Buddhist Economics (out of class)

While in class Tuesday, our talk of letting efficiency push aside virtue had brought up a reading I had done in another class, on minimalism and "Buddhist economics" by E. Schumacher. This economics reading was on minimalism, and finding "The Middle Way" between overabundance and not producing enough.

In many of our previous class discussions, the problem with our society was placed on wanting too much, always needing the newest and best, that "fast fashion" we see. Yet, Schumacher argues that the problem actually lies in the lack of fulfillment in the work we do, where each person contribution tiny parts of one whole and never actually "makes" or finishes anything. This does not take mental facility, skill, or anything especially interesting, and could be done by a machine. With the lack of interest in the work we do, the fulfillment we need from our lives must come from our leisure time. Schumacher argues that in order to fit all this in, we keep buying new things hoping that this will be the TV that keeps us entertained, or the perfect phone. Yet, there is never really an answer until the work we do is important. The virtue was not lost because of efficiency, as we could be efficient with machine automation, but rather because our work became meaningless.