The
Economy Is Neither Economical Nor Ethical
1. Economy
in the origin
The world's
economy and ecology derived from eco (Greek oikos), house. Thus originally
eco-nomy (oikos nomos, house norm) meant "(small, individual) home account,"
and eco-logy (oikos logos, house logic) meant "(large, common) environment
logic." Home accounts must be, and are, enough to balance income and expenses
in a balanced society and ecology.
In their
early and long history, humans were just like other animals, without houses, much
less the house's belongings and their inventories, but fitting into the natural
ecological systems. Their lives were concerned only with ecology, to sustain
and survive. There was no place, plan, or practice to store or accumulate
extras beyond the daily consumption by gathering and hunting.
2. Economy
in the present
However,
our economy tries to increase income and decrease expenses in order to cope
with the competitive social and contrary ecological situations. Thus, an imbalance
appears in the home economy, social economy, and ecological material and energy
flow. The money system increases this imbalance for more accumulation, easier
exchange, higher preservation, and stronger manipulation.
Capitalism,
stressing money, creates more capital to discriminate between self and other,
economy and ecology, and to exploit -- even to exterminate -- others and the ecology.
Money advertises, asserts, arranges, and aggregates meism, materialism, and
militarism, accumulating selfish matter and power. This creates an artificial,
private, pyramidal power system against the natural, cyclical, public life
system.
In such
a system one seeks money, matter, and power by any means and to a limitless
extent, sacrificing others and the ecology. This is exactly our situation with the
global problematique -- with a global depletion of resources, pollution of life
systems, climate change, more man-made and natural disasters, social
disintegration, decrease in biodiversity, mass extinction, etc.
Privatization
by money-monopoly advances to the extreme of controlling the five major
fictitious bodies of nations, corporations, media, education, and religions and
minor institutions. Money buys politicians, lawyers, bureaucrats, broadcasters,
scholars, scientists, merchants, mercenaries, private and public properties,
votes, voices, networks, nukes, wars, worship, and so forth.
People
deprived of their original quality of life seek more matter and power, comfort
and convenience and wanting their jobs and money to buy these things, they wish
for economic growth, disregarding and dismissing ecological laws and limits.
Thus, they suffer from ecological disasters and devastations such as more and
stronger flooding, droughts, tornados, hurricanes, storms, and wild fires.
3. Economy
in the future
People
have now become disillusioned with the pyramidal social system as seen in the
Occupy Movement. The movement points out that 1% or 0.001% of the people are amassing
wealth, sacrificing the rest of the 99% or 99.999%. Actually, only a miniscule number
controls the whole of the global life system, ecologically. We must be awakened
to the original wholly wholesome natural system and natural way of life.
The home
economy (bubble) should and cannot conquer holy ecology (ocean). The triple
malady of meism, materialism, and militarism, epitomized in money-ism, must be
scrutinized and straightened. This malady is based on the triple poison of
delusion of self (separated from ecology), craving, and anger. Self (bubble)
cannot conquer the global life system (ocean).
The
global life system has been the wholly wholesome, limitlessly interdependent
system for four billion years, like the ocean, and the self is an inseparable
and integral part of it. If we are awakened to this truth, we can appreciate
limitless beauty, goodness, and holiness there, like the limitless ocean, not
as a bubble. We must shift our paradigm from economy to ecology.
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