Euro 2010 Sovereign Debt Crisis and the Disease of Capitalism

 Update: As of January 31, 2011, the total Public Debt of the United States of America was $14.13 trillion and was 96.4% of calendar year 2010's annual (GDP) of $14.7 trillion.^{[1][2][3]  (wikipedia) Also see National Debt Clock}

The Vietnamese Zen Monk and founder of 'Engaged Buddhism' talks about the deep spiritual crisis in the West and the need for living from our core spiritual values in a recent interview with UK Guardian. Thay talks about capitalism as a disease that has now spread throughout the world (even in countries that are home to Buddhism), carried on the winds of globalisation driven by mindless profit, production and consumption: "We have constructed a system we cannot control. It imposes itself on us, and we become its slaves and victims." [Guardian Link]. Thousands of students at UK protest rise in fees.[youtube]. For every US $1000 Africa receives in debt it owes $2300 to the World Bank and IMF [Link]

Can any Democratic Nation or any of her Citizen remain sovereign under debt-based currency? In early 2010 many countries in European union like Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain (Known affectionately as PIIGS) and Belgium started experiencing soaring public debt resulting in a Euro 2010 crisis. On May 9, 2010 Europe's Finance Ministers approved a comprehensive rescue package worth almost a trillion dollars aimed at ensuring financial stability across Europe by creating the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

Here is an interesting image of the Euro Web of Debt, which appeared in NY Times, May 1, 2010 edition. Painful austerity measures imposed by IMF and EU upon these countries as a condition for rescue or bailout are not working. Iceland went under severe debt crisis two years ago and it had no option but to allow the private banks to fail and let its currency devalue. Iceland's president, Olafur R. Grimsson, spoke to CNBC about how the country is handling the debt crisis [More in Wikipedia].

Here in the US, the national cohort default rate on federal student loans is 7 percent for borrowers who entered repayment in 2008, which is comparable with the default rate for credit cards (8.8 percent) and home mortgages (9.1 percent). In fact, the total amount outstanding on student loans was $875 billion ($24K per graduating senior), which actually exceeded the amount that Americans owe on their credit cards. [Source IB times, 12/28/10]

Recently I came across this little known book called "Buddhist Catechism" written in 1908 by H.S Olcott

Question 55. Why does ignorance cause suffering?

Answer. Because it makes us prize what is not worth prizing, grieve for that we should not grieve for, consider real what is not real but only illusory, and pass our lives in the pursuit of worthless objects, neglecting what is in reality most precious. Col. Henry Steel Olcott

At the end of the interview Thay warns, "Without collective awakening the catastrophe would come". After a silence he adds 'we need many Buddhas, one Buddha is not enough".

On Liberation through Right (True) Realization
Owl said, “Then where does Right Realization come in?”
Brown Bear said, “Right Views! Right Views!”
Owl said, “What are Right Views?”
Brown Bear said, “We’re in it together, and we don’t have much time.”
— from Zen Master Raven: Sayings and Doings of a Wise Bird
by Robert Aitken [From Alan Senauke's blog]

Why fractional reserve banking is unsustainable?

Is our Economic System Liberating or Enslaving Us?

A British Researcher compiled a survey of the Happiest Countries in the world. The criteria and methodology is not all clear but seemingly includes education, public health and longevity. Among the top 12 happiest countries most are from Europe, Canada is the only large nation to make the list and surprisingly Bhutan came 8th, followed by Brunei (monarchy). USA ranked 23rd. Some of the countries at the top also have high suicide rates, high drug and alchohol addiction and perhaps high national debt. Of course what constitutes happiness is quite intangible and very much influenced by both personal and cultural value systems. This survey have omissions and biases, yet it is a refreshing change of view from the usual national GDP or GNP statistics. [Source: Businessweek]
The Happy Planet Index, by the New Economic Foundation takes per capita ecological footprint into account and this gives a quite different view of the world.

The Buddhist approach to happiness, well-being and contentment lies in training, mastering and knowing our own mind through the practice of mindful-awareness. Many university studies have found Buddhist meditators' brains show noticeable differences than non-meditators in terms of mood, emotional balance and brain coherence. and anger. Use of antidepressant in US has doubled from 1996-2005. Professor Flanagan writes: "Antidepressants are currently the favoured method for alleviating negative emotions, but no antidepressant makes a person happy. On the other hand, Buddhist meditation and mindfulness, which were developed 2,500 years before Prozac, can lead to profound happiness."

How can we be prospering in any real sense while remaining trapped by the chains of mounting debt? Visualeconomics site shows the national debt as percentage of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) for different countries. The Debt Clock mirrors what is called 'monkey mind' in Buddhism. PBS Frontline inquires into the problem of looming debt-crisis overshadowing the current financial mess. Even before this mess our Government was borrowing money from foreigners to fund essential programs. At the end of FY2009 Gross US debt was 83.4% of GDP (50% of it was public debt and 30.4% intra-govermental loans).

Total U.S. consumer debt stands at $2.46 trillion, as of January 2010 and average student debt is rising. FDIC Current list of Failed Banks.

Other interesting news below the radar: There is a recent private summit of Central Bankers in Sydney. Police chiefs across USA are resigning or being replaced [Link]