[Buddha-l] Re: Buddhism and Politics

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Wed, 2005-07-27 at 09:34 -0700, Gad Horowitz wrote:

> was sakyamuni a "libertarian"? 

Yes, a libertarian is someone who advocates freedom, and Gautama (I
refuse to acknowledge the existence of Saksyamuni) wanted to free people
from samsara. 

> did he advocate "free markets"?

Yes, I think he felt markets should be free of monks and others who
would only get in the way of the consumers.

> would he have enjoyed Ayn Rand's works?

I think he would have shrugged.

> would he have condemned "welfare bums"?

The term preferred in those days was bhikshu. It seems as though he
elevated welfare bums to the status of being society's true brahmans,
and devalued brahmans to the status of social parasites and charlatans.

> Jesus Christ!

Being an addict of political correctness in all its many forms, I prefer
to call him Yeshua of Nazareth. It is ridiculous to call him by an
anglicized form of the Latin translation of the Greek version of his
Hebrew name, and there is still a controversy about whether he deserved
the title Christ. You know how I hate controversy!

-- 
Richard Hayes