Rich like you don't need that 'dosh'

Economic Nihilism is new, but also pretty old

I was talking to a friend about ‘Economic Nihilism’ recently and how twenty-somethings today are ‘vibing’ their way into life. There a lot of interpretations out there for this term, but I see Economic Nihilism as a fundamental disbelief in the current financial system, in the concept of ‘work hard = reward’ (come on, even you and I should be skeptical about this one, not just Gen-Z. It has for long been ‘risk = reward’, our risk-averse boomer parents didn’t tell us.) Disbelief in ‘savings’ in the traditional sense - i.e ‘ put it in a bank account and it will grow meaningfully’ (Yup kids, you’re kind of right about this one. Hello sky high inflation). Not just this, but also jobs that pay are changing. Our idea of ‘useful’ knowledge is rapidly changing. (A four year degree might not get one a job, but perhaps knowing to edit reels will be more profitable?)

Chaotic markets, chaotic leaders, chaotic worlds - it seems like the earth is spinning off its rocker. Young souls look up, crinkle their noses, shake their heads in disbelief! What is the dream they are being sold? Debt. Inflation. Low salaries. And what markets? The ones that go up and down based on a tweet? Might as well read tea leaves and divination next. What might really help young people today, is if they had some wealth that they were born into - welcome to inheritocracy. (Economist on Inheritocracy) Look, I get it.

It is not the first time the world has questioned money’s inadequacies. The question of ‘what is wealthy’ typically yields “money to buy stuff”, there has also been a less-spoken of, slightly Zen answer, “rich is having money like you don’t need it”. In fact, this radical counter culture in economic thinking, emerged very strongly 2500 years ago, in the 5th century BCE. Two words: Gautama Buddha.

The Great Renunciation (Korean painting of a Buddhist story on a hemp cloth), British Museum

This painting depicts one of the most iconic ideas in Buddhism, “The Great Renunciation”. It shows prince Siddhartha, a man of wealth, extremely protected from the real world, walk down the street to see the world he lives in. He sees four sights: a sick man, an old man, a corpse and an ascetic, and realises that life is transient and filled with suffering, unlike his own charmed existence. This leads him to embark on a journey in the ‘quest for truth’.

Siddhartha then renounces his wealth, gives up his comfortable life style, leaves the shelter and warmth of his family and becomes an ascetic. Eventually, he becomes enlightened and we know him as “The Buddha” (Enlightened One).

This story has economic counter culture written all over it. Slaving away to build wealth, is great - but binding. It becomes a burden, a singular goal, spiralling vortex of wants and needs. What if, just what if, you didn’t need that wealth? Siddhartha renounces the wealth that he has (which perhaps several would covet), frees himself from this spiral. His needs are different and cannot be bought with money. Walking away from that wealth, makes him rich like he doesn’t need to think about ‘dosh’. Akin to the rich man, who never needs to know what it costs to buy things, as it is not a concern for him. You know, the really rich.

I quote from Hermann Hesse’s fantastic novel, “Siddhartha”.

When someone seeks," said Siddhartha, "then it easily happens that his eyes see only the thing that he seeks, and he is able to find nothing, to take in nothing because he always thinks only about the thing he is seeking, because he has one goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal.

Buddhism emerged in 5th century BCE in the Gangetic plains in northern India, later spreading across the world, gaining a lot of popularity in South and South East Asia. Buddhism emerged and gained popularity/ acceptance in the backdrop of a very rigid society, like the Hindu casteism or in Chinese social hierarchy, where your birth determined your trajectory in life.

Teachings in Hinduism were in Sanskrit, which was studied and known to the upper castes, but not available to the rest. Buddhism was preached in Pali, a common dialect, easily accessible.

Buddhism gave an opportunity for one to feel one’s life is meaningful, rich and noble by rejecting conventional ideas of success - a noble birth, elitism. During those times, if you were born to a lower caste or a poor family in China, upward mobility was near impossible - it did not matter one bit how hard you worked, or how clever you were. There was a sense of futility and an eroding faith in the system.

It would be wrong to think that Buddhist thinking rejects wealth, it rejects ‘attachment to wealth’. Instead, it looks at it as a tool that you can use in life. Its essence lies how it characterises material wealth, and not putting it right at the top of the social pedestal. It is a re-prioritisation. And whilst that doesn’t sound radical, it is. Not caring enough about wealth, is pretty radical. It turns our idea of successful living upside down. It changes what you spend time on and how.

To draw a parallel to today, our marginal wealth appreciation compared to boomers is pretty bad. To buy a two bedroom flat in a non-suburb, with a car and a house plant takes 40 years of one’s life’s wages. Gen Z does not even have the job security that the millennials did - their degrees paving way to a job are a lottery, not a certainty. Upward mobility is a near impossibility. What could matter, on the other hand, is how much wealth one comes into, giving you a leg-up.

Gen Z is being thrown into a chaotic world, with a rigid, unmoving, unforgiving economic system. The system does not value meritocracy, hard work and all the things that we were told it would. It is no surprise that Economic Nihilism is resurfacing.

To quote, Sia, from ‘Cheap Thrills”:

“Baby, I dont need dollar bills to have fun tonight”

It is probably just the thing Gautama would have said.