[Buddha-l] Withdrawal of the senses

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

Joy Vriens schreef:
> Hi Joanna,
>
> >Couldn't agree with you more on this, Joy. Thanks also for posting this
> >special reference. It underlines what I have thought for years: that the
> >variety of capitalism, if not capitalism per se, is indirect or direct
> >violence to anyone who loses in the competition that is so vaunted as a
> >positive way of life here. The system that produces and promotes this 
> way of
> >life is a version of Hell that the ancients had not a glimmer of.
>
> Unfortunately it iis not only seen as a positive way in your country. 
> Our future candidate for the French presidency, the "libéral" Nicolas 
> Sarkozy, is a great admirer of the United States. What he admires most 
> is the possibility there to come form nowhere and to move to the top, 
> or the other way round ("on peut partir du bas de l’échelle et monter 
> très haut, ou bien le contraire"), not questioning in the least the 
> model of a society where everyone fights their way to the top, instead 
> of focussing on solidarity.
>
Not only in France or the U.S. of A. but also in many other countries. In the low countries there's election and last night was the final debate. It was really pahtetic to see once again Adam Smith and Karl Marx dancing pirouettes on the screen (forgive my peotical phantasy). The past 50 years or so this hasn't changed and people understand less and less of it. The topoi of a politician today are very much influenced by the Chirtain tradion. Political leaders are like prophets who go out in the streets to convrt people personlly like Jesus did. And they tell a story of sin and salvation. They expose the devil. For liberals (we call them socialists) the devil is money, because people who deal with money lose their natural innocence and solidarity, became greedy, get burn-outs, become bosses who sack and expolite people. For conservatives (we call them liberals) the sinn is laziness and money is salvation if the devil of gouvernement doesn't get in the way. Both sides take these stories for absolute truth, as a bible. They never question it and think that this is the knowledge which sanctifies them over normal people. So every time the election game is about which story becomes the state religion? And the truth is nobody (exept the politicians) cares! We want good education and we don't care how it is done, by private entrepreneurs or the state or both, becaue we have moved to a postmodern sitatution.
In pre-christian times friendship or philia was one of the most importanta virtues and political guiding principals (called homonoia).  The opposite and so the equivalent of a disaster strategy was envy. Envy leads to competition, which leads to war and destruction. Now in our times destruction has become exploitation and economics = politcal economics = war with other means. So the motivation that money stimulates is envy, not philia, which gives way to competiton and the anonymous brothel of the open market.The hidden supposition is of course that economic capital can easily be converted into knowledge (cultural capital) and (virtues and) recognition (social capital).
 
Erik


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