CAPITALISM'S ACHILLES HEEL Dirty Money and How to

CHAPTER 10
PHILOSOPHY
BECOMES CULTURE
UTILITARIANISM HAS become embedded in the way European and North
American societies live, work, and think. Natural and accepted, its
presence is hardly recognized. If it is taken for granted by everyone else in
western countries, why should you care? Because lurking within the normalization
of outdated philosophical tenets lies acute danger for our muchchanged
twenty-first-century world. This chapter lays out how utilitarianism
gained its place in western capitalism, advances my criticisms of its role and
impact, and poses a final challenge.
The effects of prevailing philosophical dispositions can often be discerned
in other societies but are more difficult to see in one’s own. So first
of all, the general point about philosophy becoming culture needs to be
established.
Years ago it was fashionable to speak of “Asian values.” Many scholars
have noted that fundamental precepts of Confucianism, with origins dating
back two-and-a-half millennia, remain visible in the fabric of Asian societies.
Respect for authority, strong family relationships, and emphasis on education
are seen as lingering influences of the ancient philosophy. Some feel
that these cultural characteristics are traceable to economic outcomes such as
high personal savings rates and modest income disparities, notably in Thailand,
Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Japan adds to Confucianism its own blend of Zen Buddhism, with elements
of self-effacement and meditation, and Shinto, with emphasis on ritual
and honor. Some scholars see these philosophical and religious inputs
evident in Japanese economic characteristics of long employment, corpo-
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