DDJ 67. 自救者天救， 第二修定案

第六十七章
[原文]

天下皆谓我"道"大①，似不肖②。夫唯大，故似不肖。若肖，久矣其细也夫③！我有三宝④，持而保之：一曰慈，二曰俭⑤，三曰不敢为天下先。慈故能勇⑥；俭故能广⑦；不敢为天下先，故能成器长⑧。今舍慈且⑨勇；舍俭且广；舍后且先；死矣！夫慈，以战则胜⑩，以守则固。天将救之，以慈卫之。

[译文]

天下人能说“我道”伟大，不像任何具体事物的样子。正因为它伟大，所以才不像任何具体的事物。如果它像任何一个具体的事物，那么“道”也就显得很渺小了。我有三件法宝执守而且保全它：第一件叫做慈爱；第二件叫做俭啬；第三件是不敢居于天下人的前面。有了这柔慈，所以能勇武；有了俭啬，所以能大方；不敢居于天下人之先，所以能成为万物的首长。现在丢弃了柔慈而追求勇武；丢弃了啬俭而追求大方；舍弃退让而求争先，结果是走向死亡。慈爱，用来征战，就能够胜利，用来守卫就能巩固。天要援助谁，就用柔慈来保护他。

http://www.daodejing.org/67.html

慈故能勇... 今舍慈且勇...   死矣！夫慈，以战则胜，以守则固。天将救之，以慈卫

之.   
俭故能广...  Scale 
不敢为天下先，故能成器长.   三宝有传，自救者天救。

US Constitution - AMENDMENT II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The Bill of Rights Amendment 1-10 were developed to constrain the Federal government (all three branches) as defined by the Constitution.   

Many founders, including George Washington, were trained in the British American Militia.   The militia had an impressive records defending far flung English colonies for hundreds of years.   During the Revolutionary War, American militia was still a nice try, though ragtag compared to the British standing army. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_(Great_Britain)

American militia continued this tradition, half militia, half disaster relief.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minutemen

The Constitution reluctantly gave federal government power to raise army and regulate Militia.  But in second amendment, it promises to never infringe the citizenry's rights to bear arms.  

In The Federalist No. 46, James Madison wrote:

Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. And it is not certain that with this aid alone they would not be able to shake off their yokes.

Implicit in the debate between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists were two shared assumptions: first, that the proposed new constitution gave the federal government almost total legal authority over the army and the militia; and second, that the federal government should not have any authority at all to disarm the citizenry. The disagreement between Federalists and Anti-Federalists was only over the narrower question of how effective an armed population could be in protecting liberty.

To understand this question, the Chinese could have pointed to the example of Song Dynasty China, the peace loving citizens were not trusted to bear arms, and discouraged from forming militias.  人有流星锤，我有天灵盖。 慈而不勇， 大道沦丧， 天将弃之。