The article "The Mindfulness Business" addresses only the ethics half of capitalism. However, the values half is never mentioned in the article. To get a full understanding of capitalism, both the ethics and the values need to be considered. There is more at work than just the Protestant or the Buddhist ethic. The Western society focuses more on one's self than Eastern societies. We value success, mostly measured in material possessions and abstractly in money.
Overall, I feel that saying "it seems as if it is the Buddhist ethic that is keeping capitalism going," is a pretty ignorant claim to make. Here in the United States, I feel that the Protestant ethic is still a main player in running capitalism. Even when there is a presence …show more content…
In the West, the Buddhist ethic has become an Eastern tool of achieving our Western view of success. I highly doubt any of the executives of the companies mentioned would be able to live with a true Buddhist ethic. He described the Buddhist ethic as have becoming a way to get ahead in life, which is the primary goal of Western capitalism. Our culture revolves around our personal success, so when you combine self-awareness with self-compassion, as is being done in "The Mindfulness Business" article, you get selfishness, which might have a different outcome in an Eastern …show more content…
In "Profit and Righteousness in Chinese Economic Culture," Timothy Brooks analyzes the conflict between the Chinese people's Confucian values and capitalism with the Protestant ethic. Brooks described the conflict as "a discourse that derided profit as lacking moral meaning," (Brook 1999, 28). Confucian values said that those seeking profit had no morals while the Protestant ethic said seeking profit was a good and smart choice to make. This discourse still lingers in some Chinese
Overall, I feel that saying "it seems as if it is the Buddhist ethic that is keeping capitalism going," is a pretty ignorant claim to make. Here in the United States, I feel that the Protestant ethic is still a main player in running capitalism. Even when there is a presence …show more content…
In the West, the Buddhist ethic has become an Eastern tool of achieving our Western view of success. I highly doubt any of the executives of the companies mentioned would be able to live with a true Buddhist ethic. He described the Buddhist ethic as have becoming a way to get ahead in life, which is the primary goal of Western capitalism. Our culture revolves around our personal success, so when you combine self-awareness with self-compassion, as is being done in "The Mindfulness Business" article, you get selfishness, which might have a different outcome in an Eastern …show more content…
In "Profit and Righteousness in Chinese Economic Culture," Timothy Brooks analyzes the conflict between the Chinese people's Confucian values and capitalism with the Protestant ethic. Brooks described the conflict as "a discourse that derided profit as lacking moral meaning," (Brook 1999, 28). Confucian values said that those seeking profit had no morals while the Protestant ethic said seeking profit was a good and smart choice to make. This discourse still lingers in some Chinese