Many impoverished Asian countries possess ancient cultures and profound Buddhist traditions. The “impoverished” attribute stems from the modern Western system which has spread across the world from Great Britain. This system reduces every citizen to a competing individual whose self-worth is measured solely by the size of a bank account. Similarly, countries that follow this system act like inidividuals in the international arena – making strategic alliances with other State actors designed to protect this status. Just as an individual “purchases” every service and attribute required for a comfortable life – a modern Nation State develops and purchases weaponry, dominates locations and projects its will around the globe. The accumulation of money is the prime-mover of this system which causes various degrees of misery for everyone living within its confines – whilst a few live very well and possess the greatest measure of choice due to the monetary wealth they control. The acquisition and control of money is the entire purpose of predatory capitalism. As this is the only recognisable method for living – every citizen is broughtup to habitally cultivate “greed” as the highest virtue for modern living. Of course, as the Buddha states that greed, hatred, and delusion are the basis of all human suffering – the answer to this human suffering is to uproot these taints through the practice of meditation and physical discipline. Therefore, Buddhists diverge from the demands of predatory capitalism through the requirement to cultivate non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion. The practice of genuine Buddhism, therefore, is a contradiction to the reality of predatory capitalism. This explains why places such as Thailand – which is currently dominated by US Neo-Imperialism – possesses both a vibrant Theravada Buddhist tradition as well as large areas of abject (material) poverty. As Thailand is NOT a Socialist country (and is still a victim of Western colonial and imperial conquest) – its society offers an interesting dichotomy between two systems of self-worth, one ancient and Buddhist, whilst the other modern and entirely foreign. An individual might not possess any monetary wealth – but could be well-educated in Buddhist Studies. This aligns with the Buddha’s statement that the gift of Dharma excels all other gifts! A Buddhist monastic (or a devout lay-Buddhist) might well live a life of non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion – and therefore possess NO position within the predatory capitalist system. This is true regardless of whether an individual lives within an impoverished Asian country or an affluent Western country. Conversely, an Asian country that has successfully taken the path of monetary wealth accumulation must accommodate citizens who which to practice the Dharma to a greater degree within their everyday lives. Although it is doubtful that a capitalist country would ever allow any type of non-profit based existence – the superior morality of Socialism must ensure that individuals who which to practice the Dharma must be given the right to do this with the State facilitating this lifestyle as a matter of right.
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Oliver Cromwell abolished the absolute monarchy that ruled Britain for centuries (in one form or another) in 1649 - and it was NEVER reinstated! What was established in its place was a 'Constitutional' monarchy allowed by Act of Parliament - and institution that is more 'theatre' than institute of governance - and which possesses NO real power (as it is legally and lawfully 'subordinate' to the Will of Parliament). This makes perfect sense - as this marks how the Bourgeoisie (or the 'middle-class') usurped political power from the Aristocracy - even though King Charles I made the valid point that as all the power of the British State resided in his personage (and his personage alone) - Parliament did NOT possess the legal right to a) try him, or b) inflict any sentence upon him. King Charles I, from the perspective of the aristocracy - retained ALL the power of the State in his personage which was represented only by his Will! In other words, his word was law. This arrangement was formulated centuries before by aggressive groups that simply assumed political dominance over the populace - and then enforced this dominance with arbitrary 'violence' termed 'justice'. Added to this dominance was the equally false assumption that this situation was 'Willed' by a God concept - and was therefore beyond dispute or alteration! Any attempt at altering this situation was viewed as contradicting the divine Will of God! This explains why Cromwell, although a very devout Christian, nevertheless, believed that the State enforcement of a religion (any religion) was wrong because it was 'evil'! He changed the definition of 'God', 'State' and 'Religion' - and he did this by fundamentally changing the relationship between these three distinct entities. As this was the case, Parliament pulled the legal rug from beneath the King Charles I feet, leaving him no legal or lawful defence following his complete military defeat. What is interesting is that NOTHING changed with the so-called 'Restoration'! Cromwell's basic re-definition of these relations stayed in place (empowering and justifying the Bourgeois seizure of political power) and still form the dominant legal framework today - despite a superficial legal fiction that gives the false impression that a 'Constitutional' monarch is the same as an 'Absolute' monarch - an assumption that is an obvious absurdity! If the British Crown today attempted to exercise any type of political power - Parliament would immediately 'abolish' it. If this is the case, what is the point of the British Crown? As an institution it signals which class the Bourgeoisie politically favours (that is, the 'Aristocracy' it overthrew) and which class it does not favour (the Proletariat - or that class which comprised the soldiers in the Parliamentarian 'New Model Army')! Although Cromwell's political orientation was the exact opposite - when his influence was overthrown in 1660 - the emerging Bourgeoisie abandoned its support (and promises made) to the ordinary masses that had fought and died for its cause - and instead switched its allegiance to the class it had fought against! By continuously supporting the aristocracy over the workers - the workers (although numerically superior) are politically the least powerful and are unable to influence society in their own favour.
Dear Adrian, It was the birthday of John Lennon earlier this month, and I've been listening to some of his music to mark the occasion. He was one of the most talented and greatest rock and pop musicians who ever lived. His song, Imagine, which is often voted as the best and most profound pop song ever written, is one of my favourite songs of all time. It echoes my sentiments perfectly and has a strong atheistic flavour, and I'm a self-confessed atheist. Lennon said that Imagine is virtually the Communist Manifesto. I think that religion and superstition are exactly the same; it's just that religion is ritualised superstition. They arose from primitive man's fear of the unknown, and we haven't yet evolved enough to discard such insecurities. Neither religion nor superstition is rational or provable. One of the best policies that the Chinese Communist Party implemented was to promote atheism and discourage superstition. I believe that all communist countries have declared themselves officially atheist. As I've mentioned before, communism is more advanced than capitalism, so atheism is more advanced than religion or superstition. However, humans are still emotionally and psychologically not advanced enough to discard such primitive thoughts and practises. It certainly strikes me as paradoxical that we now have technologies like the internet and mobile phones and even the ability to travel through space to explore other planets - yet some people still in ghosts, psychics, clairvoyance and fortune-telling etc. I've yet to hear of a clairvoyant who's correctly predicted the lottery numbers! Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today... Aha-ah... Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion, too Imagine all the people Living life in peace... You... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world... You... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one Kind regards, Waiman Dear Waiman
Thank you for your interesting email. The key point about Socialist thinking is that it is a natural dialectical process that cannot be rushed or forced. Socialism emerges from the brain patterns of the individual when inner and outer conditions permit. Socialism obviously expands into the body (and through progressive patterns of behaviour) into the environment! As Socialism advocates 'class' as the vehicle of material struggle - then the outer structures of objective Socialist culture serve to reinforce and strengthen the inner Socialist convictions of each participating individual. Marx talks about this in the 'Theses of Feuerbach'. Although our behaviour must be transformed away from superstition and ignorance - the key to this lies not in forced (external) compliance but rather through the positive process of good and sound education. The central point of this permanent 'change' of humanity lies firmly within 'freedom of thought' and nothing else. If the mind is allowed to 'cascade' its way through all the trivia of existence - it has been my experience working with hundreds of students - that eventually, even the most conservative and steadfast in their ways eventually experiences an epiphany whereby all vestiges of bourgeois pollution drop away in an instant and an entirely new way of viewing the world becomes evident! Religion in China exists to a) support the building of a Socialist State, and b) assist each interested individual in a 'private' capacity to develop their mind and body to be 'better' Socialists! Socialism and spirituality are merged without contradiction. This is because most, if not all Asian religions are naturally left-wing in ideological interpretation of the world. It is only when Asian religions are polluted by Western religious thinking and capitalist ideology that this 'left-wingism' is lost. Buddhism, for instance, strive to uproot greed, hatred and delusion, and this a priori 'anti-capitalist' in nature. Confucianism supports education as well as good and virtuous behaviour toward one another - but firmly rejects exploitative profit making! Daoism often fully rejects the world of ordinary life and settles instead for a high mountain-peak from which the four-seasons that define a 'year' can be quietly observed. Eating and not-eating are all the same to the Daoist! You see, even religion has its place within building the Socialist State - but if Marx and Lenin are correct, then eventually the pain and suffering that generated religion in the first place will be slowly (and naturally) eradicated as structures of the 'new' Socialist society become apparent and start the process of guiding humanity into a 'Communist' reality that is 'free' of any structures of controlling 'State'. It is this latter reality - from Socialist 'State' to Communist 'non-State' - that John Lennon is singing about. Marx does toy with the idea of 'instantaneous' Revolution (I think in 'The German Ideology'), but thinks better of it on the grounds that the workers need time to gather together, organise and agitate! Best Wishes Adrian |
AuthorAdrian Chan-Wyles PhD - Political Commissar and BMA (UK) Historian & Researcher. Archives
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