becoming wealthy on $2dollars a day

8/7/2019 Becoming Wealthy on $2Dollars a Day

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34 BACK TO G ODHEAD NO EmBE / D ECEmBE 2010

By Dhanevara Dsa

Becoming WealthyOn $2 a Day An alternative to culturally biased viewson poverty shows how people with low

monetary incomes can be happy.


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NO EmBE / D ECEmBE 2010 BACK TO G ODHEAD 35

PEOplE NATu All seeeverything in ter s of thewor d they are acc sto edto. This c t ra bias anifests inany ways, s ch as when the eo-

e of so-ca ed ros ero s co n-tries set o t to eas re and x

overty. Thinking that onetaryinco e deter ines overty, they

roject their conce tion on therest of the wor d. They ook at thewor d in ter s of inco e and ndthat ore than ha f of h anityis oor. Good so s that they are,they want to x the rob e .

Mah-ViuDsa (below)chants amongthe vegetables

at Gitagrad,a developingeco-spiritual

community inUkraine. His

house (right),built during

the Soviet era, is ready

or extensiverepairs.


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B t is the ex erience of a oorerson in a oor co ntry the sa e

as that of a oor erson in a richco ntry? No. As a genera obser-vation Id say that ost eo e in oor co ntries are re ative y co -fortab e whi e the oor in richco ntries are not.

I have et Indian vi agers whowo d be c assi ed as oor nderunited Nations g ide ines ( aking

ess than $1.25 a day), and I can sayfro direct ex erience that these

eo e do not think of the se vesas oor or fee the effects of ov-erty as a erson in A erica wo dat the sa e eve of inco e. Thesa e is tr e of the oor eo e Iknow in Eastern E ro e.

What akes the difference? Ina word, c t re, which inc des va -

es and ex ectations. A ho se inan Indian or ukrainian vi age isvast y different fro one in rbanor s b rban A erica or E ro e,b t eo e ive there j st as ha -

i y as wea thier eo e iving in

x ry ho ses. The sa e is tr e fortheir dai y needs. i agers in Indiaand ukraine rod ce a good deaof their own food. They a so havefewer c othing req ire ents thantheir Western co nter arts, andfewer nancia de ands for things

s ch as cars, ins rance, or frivo o scons er goodsbeca se thesethings are not a necessary art of their c t re. Nonethe ess the uNwants to change their c t re, andthat of any other eo e aro ndthe wor d, in order to raise the


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above overty byaking s re they

have ore than $2 aday. That see s ikea a dab e goa , b t

erha s we ighta se to consider

j st what havingore oney is ike y

to do.We have an ex-

a e fro recenthistory. Anthro o ogist He enaNorberg-Hodge was the rst for-eigner a owed to ake her ho ein ladakh, Kash ir. Beginning inthe 1970s, she had the rivi ege of

iving there six onths a year forthree decades and ca e to know,and doc ent, ife in the traditionavi ages before the intr sion of Western c t re. The ladakhis ivedin an agrarian s bsistence econo y.Tho gh not an easy ife by Westernstandards, with evident joy they ettheir basic hysica , socia , s irit a ,and creative needs within the sec -

rity of a caring, sharing co nity.Their ha iness did not de end on

inco e or ossessions; it was si yex erienced as a atter of dai y iv-ing. Being t a y de endent, thevi agers aintained a dee -rootedres ect for one anothers f nda-

enta needs. And an acce tanceof the nat ra i itations of theenviron ent ke t the free fro

is acing va es of worth.At the ti e when this was ob-

served, the ladakhis ight wehave been considered oor byinternationa standards beca se

their inco e was ini a and ostof their needs were et as a rod-

ct of their own hands. Nonethe ess,they were a satis ed and joyf eo-

e. B t so ething changed that.Norbert-Hodge ex ains how it wasthe to rists who bro ght overty toladakh:

A Western to rist can s endore oney in a day than what

a ladakhi fa i y ight in oneyear. Seeing this, ladakhis s d-den y fee oor. The new co -

arison creates a ga that neverexisted before beca se in tradi-tiona ladakh, eo e didnt

need oney in order to eadrich and f ing ives. ladakhisociety was based on t aaid and coo eration; no oneneeded oney for abor, food,c othing, or she ter . . . In thetraditiona econo y, ladakhisknew that they had to de endon other eo e, and that othersin t rn de end on the . In thenew econo ic syste , oca inter-de endence disintegrates a ongwith traditiona eve s of to er-ance. In ace of coo erative sys-te s eeting needs, co etitionand scarcity beco e deter inants

The author (le t)lives in this house( ar le t), whichlike the other houses at Gita-

grad was a gi t rom devotees. Itsone stove (bot-

tom le t) heats thehouse and cooksthe ood. Below,the author andSakhi Vrinda (age4) gather allenripe apricots tomake jam.


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for s rviva . perha s the osttragic of a the changes I haveobserved in ladakh is the vicio scirc e in which individ a insec -rity contrib tes to a weakening of fa i y and co nity ties, whichin t rn f rther shakes individ ase f-estee . Cons eris ays acentra ro e in this who e rocess,since e otiona insec rity gen-erates h nger for ateria stat ssy bo s. The need for recognitionand acce tance f e s the drive toacq ire ossessions that wi re-s ab y ake yo so ebody.. . . It is heartbreaking to see eo-

e b ying things to be ad ired,res ected and ti ate y oved,when in fact the effect is a osta ways the o osite. . . . [They are]set a art, which f rthers the needto be acce ted.*

Ironica y, it was oney thatbro ght overty to ladakh. priorto Westerners arriving with a otof oney to s end, ladakhis didntconsider the se ves overty-stricken, a tho gh their inco ewas robab y ess than $1.25 a day.On y by co aring the se ves tothese foreignerswhat they os-sessed and how they iveddid the

* He ena Norberg-Hodge, The press re

to modernize and G oba ize, froCase Against the Global Economy, by DavidKorten, . 41.

Bhakta Sasha drawswater rom the arms

one well (above). At right, Ekantha Bhakti

Dsa carries water into Gitagrads typical

Ukranian-style barn.


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for a , inc ding wo en andyo ng eo e.

3. To ha ve, between 1990 and 2015,the ro ortion of eo e whos ffer fro h nger.

A tho gh these see worthwhi e

targets, they are c t ra y biased;by deter ining the a roach,they i it the eans of attain ent.The anner in which the targetsare stated res oses a b siness-deve o ent ode of rod ctionfor a arket econo y and e oy-

ent of the eo e they wish tohe . Their efforts are in earnest,and ast year, in a vag e re ort, theuN Secretary Genera said thata tho gh signi cant rogress hadbeen ade, rgent and increasedefforts were needed to eet thegoa s by 2015. H ndreds of i -

ions of do ars are being investedin acco ishing these goa s. B t if the c t ra bias were ifted, thesesa e goa s co d be acco ishedwith ch ess oney.

An Alternative that Worked

In the ast ha f-cent ry, near yevery deve o ent ode has fai edto bring S b-Saharan Africa to a

eve where it can co ete in aninternationa arket and at the

ladakhis begin to see the se ves ina different ight, as being in overtyand needing what they didnt needbefore: oney and whatever it b ys.Sad y, they were rchasing a ien-ation and iso ation at the sa e ti e.

In other aces aro nd the wor d,o r c t ra bias akes s want toe i inate overty in the sense that

we know it. B t ike the lakadhisex erience, wi that si y createoverty where it didnt exist before?

One of the united Nations mi en-ni Deve o ent Goa s (mDG),the e i ination of g oba overty,inc des these three targets:

1. To ha ve, between 1990 and 2015,the ro ortion of eo e whoseinco e is ess than $1/day.

2. To achieve f and rod ctivee oy ent and decent work

EkanthaBhakti Dsa

leads Kartikahome romthe pasture

(above). Shesdue to calve

in March. At right, Bhakta

Aleksi (right)and EkanthaBhakti workon the green-

house. Besidesthe plastic,it was built

rom salvagedmaterials (in-cluding nails)

and wood sca-venged rom

the orest.


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sa e ti e give eo e needed jobs. B t the efforts of one yo ng

an have stood a of theseinternationa -deve o ent con-ce ts on their head. A second-generation devotee of Ka,A exander petroff,* twenty- veyears of age, went to the war-torn,

econo ica y str gg ing De ocratice b ic of Congo with a ro -osition for the govern ent. Hewanted to b i d a se f-s f cient,environ enta y s stainab e vi -

age. The govern ent agreed to hisro osa and gave hi forty hect-

ares of and on which his organiza-tion, Working i ages Internationa(W I), created a deve o ent

ode ca ed i age Se f e iance.i age Se f e iance is fo nded on

the two ideas of swadeshi and s s-

tainab e agric t re. The Gandhianrinci e swadeshi refers to ocarod ction for oca cons tioneo e rod cing for their own

needs. According to the rinci e of swadeshi, whatever is ade or ro-

d ced in the vi age st be sedrst and fore ost by the e -

bers of the vi age. Any excess canthen be so d. With this a roach,at the very east eo e have jobsand are fed. S stainab e agric t reis acco ished by sing organic

ethods witho t externa in ts,

and sing b ocks for owinginstead of f e -thirsty tractors.Starting with $70,000 fro ri-

vate donations, within two yearsW I e oyed 400 workers s -

orting 350 fa i ies and rod c-ing 50,000 bs. of rice er onth,beco ing the second- argest rice

rod cer in the rovince. They a sogrew tons of vegetab es. Insteadof so ving rob e s at the sy -to eve , W I addressed theroot ca ses of h nger, ne oy-

ent, and vio ence sing a deve o -ent ode that can be adj sted toa ost any region in the wor d. Soin two years, not fteen, one yo ng

an working with oca eo e ona very odest b dget acco ishednot on y the econo ic targets of the mDG, b t any of the othertargets as we .

Instead of j ing thro gh a otof hoo s to adj st the inco e, why

* A exander is the son of No apetroff, aka Hare Ka Ds,whoseBack to Godhead co nThe land, the Cows, and Karan fro 1991 to 1999.

not si y adj st the c t re byre oving the externa de ands?This is easier beca se in any artsof the wor d a si e c t re a -ready exists. We have an hi bat-t e, however, if we want to changethe c t re by ring eo e intobeing cons ers, having jobs, co -

ting to work each day, and chang-ing their ifesty e to one of arti -cia de endence on others. In fact,by choosing the atter a roach itis ike y that a tho gh externa eco-no ic targets ay be rea ized, the

eo e wi be ess ha y and esssec re, j st as the ladakhis wereafter the arriva of Western c t re.

Following Prabhupdas Model

Changing the c t re to one of si -icity is the easiest way to achieve

sec rity and ha iness. That is what


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ISKCONs fo nder-crya, r aprabh da, enco raged his fo -

owers to do. He ca ed it si eiving and high thinking ive si -

y in order to s f cient y care forthe needs of the body, and rea thebene ts of doing so, inc ding sav-ing ti e to be sed in activities of se f-rea ization. Devotees of Kaa aro nd the wor d have ex eri-enced the satisfaction that co esfro devotiona service to theS re e lord. If o r ti e is ro -er y sed in worshi of the lord,then o r si e iving can a so bef ing and satisfying.

B t, we ay rotest, we canta go backward to a si e vi age

ife. Its not ossib e!Not everyone wi , of co rse,

b t certain y any can, es ecia ythose who never eft, and thereare a ot of the . And why not, if

they can beco e sec re and f -ed? Having ived in vi ages in

both India and ukraine, I havefo nd that its not so dif c t, andthere are any enjoyab e as ectsof vi age ife that are i ossib e toachieve in cities.

ight now I ive in a si ethree-roo ho se in a vi age nearNovo odo aga, ukraine, abo tan ho rs drive o tside the cityof Kharkov. This is the site of o rdeve o ing eco-s irit a co nity,Gitagrad. The ho ses in this vi -

age, b i t so e fty years ago d r-ing Soviet ti es, are ready- adefor si e iving. One centra woodstove is sed for both cooking andheating. There is no r nning waterin the ho se, eaning no bathroo ,and the toi et is o tside. We chowood and carry waterthe e ito eof si e ife thro gho t the wor d.

Why a I, an A eri-can for er y acc s-to ed to odern a e-nities, iving in these ri itive conditions?Beca se I want to fo -

ow the instr ctions of y s irit a aster, r a

prabh da, who wantedhis fo owers to ive si -

y, saving ti e forKa conscio sness, andto earn rst-hand thecha enges and advan-tages of doing so. Having

ived in ukrainian vi -ages for abo t a year, I

can say that after acce t-ing and adj sting tothe si e ode of iv-ing, I do not nd it tax-ing or onero s co aredto a ore odern stan-dard. One of the reasonsfor iving in a vi age is

to beco e free fro the odes of assion (rajo-gua ) and ignorance

(tamo-gua ) that dist rb the ind,distracting it fro se f-rea ization.If I have earned anything fro yex erience in the vi age, it is that itis a ost entire y free of rajo-guaand tamo-gua. i age ife is se f-reg ating based on the de andsof agric t re and the cows. Theyhave their own ti e to which we

st adj st, instead of atte ting toadj st externa circ stances to s,as we genera y do in arti cia city

ife.O r effort here is to ive a si -e ife of Ka conscio sness,

roviding for o rse ves by the nat-ra econo y what is ty ica y r-

chased. Nat re has its own econo y,one that is strong and resi ient. Thecow does not charge for her i k, orgo on strike. mother Earth does not

The summer kitchen(le t) is used duringthe summer to keep themain house rom get-ting too hot. Bhadravar-dhana Dsa (below le t)

prepares curd or thetemple and devotees in

the city o Kharkov.


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17Utthn Ekda Fasting fro grains and beans.Disa earance of r a Ga ra-kiora Dsa Bbj, s irit a

aster of r a BhaktisiddhntaSarasvat hk ra, prabh dass irit a aster. Fasting ti noon.21r Ka sa-ytr. lastday of D odara-vrata andCt r sya.

November 22December 21 (Month o Keava )

DECEMBER

2Utpann Ekda

Fasting fro grains and beans.17Mokad EkdaFasting fro grains and beans.A so, the anniversary of the dayon which lord Ka s oke theBhagavad-gt.

December 22January 19(Month o Nryaa )

25Disa earance anni-versary of r a Bhakti-siddhnta Sarasvat hk ra,s irit a aster of r aA. C. Bhaktivedanta Swa iprabh da.

31Saphal EkdaFasting fro grains and beans.

JANUARY

5A earance anniversary of r a locana Dsa hk ra, agreat devotee of Ka known forhis Benga i devotiona songs.

7Disa earance anniversary of r a Jva Gosv , one of the sixGosv s of ndvana.

16Putrad EkdaFasting fro grains and beans.

C alenDar This calendar is calculated for Mypur,West Bengal, India. The dates, derived

from a lunar calendar, may vary byone day for other locations. For theexact dates for your area, go to www.krishnadays.com .

Because the Hare Ka movement

comes in disciplic line from CaitanyaMahprabhu, the calendar includes not only dates relevant to all followers of theVedic tradition but also dates relating toLord Caitanyas associates and promi-nent spiritual masters in His disciplic

succession.

October 24November 21(Month o Dmodara )

NOVEMBER

2Ram EkdaFasting fro grains and beans.

6Diwa i, the festiva of i -inating Kas te es witha s. Ca yo r oca Hare

Ka te e for detai s.

7Govardhana pj, thefestiva co e oratingthe worshi of Govar-dhana Hi by the residents

of ndvana and Kasifting the hi . Ca yo roca Hare Ka te e

for detai s.

9Disa earance anni-versary of His DivineGrace A. C. BhaktivedantaSwa i prabh da,fo nder-crya of theInternationa Society forKrishna Conscio sness.Devotees observe thisday with ersona re e -brances of r a prabh -

da, readings fro hisbiogra hy, and fasting tinoon, fo owed by feasting.

14Disa earance anniversaryof r a rnivsa crya, a greatfo ower of the six Gosv s.

ask anything in exchange for hergifts. Both give free y, o t of ove,and a they ask in exchange is si -

e reci rocation and care. If wetake care of the and treat the

ro er y, they wi contin e to givetheir gifts des ite what goes on in

ans wor d.This is what I have ca ed S iri-

t a Econo ics, as ex ained in ybook of the sa e tit e. S irit aEcono ics describes the gift econ-o y that the lord has arrangedan econo y of oving reci rocationthat does not req ire oney, thatarti cia creation of odern an.Indeed, we are striving to increaseo r s irit a econo y ore and

ore, and when we can co e to theoint of iving co ete y accord-

ing to S irit a Econo ics, we wi

have achieved o r goa s. Ironica y,when we arrive there we wi haveachieved what the uN considers astate of overty, iving on ess than$2 a day. B t we think that insteadof that being a socia tragedy, it wibe a wonderf s ccess.

like overty, the conce t of wea th is a c t ra consideration.Not a wea th is eas red by

oney. Wea th is act a y bettereas red by ersona ha iness

and f ent. We think that theinterna , non-tangib e ex eriencesof ha iness and f ent are

ore worthy goa s to attain than anexterna inco e of $2 a day, or even$500 a day. When we can ive a si -

e, nat ra ife in Ka conscio sness, we wi then have beco e verywea thy.

Dhanevara Dsa received an M.S.degree in engineering rom theUniversity o Florida in 1973 and

joined ISKCON in Gainesville the same year. He has been living andteaching Ka consciousness inEastern Europe or the past fve

years. His book lessons in S irit aEcono ics fro the Bhagavad-gita:part 1, understanding and So vingthe Econo ic prob e is available

rom his website (www.spiritual-econ.com). You can keep up withhis adventures in simple living by

subscribing to his blog: http://gita grad.blogspot.com.

becoming wealthy on $2dollars a day

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