Chi l'avrebbe detto che un giorno mi sarei trovato d'accordo con l'autore di queste riflessioni.... a voi indovinare... pago il solito caffè (Massimo, attento stavolta... )
Economic development must be done step by step. It should begin with the strengthening of our economic foundation, by assuring that the majority of our population has enough to live on…Once reasonable progress has been achieved, we should then embark on the next steps, by pursuing more advanced levels of economic development.”
Modern development has caused changes in all aspects of society. The positive impacts of the development are economic growth, progress of material and public utilities, modern communication systems, and improvement and expansion of education. However, few of these results have reached rural areas or the underprivileged in the society.
On the other hand, rapid economic growth and the rise of consumerism has led to a state of economic dependence and deterioration of natural resources as well as the dissolution of existing kinship and traditional groups to manage them. The traditional knowledge and wisdom that have been employed to solve problems and accumulated in the past are forgotten and have started to disappear.
Significantly, what has dissipated is the people’s ability to rely on themselves and conduct their lives and pursue their destiny with dignity. For many countries recent economic crisis served as a costly lesson of unbalanced and unstable growth, partly due to the improper economic and social development process, in which the economy relied heavily on foreign capital inflows and external markets.
The New Theory (of sufficiency economy) is a method of development based on moderation, prudence, and social immunity, one that uses knowledge and virtue as guidelines in living. Significantly, there must be intelligence and perseverance, which will lead to real happiness in leading one’s life.
The Three Pillars
- Moderation: Sufficiency at a level of not doing something too little or too much at the expense of oneself or others, for example, producing and consuming at a moderate level.
- Reasonableness: The decision concerning the level of sufficiency must be made rationally with consideration of the factors involved and careful anticipation of the outcomes that may be expected from such action.
- Risk Management: The preparation to cope with the likely impact and changes in various aspects by considering the probability of future situations.
Decisions and activities must be carried out at a sufficient level depending on two conditions:
Knowledge, comprising all-round knowledge in the relevant fields and prudence in bringing this knowledge into consideration to understand the relationship among the field so as to use them to aid in the planning and ensure carefulness in the operation.
Virtue to be promoted, comprising the awareness of honesty, patience, perseverance, and intelligence in leading one’s life.
This does not mean that one must constantly be frugal. A person can indulge him/herself in luxury once in a while, provided that it is within his/her capacity to do so. But the majority of the country’s population often overspends beyond their means. Sufficiency Economy can lead to the goal of establishing economic stability.
“I may add that full sufficiency is impossible. If a family or even a village wants to employ a full sufficiency economy, it would be like returning to the Stone Age…This sufficiency means to have enough to live on. Sufficiency means to lead a reasonably comfortable life, without excess, or overindulgence in luxury, but enough. Some things may seem to be extravagant, but if it brings happiness, it is permissible as long as it is within the means of the individual…”
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