Economics comes from the Greek word that means “home management.”
How we manage our material affairs builds the practical structure
of our daily lives and affects other people.
In this art of gentle
living I am suggesting that we can be sensitive
to our own needs
and desires while being considerate
of the impact we have on others
and the world.
Modern western societies such as the United States
have become quite materialistic.
While some people have accumulated
extensive riches,
many others are struggling to survive, especially
in poorer countries where
nearly half the people in the world
live on less than two dollars a day
while a billion of them suffer
on less than one dollar a day.
Millions of children are going
hungry while billionaires and millionaires
strive to increase
their wealth, some ending up in prison for doing that in illegal
ways.
Some people are content because they have learned how to
live within their means;
yet many are in debt and must struggle
daily
working to satisfy their desires for material things.
Everyone has the right to decide how they want to live and
spend their money
according to their own values, and those who
want to practice the art of gentle living
will consider others
in addition to one’s own happiness.
Some may find that they prefer
to have more time for pursuing transpersonal values
or social
reform rather than working long hours for more pay
or indulging
in personal pleasures.
By living frugally one may have everything
one needs without high costs
so that one has time, energy, and
other resources for higher ideals.
The limited resources of the
world have to be shared, and some believe
that by living simply
they can help others to simply live.
Giving to charity to help
the less fortunate is one way to do this,
and one can also give
of one’s time, talents, and energy
to work for the betterment
of all humanity.
Jesus presented this challenge when he advised
a rich man to sell all his possessions,
give the money to the
poor, and follow him.
If the very poor are assisted in intelligent
ways, the improvements made in their lives
from the sharing of
the resources can be quite efficient.
Even the smallest contribution
helps when it is given to those most in need.
We each make decisions every day about what resources we use
and how.
Those who voluntarily simplify their lifestyles by reducing
their use of polluting methods
of transportation or the purchasing
of extra material things they do not need
are consciously producing
less waste, which eventually needs to be cleaned up.
Many people
are finding that they can work at home, or one may live closer
to one’s place
of employment and avoid spending time, money, and
energy in long commutes.
As the fossil fuel supplies diminish,
the costs of transportation will increase.
Urban areas are becoming
more crowded and polluted.
Those who walk and bicycle are saving
these energies and the environment.
Using public transportation
or car-pooling helps.
By spending time with one’s family and friends
at home
and by associating with neighbors and local groups, people
help ease the traffic
and pollution problems while having more
time for their activities.
In today’s global society we can communicate
instantaneously with people
anywhere in the world by the Internet
and satellite at low cost in money and energy.
By choosing to live with others in community,
housing can be
shared more so that it is not so expensive.
The opposite extreme
is the very rich who own several homes and travel around.
I wonder
if any of those places really feels like a home,
and how inconvenient
it must be not having everything you need and want in the same
place!
Such luxuries are obviously inefficient and wasteful of
many resources.
Recycling of resources is very important in order
to conserve energy and materials.
If those with extra clothes
donate more of them to the second-hand stores,
those with less
income will have even better choices in the thrift stores.
If
people purchase appliances and other products for their durability
and efficiency
and have them repaired instead of buying new ones,
then even what needs to be recycled will be reduced.
Some are
“returning to the land” to grow their own food
and form
communities that are more self-sufficient.
Fresh fruit and vegetables
are the healthiest food and do not require wasteful packaging.
We can buy fresh produce that comes from local growers and so
reduce transportation costs.
Even the scraps can be composted
to fertilize a garden.
Try to avoid discarding disposable containers
by using
canvas or cloth bags for shopping and by washing dishes.
First, re-use what you can; second, re-cycle materials;
and third,
reduce needless consumption so that you throw away as little as
possible.
Remember we are all on this Earth, and there is ultimately
no “away” for throwing things.
We can also keep our minds clear of much useless information
by avoiding commercials
and advertising that are intended to manipulate
people into buying things.
One can tune in on non-commercial media
such as Pacifica radio, C-SPAN television,
public radio or television,
local access stations, or other non-commercial cable stations.
Remote controls make it easier to mute the sound of any advertisement,
or one can change channels.
The world wide web can be used to
find much information without having
to buy newspapers and magazines
that are loaded with ads and waste paper.
Avoid websites that
throw ads at you and find those that are user-friendly.
Most books
can be purchased used, and especially classics and other popular
books
are easily available in inexpensive editions.
Public libraries
provide outstanding books and other resources for free.
Today
people have easier access to the finest literature
and educational
materials than at any time in history.
Especially because of the
Internet, knowledge is spreading quickly
and becoming more accessible
every day.
Soon one will be able to find just about any book or
film or music or art on-line.
Our opportunities for learning,
communicating, creating, and participating in social reforms
are
greater than ever if we can learn how to manage our time
by living
more simply with the physical things.
We are responsible for the consequences of our actions.
Therefore
it is wise to consider the effects of the work we do on other
people.
In choosing our vocation and before applying for employment
we can evaluate the work
we are considering to make sure that
we will not be contributing to harmful consequences.
Does our
work help make people's lives better?
If we are intending to work
for a large corporation, we may need to do some research
to determine
if they have high ethical standards in their corporate policies.
Otherwise we may find ourselves in a difficult position later
on
and may have to resign for reasons of conscience.
Just as the
conscientious person will not invest in businesses that exploit
workers
in poor countries or pollute the environment in order
to maximize profits,
one may not want to work for such a corporation.
Those who work on weapons or related systems that kill people
share in the responsibility of those consequences.
If more people
refused to be a part of war profiteering,
not only by not working
for them but also by boycotting such companies,
the democratic
process of disarmament would be much easier to achieve.
We are
responsible for what is within our control, and by doing our part
well
with wise consideration we are contributing to the well being
of all.
As we go about whatever work we do, we can be considerate of
others
and conscious of the effects we are producing.
We can offer
people choices, give them helpful information,
and cooperate with
the efforts of others that are constructive.
Good teamwork makes
everyone’s job easier and success more likely.
Safety is an important
concern, and the ethics of nonviolence
is not to hurt anyone,
including oneself.
Honesty is especially important in business.
Those involved in sales may be tempted to manipulate their customers
with deceptive
information in order to make more money, but how
can it really be good
for one to make a gain for oneself by taking
unfair advantage of others?
People who cheat may escape the repercussion
of the law,
but deep inside they will not have the same happy
feeling
as the person who is honestly doing one’s best to help
others as well as oneself.
Eventually people will usually find
out what the character and ethics of a person are,
and then that
person will have to live with that reputation.
People who cut
corners or do questionable things to make a personal gain
often
end up having to go a long way around to correct the problems
that resulted.
Gentle living is doing what is right and good each
step of the way.
Thinking that one can use a harmful means to
achieve a good end is folly,
because what is a means for us is
often the result for others.
Those who try this may never reach
the end but get stuck with the bad means.
Everything we do defines
who we are as a person.
Let your light shine and your good deeds
express
how you wish to be known and regarded.
Our work is more than any job, and we can do much good outside
of our employment too.
Volunteers are needed in charitable and
educational associations.
Although we may not be paid in cash
for this work, the joy inside one gets from knowing
one is contributing
to making life better is worth more than any pay one might get.
Working hard can be good exercise for our minds and spirits as
well as for our bodies.
By working conscientiously we become better
at what we are doing
and expand our abilities to do more.
Each
step of success opens opportunities for us to move on to greater
work.
We then have more experience and wisdom to share with others
who are coming after us.
Perhaps the underlying value system that motivates people
to
develop a militaristic society is materialism.
People are afraid
of losing their economic security, want to hold on to the wealth
that they have accumulated, or are greedy to obtain greater riches.
Socrates said that the love of money is the major cause of wars
and that the root motivation for the love of money is the desires
of the body.
The Buddha also taught that the cause of suffering
is craving.
A society’s desire for luxuries and extra resources,
which are often taken from other countries,
causes that society
to become feverish and unhealthy.
To feed this disease of consuming
more than they can produce,
the government is obliged to create
an extensive military to protect its goods
and expand its economic
prerogatives in other territories.
Thus when justice is lost,
the government becomes chaotic and may degenerate into
tyranny
or fascism, as is described in Plato's Republic.
To anyone whose values are spiritual or human, materialism
turns everything upside down.
When out of selfishness things become
more important than people,
then spiritual values of truth, love,
charity, goodness, wisdom, justice, faith, courage, etc.
take
a second place to the prevalent “bottom-line” mentality.
The bottom line, of course, represents the financial profit to
the individual or corporation.
When the largeness of that number
takes priority over every other consideration,
then hedonistic
materialism reigns supreme.
Selfish people will lie, cheat, rob,
steal, exploit, manipulate, and sacrifice their other values
and
their friends and other people for this single-minded objective.
The ironies of this are several.
Usually the rich tend to become
more caught up in this game
even though they are the ones who
need more things the least.
Yet because they are so discontent,
often their lives are unhappier
than the poor they are exploiting.
The societies with the most luxuries seem to be most obsessed
with buying more things.
Partly because of this greed the poor
within the society and in other societies
do not have enough of
even basic needs.
Since the 1980s a few people have become much
richer while
those living in poverty have increased in numbers,
many of them young.
Living below the poverty line means that a
person or family
must choose between basic necessities, because
they do not have enough funds
to meet all their needs by that
society’s standards.
Of course the poorest people in the United
States would be average in the poorer countries.
Another irony is that the fear and insecurity of this value
system causes wealthy nations
to spend a tremendous amount of
their financial, material, technical, and human resources
on the
military to defend this way of life.
Yet what the military are
being paid to do, and all the weapons and equipment they use
and
stockpile, do not really improve the quality of anyone’s life,
and in wars they make many people's lives much worse.
Of course
the salaries these people receive do help them,
and this would
be the same if they were given the money as welfare.
What consumer
is benefiting from the billions spent on Trident submarines
or
cruise missiles or stealth bombers or nuclear weapons?
Though
the money people are given to spend privately
is good for them
as well as the economy as a whole,
the work and products that
the government obtains by its military spending
provide no services
to anyone except for this so-called “protection.”
Do
we really need it?
Would not everyone in the world be better off
if none of the nations
had to spend all this effort for fear or
aggressive greed?
The military industrial complex may be the biggest
“welfare fraud” ever.
Consider the salaries that are
being paid to the engineers, scientists, technicians,
and corporate
executives in the defense industries.
Some of these executives
receive millions of dollars per year plus millions more in bonuses.
Yet some people think that a single mother or unemployed person
going through the
humiliation of receiving and using food stamps
is some sort of abuse.
We can examine our value systems individually as well as collectively
and ask ourselves
if we are devoting our lives to pleasurable
activities and the collection of various toys,
or are we giving
of our talents and energies for the good of humanity?
Can we share
some of our possessions to help others
and allow ourselves the
time to work more for peace and justice?
How can one or two people
take up a large house
when there are homeless people among us?
Do we buy expensive new clothes when we already have more than
we need?
Do we need to make so much money that we have to pay
federal income tax
to a government that is preparing to dominate
and perhaps destroy the world?
To live at the maximum income without
owing taxes, we are living at the poverty line
in solidarity with
the poor people of the world and are not contributing
to their
exploitation and the threats and use of violence in our name.
This requires sacrifice of phony values and false needs, but by
living communally in order
to share goods and limit expenses you
may be surprised to find life
much more interesting and personally
fulfilling.
About half of US income tax is spent on wars and the
military.
We can conscientiously refuse to pay for this massive
violence
by donating our excess income to non-profit organizations
that are helping people.
The use of military force is the opposite of freedom and respect
for self-determination,
because it is a violent attempt to force
one’s will on another.
The military is the mechanical arm of the
state and is sworn to obey its commands.
It is like a great machine
with many human cogs to operate
the technologically sophisticated
instruments of killing.
In the past warriors fought each other
courageously face to face.
As weapons technology has advanced
and killers operate from greater distances,
war has become impersonal
and more devastating.
Modern wars are often waged more against
civilian populations.
Many more civilians were killed in the First
World War than ever before
and by the end of the Second World
War, entire cities were being destroyed from airplanes.
Now a
nuclear war threatens to kill hundreds of millions of civilians.
Even the “low-intensity” wars in the third world attack
civilians
because of the confusion in fighting insurgent guerrillas.
The insurgents in Iraq target civilians, and the occupation forces
have difficulty distinguishing the insurgents from civilians.
The military has become more cowardly in hiding behind their sophisticated
weapons
while the war-planners and generals sit behind their desks.
Missiles can be sent great distances, and pilotless airplanes
are now being used to kill people by computerized remote control.
Basic training for the military reveals how dehumanizing the
military life is,
as people are stripped of their individuality
and independent thinking skills, natural feelings,
and are turned
into efficient killing machines programmed to take orders without
question.
In many nations military service is compulsory.
In capitalist
societies, such as the United States, the poor and less educated
join the
armed forces for the economic security or educational
opportunities that are offered.
This “poverty draft” insulates the upper classes and educated
from the militarism that
has been growing steadily.
Militarism is the dominant characteristic of fascism, whether
of the right or the left.
Power and authority is taken by the
leaders of the state,
and everyone else is compelled by threats
and fear of violence to obey their orders.
Independent thinking
is discouraged as is the spontaneous expression of feelings.
Only
in this way can humans be conditioned to kill other humans so
easily.
To liberate ourselves from militarism, we must live according
to love and respect people
as individuals and groups, living freely
ourselves according to our own conscience
and allowing others
the same right.
In the way of nonviolence, which treats everyone
with love and understanding,
individuals are encouraged to think
for themselves and question authority,
to learn as much as possible
about the issues and share that knowledge with others,
both with
those who agree and those who do not.
Group organization is not
usually hierarchical with leaders and authorities above giving
orders,
and effort is made to treat everyone on an equal human
level.
Everyone is encouraged to participate in discussions which
result in group decisions.
Individuals are free to join or leave
groups according to their conscience and interests.
By trusting
in human freedom to choose and by demonstrating the power of love
in action
to transform individuals and eventually societies, through
nonviolent action we can learn
to dissolve the militarism in our
society by showing that it is not necessary in order to
protect
what is good for the whole society.
In this way every individual
can be empowered, instead of just the leaders at the top.
The field of politics is more in need of the art of gentle
living than any other aspect of society.
In the United States
and other countries that claim to be democratic the civilians
are
supposed to control the military; but George W. Bush calls
himself a “war-time President”
and as commander-in-chief
ordered the US military
to invade and occupy Afghanistan and
Iraq.
US forces also brought about the abduction and overthrow
of
democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in
Haiti.
The people of the United States need to re-assert their
control and end these imperialistic
policies that are causing
many deaths and much destruction at great cost.
We need to restrain
the excessive nationalism that leads to such imperialistic adventures.
Many people and politicians believe that policies should be based
on
what is in the national interest of the people of the United
States.
Although I admit that the interest of the people of one’s
own country should be
our first concern, we also need to take
into consideration the people in other countries
that are affected
by what we do.
To do what is to our advantage as a country that
causes harm and is disadvantageous
to others will eventually bring
consequences that are not in our long-term interest either.
Let us use the analogy of games to evaluate various kinds of social
activities.
In my view there are three kinds of such games.
In
many social interactions both or all sides benefit from the activity
because value for all is being created or produced.
An example
of this is free and fair trade in which each side benefits by
exchanging products
or services they have in excess for other
products or services they need or can use.
Most economic activity
has this goal and usually benefits both sides.
Other activities,
such as actual games, have results that can be called zero-sum.
In these games some win while others lose.
Betting is an obvious
example because one wins and the other loses
while no real value
(except perhaps a little entertainment) is created.
The worst
kind of activities or games are those in which both sides or most
people lose.
War is the most obvious example of an activity in
which efforts are made to destroy and kill.
Since both sides are
attempting to overcome the opponent by making things worse for
them,
the usual result is that both sides are harmed.
Thus even
the side that claims to have won the war
really has just not lost
as badly as their opponents.
Thus spiritual wisdom and even common
sense tell us
that war is an irrational activity or a foolish
game.
In our nuclear age it is imperative that we learn how to use democratic
processes
to prevent wars and establish justice that can maintain
peaceful relations among all people.
I believe the greatest challenge
facing the “gentle” people is to bring about
this transformation from a militarized world of violence to a
peaceful world community
that respects and benefits everyone.
I believe that the 21st century
will be one of disarmament.
We can begin with the weapons of mass
destruction and then move on to the military forces.
Eventually
people will realize that weapons such as guns have very few legitimate
uses.
The main effort needs to be keeping guns out of the hands
of those who would use them
in unlawful ways to do harm.
I personally
am not an absolute pacifist.
I believe that in very limited circumstances
an officer of the law designated by a
democratically elected government
within the jurisdiction of that government
has the authority to
bring violent criminals into custody for trial,
but this should
be done as nonviolently as possible.
A disarmed society will be
much more peaceful and gentle
because arms will not be available
for criminal acts.
Police will not even need to be armed unless
someone
gets a weapon and needs to be captured for trial.
Our criminal justice system also needs major reforms because punishment
is usually counter-productive, making people worse instead of
better.
By replacing punitive justice with restorative justice
we can recognize the rights
and compensation due the victims while
also holding to account the violators.
Spiritual counselors, psychologists,
and social workers can be involved in the process
of rehabilitation
that helps the person who has committed a crime learn better ways
to rebuild one’s life and find productive activity
to pay people
back for the damage of the crime.
Warehousing millions of people
in prisons wastes lives and the resources of society,
which pays
more to keep convicted criminals in prisons
than it does to give
someone higher education.
These institutions should be educating
and rehabilitating these people with job training
so that they
can move back into society, knowing that they can redeem their
lives
and may be separated from society again if they do not.
Nonviolent crimes especially need to be treated in this way.
The
violent may need to be separated until they are safe;
but as society
becomes disarmed and more just and gentle,
the number of violent
crimes will be greatly reduced.
People can use democratic methods to replace bad leaders with
those
who will solve human problems in humane ways.
If we continue
to allow those who use military forces to try to dominate the
world
for the benefit of the wealthy, the gentle living of everyone
is threatened.
If we want to live gently ourselves and help others
to have that opportunity for a good life,
then we may need to
participate more in politics and
civic organizations to bring
about the changes needed.
The current political system in the
United States has been corrupted by the influence of money,
corporate
lobbyists, and two-party domination that blocks opportunities
for real change.
We can stop supporting this corporate warfare
state by not paying federal income tax,
and we can also work for
nonviolent alternatives and democratic reforms.
My ideas for the
major reforms that we need are discussed more fully in my
next book:
BEST FOR
ALL: How We Can Save the World.
This chapter has been published in the book The Art of Gentle Living.
For information on ordering, please click here.