Buddhist Economics
Kotishka
Veteran
I believe that, while no one necessarily needs to follow the socially engaged Buddhist path, not supporting certain companies or trends is a good way to deepen one’s practice, or what I associate with being Buddhist.
Unfortunately, this comes with many inconveniences. For example, refusing to support Meta means not being able to engage on Instagram, a place where you can sometimes thrive and develop your business or online image. As a mental health professional, I have always found social media controversial, but I have inevitably come to find it increasingly disruptive. It is like giving a 15-year-old a 1000cc bike to start with rather than following the usual progression of 50cc, 100cc, and so on.
Regarding other sectors, @Shoshin1 once shared a video about chocolate that made me change my purchasing habits in favour of a much more ecological and tastier option. The same should apply to products that support tyrannical regimes or destructive companies. But to what extent can one maintain this without switching off completely? I mean, what alternative does my iPad have? So far, my Buddhist economic approach has been to ensure that I use it appropriately and take good care of it so that it lasts for as long as possible.
I was reading a book called Small Is Beautiful, and it discussed how what is good for the developed world is not necessarily good for the developing world. The argument was that developing countries should not aim for exactly the same technology and comforts as us, but rather for the level of “intermediate technology” that is actually necessary. I understand the point because, if everyone aimed to own an iPad, I do not know whether that would be sustainable. Or perhaps what is truly unsustainable is not the existence of iPads themselves, but our constant drive to produce new models every year rather than focusing on durable and functional ones.
The technological revolution has brought tremendous advances, but also a great deal of noise and waste. It has also made me reflect on some of the decisions I have made in order to survive a weakening euro and the constant struggle to support myself as housing has become increasingly inaccessible, even in small towns here in Spain.
What are your Buddhist economics?
Comments
Well, here are a few things I do to support the planet…
And Kotishka, iPads stay good to use quite a long time, I’m still using an iPad from 2019 regularly, and it still gets another year of regular security updates. I’ve found even without security updates Apple devices have very few problems beyond the usual end-of-life.
From a Buddhist perspective, I think a sort of virtue ethics for consumerism makes sense. What I mean is rather than trying to follow a prescribed list of things to do, if you can work on decreasing your own craving and increasing your contentment, lots of things will easily start falling away. More practically, @Jeroen's list is good
What works for me is an incremental approach rather than trying to do it all at once. Aim to do 1% better now and again and eventually those gains compound and several years down the road you're in a different place.
Also, if you haven't seen it the documentary Buy Now! on Netflix is a good reminder not to get sucked into consumerism.
The whole issue of clothing is worth going into more detail, such a lot of what’s out there is flimsy throw away stuff made from plastic. There are brands that use natural fibers that are meant to last, but they are considerably more expensive. Worth it though, have a look at Patagonia for instance.
About 2 years ago I bought some plain t-shirts in Uniqlo and I'm very happy with their durability and cheapness. I've used them regularly and they only costed around 8-10euros a piece. But I feel they are meant to be mass produced and their durability is probably not what makes them so successful. The tag reads "Made in Vietnam".
I would like to consider natural fibers. Even if they cost more I think it is better than my plastic-based t shirts (Uniqlo t-shirts are 100% synthetic, plastic-based).
Regarding the video you shared, I was yesterday reading and found this beautiful book called "The abundance of less". I have watched a small documentary about the village were the authour went and I thought it would be a great purchase. Though the book had a funny title: "A social experiment of not buying anything for one year." So perhaps I could spend one year without buying anything before purchasing the book and read all the other books I have here waiting. My mother has Netflix...so maybe we can watch it together. I remember reading about Neuromarketing during my studies and found it .... not very good. It reminds me of why I craved so many toys when I was a little kid. Many hours of TV every afternoon with a heavy bombardment of advertisements that were specifically catered for a child's brain to find it irresistible. Now we have the equivalent with shorts and influencers making content....
About your list @Jeroen , quite happy to read I'm not the only crazy one who does not own a car nor wishes to purchase one. Also I'm thinking about ditching Telegram and use Signal. Don't like the idea of feeding oligarchs that much...
I miss cycling. Pity bicycles are so overpriced here (Canary Islands is not very friendly if you want second hand items). Nevertheless, from home to work is a nice 40minute walk
I personally believe recycling plastic to be pointless. Here in the UK, only 12% of plastic thrown out, ends up recycled. The remaining 88% is either incinerated, or exported. To whom, or where, I do not know, but fewer and fewer countries are willing to take on OUR rubbish...I used to take my own containers to the supermarket, to transfer my purchases into. This fell by the wayside when I moved in with Mother. It is difficult to organise one's own life when you occupy space in that of another's... but we do recycle paper, card, metal and glass.. plastic bottle tops go to a local organisation, who somehow turn them into useable items like benches, chairs, tables and play equipment for children/schools. Our famous British Pharmacy, Boots, collects medicine blister packs, to salvage the aluminium. Given that my mother is on a good quantity of prescribed medicines, they do OK by us.
I knit, but sadly use acrylic yarns, because using real wool, is costly.
Managing both my, and my mother's finances, is a constant juggling process... I honestly believe teaching kids how to deal with money is a sound objective, and should start early - but I digress.... my scant presence here shows my much-reduced use of the Internet. Social Media isolates, it doesn't conjoin...
@federica
It is tragic what you mention but, I can assume, it is very much the same here. For decades the island thought they recycled plastic, only to find out that it ended up with the rest....meaning going to a huge landfill and at some point getting burnt...
I am trying to use less and less plastic, as well as I am currently since the 1st of June in a one year no buying practice. For me now the problem is milk (comes in tetra bricks) and yoghurt. There is one local yoghurt brand called SANDRA. They use local milk, as well producing and manufacturing locally their recipients and, tantantan, use paper instead of plastic. There is though a debate whether this is a better alternative than plastic. I remember once reading of ho switching from plastic to paper bags has certain risks, particularly how much more water the latter consume in order to be produced...
I am also walking to the office and it is becoming my plogging route. Hopefully the day will come that I can walk way and back without seeing any litter. So far the culprits are the usual: cigarette packages, alcoholic beverages (glass & aluminium cans) and A LOT of plastic bottles.
Nice to see you back by the way!
Here in the Netherlands they have introduced “statiegeld” on all cans and plastic drinks containers, which is a 15 eurocent extra charge when you buy, which you get back when you deliver the container back to a supermarket which is responsible for a collection point.
It means they don’t end up in the trash, because entrepreneurial people collect them and bring them to the recycling points. People who buy them generally save the containers and bring them back when they have accumulated a lot, because 15 euro cents per container adds up to nearly a euro that you get back for a six-pack.
@Jeroen Reminds me of Pfand in Germany. I think it was one of the best recycling hacks you can apply. No one can really complain about "greedy taxes" because you can always bring it back and recover it. Also, it allows the bottles to be re-used and it saves companies a lot of money. I don't know why it is not applied all over the EU. Pretty sure it would reduce the amount of littering and also promote plogging
Just this time instead of heading to the bins, they would head back to the container/machine/supermarket to obtain their statiegeld/pfand back.
These are all great answers. I do recycle my plastic as I believe it actually does get recycled here but I also make sure not to get single use stuff. For example, we get stainless steel straws and refuse the plastic ones that come with drinks out.
I also don't eat meat or animal products and limit my time on social media. The only real social site I use is likely the worst (Facebook) but I have a lot of family, friends and fellow Buddhists on there.
I also try to buy that which lasts when it comes to clothing and tech.
But where would Buddhist economics be without the first Paramita, Dana? I find less and less people are giving to the monastics that sustain the practice these days. Every pay I give what I can to my teacher and a Temple a few cities over. Then we also give to SOS which pairs parentless children with childless women in certain countries around the globe. Ours goes to a boy (now a preteen) within a group of I think eight. It pays to really research the organization and SOS is a very good and on-the-level charity. I don't make much money myself but it is a part of the practice.
I think it is a very good thing to give part of what one earns to a good cause. Here in the Netherlands it used to be traditional to give 10% to the churches, there used to be a collection bag that would get passed around, and the attendants ears would be carefully tuned to hearing the drop of coins, and there would be stern looks if you didn’t give.
I myself don’t actually have any earnings, I don’t have a Buddhist teacher, and there isn’t a Temple for quite a ways around. So I give some to Wikipedia instead, which I think is one of the few really worthy institutions on the web.
I think it is a very good thing to give part of what one earns to a good cause. Here in the Netherlands it used to be traditional to give 10% to the churches, there used to be a collection bag that would get passed around, and the attendants ears would be carefully tuned to hearing the drop of coins, and there would be stern looks if you didn’t give.
I myself don’t actually have any earnings, I don’t have a Buddhist teacher, and there isn’t a Temple for quite a ways around. So I give some to Wikipedia instead, which I think is one of the few really worthy institutions on the web.
When I was somewhere between 15 and 18, I had a strong idea/vision that I would start from 1% and every year give 1% more to charitable causes. That never happened. Later, I thought the idea was nuts/idealistic, especially after many years/increments. But thinking about it now, if one is earning decently and investing aggressively, it actually sounds doable, at least in theory.
Over the years, I gave decent contributions to charity, but I don't think I approached the 10% I finally settled I'd aim for. @Jeroen says it's also a Dutch thing, but I got the idea from the Muslims.
I recycle.
I founded a scholarship to send one pupil from my highschool to an international summer camp. We're currently in our fifth year, have 5 donors, and the reports by the pupils are always of the 'one of the best experiences of my life' variety. Great success!
I did some commited plogging for a while, the last few months I've been just putting away small quantities of random trash.
I advocate for a strong social safety net, redistribution to keep inequality low to moderate, but also a market economy, which taken together to my mind have been shown to be the best actually-implemented solution. Think Scandinavia.
I'm still waiting for an offer, but since I got promoted at work, I expect I'll be financially alright and plan to finally be giving 10% to charitable causes systematically. If that still turns out to be too much for me, I'll at least settle for the 4.2% I was doing for a while. 42, get it? 😉