[Buddha-l] Poll on Buddho-capitalism

[Dan Lusthaus]

Richard Hayes writes:

> I think you may be stuck in the 1970s, Dan.

Hell no. Personally I'm stuck in the '60s. But, as previous and not so
temporally remote discussions on this list indicate, many Western Buddhists
are still anti-capitalist. Far fewer Asian Buddhists are so, we should note.

>I have not seen much evidence of
> anti-capitalist leanings in Western Buddhists since about the time of the
> Watergate break-ins.

One way to gain some empirical data on this would be to poll this list -- as
unrepresentative a horde of buddhophiles as one is likely to encounter in
the West.

Everyone can vote:

YES = I am fine with capitalism, and it is an integral part of my Buddhist
thinking.

NO = Capitalism is the root of all evil, and my Buddhist thinking belongs to
an entirely different universe.

MIDDLE WAY = While I admit Buddhists have always flourished under and may
even require capitalistic systems, as do I, I hate capitalism and meditate
hard to overcome my hypocrisy and self-loathing. (Translation for the
logically impaired: The Buddhist-capitalist nexus is a koan.)

Anyone with a more nuanced position is also invited to pipe in.

Dan Lusthaus