Budhist monk or capitalist pig
I think you are making a fundamental mistake even with the title of this peice. In all ways of life there are comprimises. So often we, people not especially interested in money, often artists, look at the world as us and them. am i a budhist or capitalist? truth be told you can be both. Society has rules that we can play with. they are simple and plain, even boring at times, mostly they are centered around making money. There are also ego things involved. My point though is we have all had this similar thought and would love to change the system to better fit our needs. however at our point in life it is not possible so the question becomes how do I walkd the line and stay true to myself. I find the challanges of society and money really fun. I never have the money i need to do the things I want and so what i do is adapted to fit my budget and it works out in an entirely different way than i imagined it would. you need a lot of energy to fight the good fight but its worth it. if you make money your not a capatalist pig, likewise i know people who are dead broke and far from budhists. somewhere down the line we figure out how to be a little of both and ballance it all. ultimately we become budist pigs and capitalist monks.
clark
Hey Clarke, thanks for posting!
I agree, in life it is not as clear-cut as I may have you believe. That’s why I caveated the whole thing at the end with:
“In life, you can be either a Buddhist monk or capitalist pig. Be either with conviction – or both at the same time (the ultimate accomplishment).”
I really do think that doing this successfully is the ultimate accomplishment, because they seem so diametrically opposed to each other, on the surface at least.
I guess to kind of continue on the line of thought, I feel as though our society encourages really only one direction, which is to make money. How many people do you know that are financially independent? And how many that have a big chunk of debt? I know zero in the first category, and many in the second. Although we don’t have a bad life, I cannot help thinking back to school a long time ago learning about feudalism and serfs - “A member of the lowest feudal class, attached to the land owned by a lord and required to perform labor in return for certain legal or customary rights.” Another word would be peon - “a person held in servitude to work off debts or other obligations.”
For the most part, we do not work the lands in harsh conditions. But more and more, Americans are amassing giant debt - America itself is! I find this extremely troubling, although I cannot fully express why this is so. Sometimes it seems that we are almost voluntary prisoners: we give up some freedom in exchange for stuff. Debt gives others control over you, and then you are forced to devote yourself more to being a capitalist pig. In other words, I feel that the system itself doesn’t encourage, at all, any sort of movement to becoming a buddhist monk (metaphorically speaking). In fact, quite the opposite: credit card offers and loan commercials constantly bombard people. I think the sub-prime mortgage crisis is a sympton that there is something wrong with this.
While it is certainly possible to be a capitalist monk (I rather like the image of that), I feel that our system is falling short on its mandate to secure the right of “pursuit of happiness,” through the active encouragement of indebtedness. In lieu of a systemic change, however, I would agree with you: “so the question becomes how do I walk the line and stay true to myself.” This is the challenge that we face right now.
What I would take exception with is: “however at our point in life it is not possible [to change the system to better fit our needs].” Because, as you say, “you need a lot of energy to fight the good fight but its worth it.” Not too long ago, we had slavery and the Holocaust. Although people at the time couldn’t do anything about those things immediately, I certainly don’t think that meant that they should have accepted the status quo. Neither should we.
I think many people, no all people, buy into the system at some point. Through commecials we are told that life would be better with a visa card. or a lower mortgage rate or a new pair of jeans. However the difference between advertising today and the serfs of the past is that we choose to go into debt. You really can live without debt if you choose to. that choice is not always easy. Yes I do know people who are financially independant. furthermore i know people who run their own business and are successful enough at it to stay out of debt. I am one of those people. However, I still at the age of 24 do not own a car, house or have a steady source of income. I have been indebt and worked hard to get out of it. There was a time when i thought much like you, as if the world was built against me. However this is not true. The world of big business spends billions on addvertising to close your mind into thinking you can only do what you want with their product. can you blame them? they want more money. I want more money too. If you ignore what you are told and explore alternative routes you will discover more and more people and pathways that allow you freedom. Now here is a big kicker often the big companies help out the little guys. I painted a mural once and had $5000 of paint donated to me from sherwin williams. the world is full of gray. Yes the world is centered around making money. it is freedom in our culture. if you have enough money you can do what ever you want. however on the otherside, you can do what ever you want, as long as it reamains legall, from any finaciall position it simply takes a lot more effort, time and other people. I live in Santa Fe, a place centered around the visual arts. I run a gallery out of a boxcar. its an awsome place. the town is full of peole doing what the want and making it happen with little money and a lot of communtiy support. i havent got two cents to rub together and yet i have everything i have ever wanted. then i know people who have really nice cars and lush apartments and a grill outside who are up to their eyeballs in debt. Money is a choice, you can be a slave to it or you can use it as a tool. money is not inately bad. I feel, and this may sound harsh, for i do not know you, but it sounds to me that you are trying to blame something else for a situation that you got yourself into.
furthermore i want to make a distinction between society and propaganda. I do not believe society can be summed up in any umbrella phrase. all of society does not believe in any one concept. however the propaganda given to us in advertising and often the presidential administration will have you believe all of society, aside from you, agrees on one concept. Society as individual people encourages as many paths to success as people in america. many will tell you money is the best way to success and many will tell you anouther idea. people with money want you to spend your money ergo they get more money.
thus far i ahve been speaking about individuality. Your point about america being in debt is very troubeling. It is recless and illresponsible. to spend more than you make and that holds true for you me and america. and you are right, our Bush government does not build a community of monks instead they build a concept of ruthless ideology that contradicts itself with the most cursory investigation.
what i mean by sayign we can not change the system at this point is that, we are to young and to small to effect large change. buy not having a car i am not supporting the use of gas. however it will take anouther billion people to convert their cars to veggie oil before anything significant will happen. by not having a credit card i am not supporting our system of spending more than we have. the ultimate beuaty of america is that with enough people we can change the country. Power comes from the mass and waht we do with our time money and energy. however I alone at this age can not change the world. In future years if i get to be famous and can be a great orator to encourage change i may do some good individually. however all i can do now is not buy gas.
i am very happy to be a part of this group thank you for inviting me.
There are some issues though not inter related on which i shall like to comment on. First is the sub-prime chaos. OK at one point it is messy and should have been worked out more nicely. But if you see at another level, why should a person with bad credit rating denied to own a home. Does’nt it smack of the attitude -”Well you are poor, stay in the gutter.Do not dream to come out of it?” As we have a saying in India that if a man who is lost in the morning is able to come back home, then we should not consider him lost. But it seems that again and again the capitalist society wants to say - if you are lost in the morning, then you are lost forever.
Second is about GOD. Is MONEY = GOD ? After all what is money? It is merely a promise, an assurance? All the bills only say that i promise to pay the bearer 100 euros, dollars or rupees. And IT WORKS - ALWAYS!! But what about assurances from GOD? Do we see them, feel them, do they always work?Why do they work more for bad people than with good people? Again in india, the most poorest do the most difficult form of prayers- like rolling for miles, etc where as the dishonest rich man comes in his mercedes bypassing the 5km long queue of poor believers and goes with the head priest straight to the innermost part of temple to donate 1kg of gold out of 500kgs of gold he has ammased by corruption?