[Buddha-l] Poll on Buddho-capitalism

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

Dan Lusthaus schreef:
> Richard Hayes writes:
>
>   
>> I think you may be stuck in the 1970s, Dan.
>>     
>
> Hell no. Personally I'm stuck in the '60s. But, as previous and not so
> temporally remote discussions on this list indicate, many Western Buddhists
> are still anti-capitalist. Far fewer Asian Buddhists are so, we should note.
>
>   
>> I have not seen much evidence of
>> anti-capitalist leanings in Western Buddhists since about the time of the
>> Watergate break-ins.
>>     
>
> One way to gain some empirical data on this would be to poll this list -- as
> unrepresentative a horde of buddhophiles as one is likely to encounter in
> the West.
>
> Everyone can vote:
>
> YES = I am fine with capitalism, and it is an integral part of my Buddhist
> thinking.
>
> NO = Capitalism is the root of all evil, and my Buddhist thinking belongs to
> an entirely different universe.
>
> MIDDLE WAY = While I admit Buddhists have always flourished under and may
> even require capitalistic systems, as do I, I hate capitalism and meditate
> hard to overcome my hypocrisy and self-loathing. (Translation for the
> logically impaired: The Buddhist-capitalist nexus is a koan.)
>
>
>   
Dan, I fail to see that from the fact that many metaphors in Buddhism 
are derived from trade follows that a Buddhist has to be a capitalist. 
In Christendom many metaphors come from agriculture, but many christians 
live in big cities.
I like to choose my own middle way: who cares, nobody wants to live in 
Maos China or Bushes USA anyway, but both brought us to the brink of an 
environmental catastrophy, isn't it time to stop playing the ideology game?


-- 


Erik


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