What does normative Buddhism have to say about capitalism, obscene inequality, commodification of everything, exploitation…? Normative Buddhism—the core, scriptural teachings found in early texts like the Pali Canon —does not directly use 19th- or 20th-century political terms like "capitalism". However, it contains a clear, systematic critique of the exact psychological and social mechanisms that drive global capitalism: insatiable greed ( lobha ), institutionalized craving ( tanha ), and the exploitation of living beings . [1, 2, 3] Normative texts address these systemic issues through a distinct ethical framework: 💡 1. The Core Critique: Institutionalised Craving ( Tanha ) Modern economic systems rely on advertising and culture to fuel an ever-growing desire for consumption, a dynamic that normative Buddhism directly diagnoses as the root cause of human suffering ( dukkha ). [2, 3] The Delusion of "More": The Mahanidana Sutta outl...
“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.” —Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilisation and the Remaking of the World Order, 1996, p. 51