Professor Ronald Purser Quoted on Mindful Capitalism in Bhutan in The Christian Science Monitor
Ronald Purser, Professor of Management, was quoted in an article on "Seeking growth, Buddhist Bhutan experiments with ‘mindful capitalism’ " in The Christian Science Monitor.
Bhutan is renowned for eschewing materialism and relying on a Gross National Happiness (GNH) index to guide its development, rather than focusing on the country’s GDP. However, in recent years this approach has not created enough jobs, resulting in young Bhutanese moving abroad to seek better opportunities. To bring them back, Bhutan’s leaders decided to build the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), a sprawling metropolis designed to recharge Bhutan’s economy. This new economic hub will provide “mindful prosperity,” which is akin to “mindful capitalism.”
“It’s a term that, frankly, has been co-opted in the West by corporations looking to give their extractive practices a softer glow,” says Professor Purser. In Silicon Valley, he notes, mindful capitalism is mostly a branding gimmick, however, Bhutan could be different. “If anyone’s going to pull it off,” he says, “it’s probably them.”
The Bhutanese people have a deep faith in the monarchy and in Bhutan’s king, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck. They believe that GMC will not turn into a capitalist nightmare but instead achieve its goal of becoming a mindfulness city. Purser says, “I’d want to see a city where the very design invites reflection. Where economic activity doesn’t come at the cost of ecological degradation."
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