His Majesty the King's SUFFICIENCY theory goes global

Capitalism means different things to different people. To Karl Marx it had an occult ability to add value to itself; to Winston Churchill it was a healthy horse; Al Capone described it as a racket; John Maynard Keynes portrayed it as the spatial belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone; and to Thomas Friedman it was simply “the answer”. 

Richard Wolf, in his Guardian article “Recovery Hype: American Capitalism’s Weapon of Mass Destruction”, perhaps best describes capitalism today: “You don't have to be a Marxist to see how the 1 per cent tries to fool us that we too are sharing in their renewed wealth. But it helps.”

That is the world that His Majesty has been trying to change here in Thailand.

It is true that capitalism has broken down the pre-capitalist framework of society, and broke not only barriers that impeded its progress, but also defenses that prevented its collapse. In Thailand, while our economic data looks impressive, our Gross Happiness Product (GHP) diminishes proportionally. GHN is the term coined by King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan, who pointed out that indicators and concepts that measure the quality of life and social progress in a more holistic and psychological manner deserve more attention than economic indicators.

Thailand was the land of smiles, where once “there were fish in the water, rice in the fields”. We were easy going. These days, we are people in a perpetual hurry, more compassion-fatigued, more jaded, more callous. We have become a society where money and material wealth rank highest on the totem pole of our outlook and expectations. 

It is beyond sad that while economic indices present our per capita GDP at over US$5,000, 38 per cent of our people would consider themselves lucky if they see $100 in their annual take home money after they sell all their crops. All the while, their debts to loan sharks keep piling up. Then comes the new growing season, at which time, they have to buy new seeds for their fields, because the corporate giants have GMO-ed the seeds sold to them in such a way that they cannot be used to grow the next crop. Those farmers have to buy fertilisers and insecticides, whose prices escalate over time, while those of their crops remain stagnant. They get poorer as they work harder.

His Majesty, after years of fieldwork and long hours of reflection, has come up with the initiative of economic self-sufficiency, focusing on how to enhance the ability of Thai communities to support themselves. Self-sufficiency or self-reliance is not isolationism; it is not keeping the poor, poor. Perhaps “sufficiency” is insufficient to describe his initiative. Sufficiency does not mean only “enough”, it also means self-reliance and independence. It means building a solid base on which we can stand firmly; it means we must learn to stand before we walk or run. It is capitalism with an intelligent and conscientious face. It is about sustainability of progress and development. It is about happiness and balance in life.

Back when King Rama V was making visits to Europe, he always went to slums in cities. He knew that Thailand would industrialise, and he knew that some people would fall through the economic cracks and get left behind. He wanted to learn, so he could make Thailand’s passage through the stages of economic development more equitable and less hazardous.

In King Bhumibol, we have a monarch who cares deeply about his people and dares to think outside of the box. The world is now paying more attention to “moral capitalism”, a capitalist model that may avoid self-destruction. It is the type of capitalism that His Majesty has espoused, and it’s about time we tried to understand this way of thinking.