Beyond Religion by Dalai Lama

Author:Dalai Lama [Lama, Dalai]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The Problem of Greed Versus the Joys of Philanthropy

In today's materialistic world there is a trend of people becoming slaves to money, as though they are parts of a huge money-making machine. This does nothing for human dignity, freedom, and genuine well-being. Wealth should serve humanity, and not vice versa. The massive disparities of wealth now apparent in the world, disparities that are more extreme than ever before and are still growing, are very distressing. The stark economic inequalities of today's world, not just between the global north and the global south, but between rich and poor within individual nations, are not only morally wrong but sources of many practical problems, including war, sectarian violence, and the social tensions created by large-scale economic migration. On the issue of economic inequality, I consider myself at least half Marxist. When it comes to creating wealth and thereby improving people's material conditions, capitalism is without doubt very effective, but capitalism is clearly inadequate as any kind of social ideal, since it is only motivated by profit, without any ethical principle guiding it. Unbridled capitalism can involve terrible exploitation of the weak. Thus we need to adopt an approach to economic justice which respects the dynamism of capitalism while combining it with a concern for the less fortunate. Once again, I think microfinance offers a sustainable and responsive line of approach to issues of poverty alleviation and development, an approach which could avoid the excesses of capitalism on the one hand and the inefficiency of excessive state control on the other.

Some time ago, a very wealthy Indian couple from Mumbai came to see me. They asked for my blessings. I told them, as I tell so many others, that the only real blessings will come from themselves. To find blessings in their lives, I suggested, they should use their wealth to benefit the poor. After all, Mumbai has many slums where even basic necessities such as clean water are hard to come by. So, I told them, having made your money as capitalists, you should spend it as socialists!

In this connection I should mention that I am deeply impressed by philanthropists such as Bill and Melinda Gates and increasing numbers of others who share their resources with the global community on a massive scale. This is wonderful, and I appeal to others who have achieved a high degree of material success to become part of this noble trend.

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