Law of Compensation

In his essay, Compensation, Ralph Waldo Emerson says that in every part of nature, we discover polarity, or, action and reaction. We find this duality in, “darkness and light; in heat and cold; in the ebb and flow of waters; in male and female; in the inspiration and expiration of plants and animals,” etc. A dualism, says Emerson, bisects nature, “so that each thing is a half, and suggests another thing to make it whole; as spirit, matter; man, woman; subjective, objective, in out; upper, under; motion, rest; yea, nay.”

Nature, says Emerson, hates one-sided monopolies. Echoing the insights of Lao Tzu, he says that nature always strives towards balance. For example, look at the sea. No matter how high the waves might toss, they must always come back to sea level. Emerson believed that this tendency towards balance and equilibrium is an inevitable law of the universe, which he called, The Law of Compensation. 

Human beings as products of nature, are every bit as subject to this law as anything else. While our proverbs attest to our awareness of it, (“Tit for tat; and eye for an eye; give and it shall be given; etc) we often act otherwise. We seek the sweet without the sour. We feast without fasting. We gain but fail to give. According to Emerson, this failure to abide by the Law of Compensation is a perilous mistake, for every advantage has a tax: 

For every benefit you receive, a tax is levied. He is great who confers the most benefits. He is base, - and that is the one base thing in the universe, - to receive favors, and render none In the order of nature we cannot render benefits to those from who we receive them, or only seldom. But the benefit we receive must be rendered again, line for line, deed for deed, cent for cent, to somebody. Beware of too much good staying in your hand. It will fast corrupt and worm worms. Pay it away quickly of some sort.

Native American tribes knew this law instinctually. Many tribes who lived in the Great Plains for instance, after taking the life of a buffalo during a hunt, would offer prayers and rituals in retribution for their kill. They believed that without these rituals, the buffalo may not come back. Northwest Indians demonstrated an awareness of this law in their potlatch celebrations. The Potlatch is a gift-giving feast where a kin group gives away great wealth to neighbors. What is fascinating about this custom is that every present received at a potlatch has to be returned at another potlatch. A man who would not give his potlatch feast in due time would be considered as not paying his debts.

Emerson believed so strongly in the Law of Compensation that near the end of the essay he writes: “I no longer wish to meet a good I do not earn - for example, to find a pot of buried gold - knowing that it brings with it new responsibility. I do not wish more external goods…[because while] the gain is apparent, the tax is certain.”