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County Events

Ulster County Events in August 2013

Annandale-on-Hudson Exhibit: "No Borders in a Wok That Can't Be Crossed." Works by Helen Marten and "Once Again the World is Flat," b...

05 Aug 2013 | 0 comments | Read more

Dutchess County Events in August 2013

Exhibit: "No Borders in a Wok That Can't Be Crossed." Works by Helen Marten and "Once Again the World is Flat," by Haim Steinbach. ...

05 Aug 2013 | 0 comments | Read more
Feature Articles

Shadowland Theatre in Ellenville

Major facelift completed in time for new season of shows by Tod Westlake If you haven’t been to Shadowland Theatre in Ellenville for...

11 Jul 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

The Heritage Wheat Revival

Stone ground ancient grains are packed with nutrients by Anne Pyburn Craig Wheat has been grown and domesticated ever since our specie...

02 Jul 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

Walkway Over the Hudson

New records being broken as new developments arise.    When Camoin Associates studied the potential economic impact of the Walk...

02 Apr 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

Radio Uprising by CMP

Local radio continues to inspire and push new boundaries. by Anne Pyburn Craig Mia Chin was a student throughout the progra...

01 Mar 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

Publisher's Editorial

  • 02 Aug 2013 Three Year Anniversary
  • 02 Aug 2013 Red Baron of Rhinebeck
The Yardavore

In the Weeds

by Maria Reidelbach Maybe you've never thought about this, but what is the definition of a weed? A weed is, simply, any type of plan...

11 Jul 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

Trees for Bees

by Maria Reidelbach Last month in my column about bees, Chris Harp, local apiarist, explained that the blossoms of fruit Mulberries...

13 May 2013 | 1 comments| Read more

Deerly Departed

by Maria Reidelbach Last month we talked about the havoc that deer wreak in your garden. We covered how deer are gourmets and like ...

08 Mar 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

Skål!

by Maria Reidelbach If you think we upstaters have it rough in the winter, check out Sweden. It's got the same latitude as Nova Scotia,...

05 Dec 2012 | 0 comments| Read more
Transition Field Notes

Relating with Permaculture: Principle #11

Use Edges and Value the Marginal by Deena Wade Founder of the Transition movement, Rob Hopkins, taught permaculture—design principl...

02 Aug 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

People In Your Neighborhood

Food & Restaurant

Fruit of the valley provides essential goodness.

by Phoenix Trent The Hudson Valley is a bounty of fresh produce throughout the calendar year, but the diverse offerings that the summer...

30 Jul 2013 | Read more
Arts & Music

From the Fisher Center to Lincoln Center:

The Bard Conservatory Orchestra and its well-rounded education. by Philip Ehrensaft Of all the Bard College success stories,...

28 May 2013 | Read more
Horoscopes

Inner Space for August 2013

by Eric Francis The Leo New Moon is Tuesday, August 6 at 5:50pm. This event is synchronous with the midsummer festival Lunesa, also kn...

02 Aug 2013 | Read more
Local Economy

Farming Risks and Rewards

Increase in local farmers and markets a sign of the times.   by Anne Pyburn Craig Besides being backbreaking, farming is a ...

16 Oct 2012 | Read more
Bread & Roses

It’s All Here

by Sherill Hatch “The worker must have bread, but she must have roses too.” This century-old labor slogan bears repeating today. Beau...

02 Aug 2013 | Read more
New Economics

Buddhist Economics 2.0

By David McCarthy E.F. Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful, first published in 1973 and still in print, is arguably the cornerstone of w...

02 Aug 2013 | Read more
Re>think Local

TEDxLongDock:

This is What Community Looks Like by Scott Tillitt The Dalai Lama visited NYC in 2003 for a week of events culminating in a public t...

02 Aug 2013 | Read more
Culture Features

New York Theater's Industrial Incubator

Vassar's Powerhouse Festival kicks off its 29th edition by Philip Ehrensaft Chloe Sevigny in Abigail/1702. © Vassar & ...

10 Jun 2013 | Read more

Daily Video

Buddhist Economics 2.0

By David McCarthy

E.F. Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful, first published in 1973 and still in print, is arguably the cornerstone of what we now call “The New Economics.” One of the most famous of its chapters is called Buddhist Economics, which was informed by his experiences in Burma while stationed there in the colonial civil service, along with his readings on the subject. Though the chapter makes many specific references to Buddhist teachings, he clearly intended its message to be broadly applicable to the various spiritual traditions. In a video I’ve seen on the Internet, he joked, “Well, we could have called it Christian Economics, but then no one would have paid much attention.” Basically he wanted to put forth economic thinking that was in accordance with spiritual principles, and he succeeded. It’s a great chapter, and I hope you read it.

However, in this piece I’d like to take a fresh start on Buddhist Economics. In the 40 years since the publication of Small is Beautiful, Buddhism has emerged as a significant and widespread movement worldwide. It is no longer an exotic and foreign tradition, but one that has quietly taken its place in the fabric of society. There are over 50 Buddhist centers here in the Hudson Valley. I’ve been a student of Buddhism my entire adult life, and moved here in 1995 to be near one of those centers.

It is reasonable to ask at the onset whether Buddhism ought to have anything to do with economics. Isn’t it about transcending worldly matters altogether? One answer to that question is simply that by placing worldly life in spiritual perspective, a healthy context for understanding economics can emerge. Because the whole realm of work, material relations, and exchanges is not considered the only thing in life, or the only important thing, we can understand it with more wisdom than if we try to analyze it in a vacuum. This general perspective could come from any of the authentic spiritual traditions, and is a good general argument for grounding economic theory and practice in spiritual wisdom. Such a view may seem to be a bit of a no brainer for the general reader, but most of modern economics, which purports to be a scientific or even a mathematical discipline, has gone a different direction.

What might Buddhism specifically have to contribute to the conversation about economics? For a start, I’d like to outline three main areas: psychology, interdependence, and compassion.

Concerning psychology, the Buddhist teachings are a rich source of insight into the functioning and nature of the mind. In particular, there is a detailed description of the confused, egocentric mind. I have summarized this functioning in secular terms with the phrase “psychological materialism.” The mind solidifies that which it assumes to be separate based on an assumed solidity and separateness of the ego. At the same time, by the very fact of its confusion, the operation of the egoistic or materialistic mind does not have validity or ultimate influence. Underlying that confusion is wisdom, which all beings have, though they don’t necessarily notice it. Nevertheless, that basic wisdom is the source of virtuous and intelligent qualities, qualities that are naturally present in human beings and which can also be consciously cultivated. All this leads way beyond any simplistic notion of the human individual, or for that matter, human society. And it points to very real possibilities for the development of a saner economic civilization than we have today.

Interdependence has always been considered a hallmark of the Buddha’s teaching. Rather than positing the appearances of our world as a divine creation, all that which appears and exists—including ourselves—is understood in terms of interdependence. The observable natural world displays characteristics of interdependence, and in this regard Buddhist and scientific thought are not in conflict. But the Buddhist notion of interdependence has never excluded the role of the mind in the whole process. Our human economy is comprised of a vast interrelated system of thought patterns and actions, all in the context of the natural world. Therefore our understanding of economic matters needs to be radically inclusive of all these factors and their relationships. Though economics has long recognized interdependence in various ways, the Buddhist view has much to contribute to that understanding.

Finally, we can say that a true Buddhist economics is an economics of compassion. Indeed the very purpose of Buddhism is to benefit beings and bring them wellbeing. This includes mundane wellbeing, not only for its own sake, but because the conditions needed to realize our human potential clearly include a basic level of sufficiency in an economic sense.

Finally, if correctly understood, the notion of an economics of compassion makes it possible to transcend the split or contradiction between individualist and collectivist views on economics. This split has bedeviled our modern world in so many tragic ways. This and other implications of an economics of compassion comprise a whole topic in itself, which I’ll continue to explore in my next column.


Compassion is the radicalism of our times.” –His Holiness the Dalai Lama

neweconomics@countrywisdomnews.com

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