Dharma Economics: A Creative Approach to Mindful System Change

We are living in the Dark Ages of  Hi-Tech Low Ethics Financial Capitalism and witnessing the pain of being unethical and asleep (not recognizing the suffering, aversion and greed).  Through speculative investments we’re operating our economies and societies at a scale that’s colliding with natural systems in myriad ways. For example, Enron's $65.5 billion bankruptcy in 2001 was the largest before WorldCom surpassed it in 2002 when it was worth over $100 billion, according to Business Insider. But in 2008, the $327.9 billion Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Washington Mutual and nearly $700 billion bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers would dwarf both. 

 Journalist Chris Hedges urges students to expose the 1% Plutocrats nourished and glorified by institutions like Harvard under the OccupyHarvard movement. "The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug." - Chris Hedges  


Are We a Plutocracy? David Korten speaks on the structure of our democracy. 001% of the U.S. population owns 976 times more than the entire bottom 90% . Source: EcoLocalizer 

"The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds."
- Daniel Goleman, Vital Lies, Simple Truths: The psychology of self-deception


Not recognizing or connecting to suffering within self, sangha and society keeps us in delusion. Since delusion (misperception of reality) is the greatest corruptor of mind in Buddhism, according to Thich Naht Hahn: "He who makes an effort to give up wrong (unwholesome) view and takes upon himself Right View (also called Right understanding) has Right Diligence. He who by means of mindfulness gives up wrong view and dwells on taking Right view upon himself has Right Mindfulness." So these three phenomena Right View, Right Diligence and Right Mindfulness revolve around Right view. - Mahachattarisaka sutta, Heart of Buddha' s Teaching, T.N.Hahn.

Some of my initial thoughts about how to approach the complex system appeared from simple questions that arose in my mind. Please address your question and comments to Dharma Economics here                      [ mitakyatmaildotcom ]. Thanks for sending it.

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Related Post: Breaking Free of the Old Colonial Paradigm.  How can we move away from a scarcity, money, machine and thing oriented society to a self-sufficient, planet, people and life oriented society - an empathic culture of community that actively embraces diversity?
MIT Dictionary of Modern Economics, befines economics as, “the study of the way in which mankind organizes itself to tackle the basic problem of scarcity. All societies have more wants than resources (the factors of production), so that a system must be devised to allocate these resources between competing ends.”


Could Elizabeth Warren, with a Harvard ID save the Middle Class consumers from the predatory banks and financial products? The weakness of Law is that you are continually fighting an external enemy. Mindful system change must take root within our minds.


Note: For the non-Buddhist secular readers of this blog, the term 'Dharma' does not mean religion in its conventional sense. There are six attributes of Dharma that are closer to science than any speculative philosophy. Central to Gandhi's philosophy was the principle of 'swadeshi', which, in effect, means local self-sufficiency. Satish Kumar elaborates on this important concept here on Gandhi's Swadeshi.  How are we to evolve as a living Republic of economic democracy? 
Note: The change of wording in "Declaration of Independence" and the American Philosophy

How to Transform the System?

Since everything is a reflection of our minds, everything can be changed by our minds. -original crazy wisdom of Buddha

The systemic blindspots of capitalism has long been overlooked by experts, economists, management- fianancial gurus and progressives alike. It is not easy to see one's own eye except through a clear mirror or mirror-like mind. Is it possible to co-create a sane economy that works for the benefit and welfare of all without taking away from the individual's freedom to choose and create right livelihood? Such a system is very much possible when a critical mass of middle class take the time to mindfully study this issue. Unlimited greed and scarcity is built into the current commercial monetary-banking system monopolized by the central banks under fractional reserve system which issues fiat money as compound interest (usury) bearing "debt" that grows exponentially over time and mathematically impossible to sustain in the long run. This is the Real Inconvenient Truth.

Debt-based fiat money put into circulation as principal always stay in short supply than compounded debt payable at any given time, by design. This highly skewed, inflationary and volatile system allows systematic concentration and shifting of wealth from the actual productive labor, sectors and entrepreneurial class to a few maga-rich people, banks and corporations and financial Institutions. A large part of the compound interest (unearned income) and savings goes to create, support and sustain the unreal speculative economy dominated by stock market, currency market, mutual funds, insurance, commodities and financial derivatives of all kinds, leaving very little in the hands of actual consumers and producers making the real economy. The first step is to get educated, so when the top heavy current debt-based unsustainable system crashes under its weight (as being forecasted by market insiders), conscious citizens everywhere are prepared to jump-start a local economy through debt-free local currency and avoid much panic, pain and suffering.