gagging in a waggishness a long-billed fowl.Errors indeed in this virtue of goodness, or charity, may be committed.  The Italians have an ungracious proverb, Tanto buon che val niente: so good, that he is good for nothing. 

 And one of he doctors of Italy, Nicholas Machiavel, had the confidence to put in writing, almost in plain terms, That the Christian faith, had given up good men, in prey to those that are tyrannical and unjust. 

 Which he spake, because indeed there was never law, or sect, or opinion, did so much magnify goodness, as the Christian religion doth. Therefore, to avoid the scandal and the danger both, it is good, to take knowledge of the errors of an habit so excellent.

The 2014 budget will reach an eye-popping 15.3 trillion yuan, or about $2.45 trillion - maybe not as exciting as President Obama's $3.9 trillion proposed budget, but not exactly chump change either.

 

Where is it all going? You can spend the day poring through the numbers, as China Real Time did. Or the crack WSJ Art Department can put them in a format that makes sense to normal eyes. (It pays to have connections.)

 

A quick glance tells you a few important things about China's budget priorities:

 

The military, already a beneficiary of Beijing's largesse, will get even more love this year.

 

Social spending isn't far behind, in a nod to the rising expectations of China's increasingly wealthy and educated population.

 

Affordable housing and the environment - two stated priorities of the Chinese government - saw spending fall last year. Beijing appears to want to change that.