Jain Spirit 1999 10 No 02

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 22

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2) The things I am acquiring, are they durable? Are they made to last? And, are they made with environmentally friendly methods?
3) Are these things beautiful? Well made? Life enhancing? And aesthetically pleasing?
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These may be uncomfortable in a world which is ruled by the ideology of economic growth. Government, media, industry, commerce, business, education, culture and even religious bodies measure their success and failure in terms of their economic performance.
International organisations have been established to foster unlimited and unchecked economic growth. The World Trade Organisation, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the European Union are some of the more familiar world bodies asserting their powerful influence. Multinational corporations exercise much greater power and influence than governments. In fact, some of those corporations are richer than many nations. The annual turnover of companies such as Mitsubishi, General Motors, Ford, Shell and Toyota are greater than that of countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, Malaysia and Iran.
Without knowing it, we are truly living under the dictatorship of the dollar. This dictatorship is more dangerous because it is subtle and masked behind the lofty aims of increasing human well-being and improving living standards. But in reality this kind of unrestrained pursuit of power and possessions is bringing a catastrophic situation in terms of environmental sustainability, social justice and economic equity. The world is facing an
Mahatma Gandhi's life was an expression true simplicity and he was greatly inspired by Jainism
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