Yes, I do dismiss capitalism entirely, and I understnd what you are saying about how that is hypocritical... but who among us isn't hypocritical? Hypocrisy is something I both embrace and struggle with in my ethical philosophy (that is basically the topic of my paper) and I think that people who claim to be free from hypocrisy either aren't taking sides or haven't explored their ideas deeply enough to find the contradictions.
Why do I live here within capitalism, criticizing it at the same time? If I don't like Bush why don't I just get the hell out of here? Because there is so much work to do here. There is merit to existing outside the system, there is merit to creating alternatives, but there is also merit to doing what you can from the inside.
And I think I've said this before in some of our other conversations about this topic... I don't think that capitalism will ever not exist, nor do I think that I will ever see a world in which it is not a very big deal. This is, as I've mentioned before, a huge challeng to communities who try to exist outside the capitalist system, because no matter how much of an alternative they create they will always have to compete wih or at least move in tandem with capitalist societies.
I think I've also said this in past discussions, but let me reitirate that my ideal society is not the size of the United States. I wouldn't even call my ideal world one filled with social organizations on the scale of the US. I keep giving examples of smaller systems--communities--because the community is the right size for this kind of economic existence. Too big and you depersonalize it. (See Schumacher's Small is Beautiful for his discussion of Buddhist Economics)
What is so inherently wrong with capitalism? It is based on the essentially flawed assumption that monetary value is more important than human value. I just simply don't think that this is a true statement.
hey guys...i don't know if i'm "allowed" to weigh in here, cause i'm not in your class... but i just wanted to say that it was my time in thailand that showed me firsthand that alternative communities WERE possible. on a small scale, yes. and not necessarily Communism (capital C) but something like that, intentional alternatives. in a lecture at webster when i was there, ted mayer said that engaged buddhism emerged as a possible middle path between capitalism and communism. i mean, we don't only have to work with existing systems... there can be creative solutions also. but yeah, Communist governments haven't "worked," but are capitalist governments working for us right now? anytime you institutionalize something on a large scale, it is going to be corrupted. but the problem with capitalism, in addition to/conjunction with what liz said, is that it inherently exploits people, damages those who are "weaker." and that is not really sustainable, much less compassionate.
so anyway... on a lighter note, i'm glad you guys are doing blogs so i can stalk you and get all mushy reminiscing. if you want to check out the blog i kept while i was there, for ideas of things to do/not to do, etc...it's smcmerica.blogspot.com. warning, though, most of the posts are pretty long.
hug john and tarn for me...have fun. and make sure you go to the monkey temple in hua hin!
2 Comments:
At 5:10 PM,
Liz said…
Yes, I do dismiss capitalism entirely, and I understnd what you are saying about how that is hypocritical... but who among us isn't hypocritical? Hypocrisy is something I both embrace and struggle with in my ethical philosophy (that is basically the topic of my paper) and I think that people who claim to be free from hypocrisy either aren't taking sides or haven't explored their ideas deeply enough to find the contradictions.
Why do I live here within capitalism, criticizing it at the same time? If I don't like Bush why don't I just get the hell out of here? Because there is so much work to do here. There is merit to existing outside the system, there is merit to creating alternatives, but there is also merit to doing what you can from the inside.
And I think I've said this before in some of our other conversations about this topic... I don't think that capitalism will ever not exist, nor do I think that I will ever see a world in which it is not a very big deal. This is, as I've mentioned before, a huge challeng to communities who try to exist outside the capitalist system, because no matter how much of an alternative they create they will always have to compete wih or at least move in tandem with capitalist societies.
I think I've also said this in past discussions, but let me reitirate that my ideal society is not the size of the United States. I wouldn't even call my ideal world one filled with social organizations on the scale of the US. I keep giving examples of smaller systems--communities--because the community is the right size for this kind of economic existence. Too big and you depersonalize it. (See Schumacher's Small is Beautiful for his discussion of Buddhist Economics)
What is so inherently wrong with capitalism? It is based on the essentially flawed assumption that monetary value is more important than human value. I just simply don't think that this is a true statement.
At 10:05 AM,
Anonymous said…
hey guys...i don't know if i'm "allowed" to weigh in here, cause i'm not in your class... but i just wanted to say that it was my time in thailand that showed me firsthand that alternative communities WERE possible. on a small scale, yes. and not necessarily Communism (capital C) but something like that, intentional alternatives. in a lecture at webster when i was there, ted mayer said that engaged buddhism emerged as a possible middle path between capitalism and communism. i mean, we don't only have to work with existing systems... there can be creative solutions also. but yeah, Communist governments haven't "worked," but are capitalist governments working for us right now? anytime you institutionalize something on a large scale, it is going to be corrupted. but the problem with capitalism, in addition to/conjunction with what liz said, is that it inherently exploits people, damages those who are "weaker." and that is not really sustainable, much less compassionate.
so anyway... on a lighter note, i'm glad you guys are doing blogs so i can stalk you and get all mushy reminiscing. if you want to check out the blog i kept while i was there, for ideas of things to do/not to do, etc...it's smcmerica.blogspot.com. warning, though, most of the posts are pretty long.
hug john and tarn for me...have fun. and make sure you go to the monkey temple in hua hin!
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