[Buddha-l] Buddhism and Marxism: where the twain could meet

[curt]

"Marxism" is not really and truly an independent, standalone 
"philosophy" in and of itself. It primarily exists as both a critique of 
capitalism and as a roadmap for how to get rid of capitalism (where it 
falls shortest is in what exactly it is that will replace Capitalism - 
something that has been treated more thoroughly by anarchist 
"theoreticians").

If "Marxism" is taken as being essentially a rejection of Capitalism 
with some, but not all, of the details filled in about why capitalism is 
bad, how it can be gotten rid of and what it should be replaced with, 
then perhaps one could move from concluding that "Capitalism and 
Buddhism are incompatible" to "Marxism and Buddhism are compatible." The 
one does not automatically follow from the other - but they are clearly 
connected.

But I think that the more realistic and pressing issue is what, if 
anything, "Buddhism" has to say about "Capitalism" - since we now live 
in an increasingly "globalized" Capitalist world. A good starting point 
for a Buddhist view of "Capitalism" would be to ask what "Capitalism qua 
Capitalism" is. Capitalism's proponents are always very quick to change 
the subject when it comes to discussing the essence of their little 
world-dominating system. Be especially wary of the following words and 
phrases: "democracy", "liberalism", "freedom", "western values" 
"american values". In fact, one need only look at the very word 
"Capitalism" itself - it is a system in which money ("capital") is the 
only thing considered to be of value.

If it can be shown that Capitalism and Buddhism are a "good fit", then 
any question of Marxism's compatibility with Buddhism would appear to be 
DOA. On the other hand, if it can be shown that Capitalism and Buddhism 
are inimical to one another then, even if one were to insist that 
Marxism is not compatible with Buddhism, one would still have to allow 
that "something like Marxism", ie, something that critiques the problems 
of Capitalism, shows how to get rid of it and what to replace it with, 
must be "compatible" with Buddhism.

- Curt

Richard Hayes wrote:
> On Thursday 21 September 2006 10:41, Richard Hayes wrote:
>
>   
>> IIn fact, it's almost axiomatic 
>> that a Western Buddhist will have a leftist orientation.
>>     
>
> Some of you might be interested in a new book by Kevin M. Brien, <cite>Marx, 
> Reason, and the Art of Freedom</cite>. In this revised second edition, Brien 
> has an appendix on Marxism and Buddhism in which he argues that not only are 
> Marxism and Buddhism fully compatible, but each complements the other. He 
> quotes a fellow with the title the Dalai Lama, who says that in his view the 
> failure of the Soviet Union was not the failure of Marxism but the failure of 
> totalitarianism. If one could have Marxism without totalitarianism---and why 
> not?---then one could have a Marxist economy that is fully in keeping with 
> the main social principles of Buddhism. So argues the Dalai Lama and 
> Professor Brien. I have not yet read the book carefully, but I find myself 
> quite intrigued at the outset and hope to learn from it. (My Marxist theory 
> has become a bit rusty of late, so I look forward to this refresher course.)
>
> Quick, somebody had better report me in to Fox news. I might be another one of 
> those fellows that Bill O'Reilly talks about so obsessively: a radical 
> leftist professor corrupting the minds of our nation's youth with all kinds 
> of weird ideas drawn from Eastern mysticism and other suspicious 
> non-Christian sources.
>
>