The Satiable Self: Zorba Meets Gandhi

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The Satiable Self Zorba Meets Gandhi
Presenter Kaushal Raj Sharma (M1) Room 224,
Engineering Building 2, The University of Tokyo,
Hongo June 6, 2002
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Should conservationists acknowledge that sanding
the rough edges off the existing paradigm is
inadequate, and that we need to move beyond
industrial growth culture if we are to fully
protect Earths biological diversity?
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• Three types of life activities
• Taking care of each other
• Having fun
• Self-development

Capitalism and culture of Insatiable freedom
The opportunities and social legitimacy for
having fun mushroom
Self-development becomes and economic and moral
imperative
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Outcome
Be All You Can Be To Be Always More To Make
Something of Oneself
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Gandhis Cultural Message
Free yourself from British Rule Believe in taking
care of one another Truth is God People should
reject the evils of capitalism and should strive
to attain a juster distribution of the products
of labor
The secret of his life was renounce and enjoy
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Zorbas Zest for Life
He took the idea of taking care of each other
seriously, but having fun held a special place
for him Life can be simple, exciting, and fun
simultaneously Sustainability doesnt require
absolute selflessness, but needs necessary
renunciation
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The Satiable Self
People prefer to emulate Zorbas ability to
combine taking care of each other with having fun
over Gandhi fixation. But, a bigger issue has to
do with the difference between what drives the
culture and its economy versus what motivates
individual
As an individual can feel free to Be All You Can
Be, but to have an economy and a culture that
compel this or judge people by this is problem
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The Satiable Self
Then what is require to be Satiable Self ?
Avoid surplus self-development
The point is to have an economy of sufficiency in
a sustainable culture, where the economy is not
driven by improvement, but by necessary
self-development instead
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The Economy of Sufficiency is an Economy of
Maintenance
In the economy of sufficiency we not only limit
our needs and production of commodities but also
reorganize production itself on a new
basis Instead of an economy devoted to
continuous improvement, we would have dedicated
to maintenance The steady state of economy is
one of maintenance, because maintenance and
sustainability go hand in hand
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The Economy of Sufficiency is an Economy of
Maintenance
If an economy of sufficiency and maintenance is
not fundamentally about reducing human
sufferings, then it will not work Types of the
sufferings 1 Needless Suffering 2 Accidental
Suffering 3 Existential Suffering
Now, the economy we require is that which
prioritize improvements on the basis of how much
the human sufferings it reduces
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Conclusion
If the 20th century was the century of human
conquering Nature, the 21st century should be one
in which we conquer the root causes of the human
sufferings, which include our fear, ego, hatred,
greed etc. Then we can live together in true
harmony with each other and with nature as bees
live together in their hive, all in a real sprit
of democracy and equality
We do not need continuous improvement, rather
than that we need sustainability, and we can get
that now through redistribution, justice,
simplicity, equality, and compassion.
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Thank You Very Much for the Attention