Moderation in Use节用

When Mozi talks about 节用 (jieyong), moderation in use, he is never talking about hardship. His standard is concrete. Clothing: warm in winter, cool in summer, that is enough. Housing: keeps out wind and rain, separates inside from outside, that is enough. Food: restores strength and keeps the eyes and ears sharp, enough. Boats and carts: carry a load a long way, enough. Within that line, use freely. Beyond it, "expense that adds nothing to the people's benefit," do not.

His arithmetic is simple. A society's wealth is finite. Whatever is spent on useless display is taken from something useful. One more storey on the palace is one less measure of grain for the people. "Cut useless expense: this is the way of the sage kings and a great benefit to the world." Savings are not for hoarding. They are for spending where they do real good.

The key word is 利, benefit. Mozi does not object to spending money. He objects to spending money with no return. A bridge has a return; an ornamental tower does not. A thick coat for a laborer has a return; a tenth brocade robe for a noble does not. Moderation is a judgment of value: put every expense on the scale of "does this help anyone?"

We live in a world far richer than Mozi's, but his question has not aged. The extra you spend: where does it come from? Your rest, your health, time with your children, or help that someone else could have had?

At 墨门, moderation is not a romance of poverty. It is clear-sightedness about what is enough.

In practice at 墨门

• The moderation standard. The Handbook contains a public 节用 standard: an "enough line" for clothing, food, housing, transport, events, and funerals. It is a reference point, not a cap. You may go over it, as long as you can explain to your care-pair partner why.
• The 节用捐. Each month, Mohists voluntarily give part of what they saved to the 兼爱基金, the care fund. The amount is yours to decide; individual figures are never published, only totals and where the money went. The point of the 节用捐 is not the sum. It is linking "saving" to "the common good."
• Chapters own nothing. Chapters meet in members' homes, public libraries, and community centers. They buy no property and rent no offices. Every expense appears in the chapter's public records.
• A yearly moderation review. In the annual three-tests review, each Mohist takes an honest look at a year of spending: what was "expense without benefit," and what changes next year? The review is shared only with your care-pair partner.
• Enough is enough. We do not compete in frugality. The aim of moderation is to leave you with the capacity to look after others, not to turn you into someone who needs looking after.

One of Mozi's lines could be our motto: "Spend wealth without waste, spare the people's labor, and the benefit multiplies."