[Buddha-l] Marx and Buddhism

[curt]

Dan Lusthaus wrote:

>Boy, talk about contemporary Westerners imagining an imaginary Buddhism in
>their own image (as was discussed here not so long ago re: Zen).
>
>  
>
>>Capitalism
>>is completely incompatible with Buddhism, by the way,
>>    
>>
>
>Buddhism literally crawled out of the swamps in India when it allied with
>the Merchants, who not only helped them establish a major base in Gandhara,
>but led them through the Silk Road from Parthia to China. Mahayana Buddhism
>(e.g., Sambhoga-kaya) is capitalist through and through and through.
>Buddhism survived when it did in Asia due to patronage from the upper
>classes (merchants, officials, ruling classes), and it is similarly no
>accident that those in the West most attracted to Buddhism continue to be
>middle class or better.
>  
>
A bunch of merchants do not a capitalist ruling class make. First you 
have to have a sufficient mass of Capital to provide said merchants with 
the wherewithall to make themselves into a ruling class. This only came 
about via a series of unfortunate events known as the "primitive 
accumulation" period (which was well over 10 centuries after Buddhism 
was spread along the Silk Road). And when I say series of unfortunate 
events, I mean that the "enclosures" are hardly even worth mentioning 
(compared to the genocide in the western hemisphere, the african slave 
trade, etc). Buddhism is compatible with being a merchant - and possibly 
even with being a Capitalist (although I doubt it) - but Buddh-ism 
(emphasis on the "ism") is fundamentally incompatible with Capital-ism. 
As "isms" go there could hardly be two less suited to each other. 
Capitalism is a system in which only one thing matters - Capital. Under 
Capitalism all of society becomes ever more subordinated to the 
production of Capital. "Culture" itself is reduced to mere advertising. 
"Politics" is reduced to a competition to see who can "attract" more 
investments and create the best "business environment". Corporations 
become "person-like" entities with "rights" protected by the 
Constitution. Buddhism, on the other hand, is committed to the 
alleviation of suffering. And you don't need a weatherman to tell you 
that increasing Capital leads to increasiong suffering.

- Curt