Socialism and Vaishnavism

[Danielle Field]

Please could we have a discussion about socialism. I am a socialist and an aspirant Vaishnav and have no Guru to mediate between these two positions. I know I cannot rely on my own conclusions in this regard but I've never met anyone who can convince me of any contradictions between these two apparently opposing doctrines.

Isn't Communism mainly an ideology espoused by atheists?

[suchandra]

Originally Posted by Danielle Field Please could we have a discussion about socialism. I am a socialist and an aspirant Vaishnav and have no Guru to mediate between these two positions. I know I cannot rely on my own conclusions in this regard but I've never met anyone who can convince me of any contradictions between these two apparently opposing doctrines.

First of all it would be important to know how far you came in understanding varnashrama dharma, the vedic idea of socialism? You say you're a socialist, could you explain this more precise how you define socialism?

[Danielle Field]

Sure. I don't have much time because I 'm sneaking on work's computer but I'll do my best to put it in a nutshell. I used to live at Karuna Bhavan in Scotland for 5 years as a full time devotee. As such I gained a particular understanding of Varnashrama Dharma according to the limited realisations that are available within the Iskcon organisation presently. On escaping that institution I met with members of the socialist worker's party who were sceptical of my faith and derided me for it but nonetheless enlivened my compassion through their desire to take responsibility for the material world and make it a place fit for the development and expansion of human consciousness by overthrowing capitalism. I have since joined the SWP after 4 years of debating with them and finally coming to the conclusion that that organisation, although overwhelmingly atheistic contains some of the most spiritually enlivened individuals whose passion for a better world and analysis of the current world situation from a purely material perspective is unparalleled, certainly by Iskcon whose effect on my life was nothing but debilitating and contradictory to the desires of Prabhupada.

Members of the SWP and Karl Marx himself were not so conceited as Stalin, Mao Tse Tung and others in asserting what a socialist society would look like, but they knew that they would only achieve peace on earth by ridding the planet of the scourge of capitalism and unleashing the spiritual potential within each living being. Marx was in no way shy of discussing spirituality in terms of expanding consciousness and he spoke out against oppressing religious groups. His oft misquoted statement that religion is the opium of the masses fails usually to incorporate his justification of religion as the sigh of the oppressed in a heartless world.

Marx was an atheist as he saw no fit reason to believe in a deity seen as though he had never met anyone that hadn't used religion as a means of oppressing and destroying spiritual creativity.
Prabhupada was sceptical of politcally motivated activists as he had never met one that was committed to the notion of spiritual development.
I feel unworthy to sit in between the ideas of these two great souls (Prabhupada unquestionably being the greater and indeed pure as opposed to Marx's demonstrable impurity) trying to mediate between their philosophies. I have done my part to encourage the SWP to take religious ideas seriously and they are responding by opening their dialogue to incorporate the idea that a religious person can be a socialist without need to convert to atheism.

I would love if I could inspire Vaishnavas to realise that some of the most spiritually advanced people alive today are engaged in activities intended to make the planet a place offerable to Krishna in spite of their lack of realisation of that objective. We need to break down these barriers of understanding and direct these people to their ultimate spiritual goal. It is capitalism that is holding back the sankirtan movement; the unchecked Vaishya tendency. We need to unlease the power of the masses to spiritually express their own social order which I believe will ultimately result in the organic expression of Varnashrama Dhama and not the false imposition of it from above by Vaishnava capitalists who are currently defiling Prabhupada's movement.

The lotus of human culture expands and develops and eventually closes again. First the Ksatriyas consume the Brahmin class, then the Vaishyas consume the Ksatriyas and eventually the sudras consume the vaishyas and nescience once again reigns. This is Kali Yuga in which the Sudras eventually rule, all other classes having been consumed. However, this is no regular Kali Yuga. A golden age is contained within it and I believe I can see the seeds that Prabhupada sowed fructifying in the high level of compassion and consciousness exhibited by the most advanced members of the working class movement.

Who knows what a golden age in Kali yuga really looks like? Certainly we should follow the principles laid down by Prabhupada but I fear Iskcon has failed to analyse its own political situation in terms of being a capitalist organisation and has fallen to the depths of depravity of which the capitalist class is capable of. We need to look practically at the world situation and not fear politics. The Pandavas were political actors and Prabhupada is most certainly a revolutionary. We must understand world politics in order to change the world. The working class is the only class around today that has the potential to overthrow the corrupt and wicked capitalist class. This is not sentimental, it is scientific and we have to look at what Marx has written with spiritual eyes in order to make it offerable, just as we would look at any material science in terms of how we can purify it and utilise it in the service of Prabhupada's movement. I'm going now because I have to and I'm really grateful that you asked me that and I'm really looking forward to your response. Thank you.

[Gauracandra]

My understanding of Varnashram is that it is very similar to Catholic economic doctrine called Distributism. This is often called Third Way economics. Look up G.K. Chesterton, and a book called The Outline of Sanity. He makes many good points.

One of the problems with Capitalism is it concentrates power and wealth into the hands of fewer and fewer people. Interestingly, state sponsored socialism does the same, but instead of industrialists, it puts the power in even few hands -those of bureaucrats.

Distributism might be called small c Capitalism. It envisions a well distributed small property ownership. As such it believes in laws that support small family farms against agribusiness, and small store ownership over corporate megastores. But the key is the power is decentralised and local. We all have a corruptable heart. We'll all exploit if we can. The industrialist will do this, so will the bureaucrat. The distributist has the same heart, however, since power is devolved to the lowest level (subsidiarity) and since everyone has some ownership, there is a sort of balance. If you own 10 acres of land and I own 20 acres, I can't force you to sell and exploit you (even though this isn't a perfect balance). On the other hand, if I own 10,000 acres, and you own half an acre, thats where you see the demise of the family farm. In addition, they support Guilds for the training of various skills and maintaining wages (so as to oppose cut rate competition). If you're in Scotland you should definitely be able to get a copy of Chesterton's work The Outline of Sanity. Try the library. You might also try Hilaire Belloc's The Servile State (he was the co-founder of distributism with Chesterton).

[Gauracandra]

Here is the wikipedia entry for Distributism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributism

And here you can read The Outline of Sanity:
http://www.dur.ac.uk/martin.ward/gkc/books/Sanity.txt

A small excerpt:

"For instance, Capitalism is really a very unpleasant word. It is also a very unpleasant thing. Yet the thing I have in mind, when I say so, is quite definite and definable; only the name is a very unworkable word for it. But obviously we must have some word for it. When I say "Capitalism," I commonly mean something that may be stated thus: "That economic condition in which there is a class of capitalists, roughly recognizable and relatively small, in whose possession so much of the capital is concentrated
as to necessitate a very large majority of the citizens serving those capitalists for a wage." This particular state of things can and does exist, and we must have some word for it, and some way of discussing it. But this is undoubtedly a very bad word, because it is used by other people to mean quite other things. Some people seem to mean merely private property. Others suppose that capitalism must mean anything involving the use of capital. But if that use is too literal, it is also too loose and even too large. If the use of capital is capitalism, then everything is capitalism. Bolshevism is capitalism and anarchist communism is capitalism; and every revolutionary scheme, however wild, is still capitalism. Lenin and Trotsky believe as much as Lloyd George and Thomas that the economic operations of to-day must leave something over for the economic operations of to-morrow. And that is all that capital means in its economic sense. In that case, the word is useless. My use of it may be arbitrary, but it is not useless. If capitalism means private property, I am capitalist. If capitalism means capital, everybody is capitalist. But if capitalism means this particular condition of capital, only paid out to the mass in the form of wages, then it does mean something, even if it ought to mean something else.

The truth is that what we call Capitalism ought to be called Proletarianism. The point of it is not that some people have capital, but that most people only have wages because they do not have capital. I have made an heroic effort in my time to walk about the world always saying Proletarianism instead of Capitalism."

Also, look up the Mondragon Cooperative in Spain. It is one of the most successful cooperatives in the world, and was started by students of a Catholic priest who wanted to institute Distributism.

[Danielle Field]

I've studied third way politics at university and also experience living in Blair's Third Way paradise. As such I can see that Third Way politics lead to capitulation with the present power balance and offer no way of overthrowing it or tempering it. We are at a critical state in which unless some radical shift in world politics is achieved within the next decade we will have nothing but devastation. The seas are rising and global war is on the cards. In fact the world is already at war and the two sides are Capital and Labour. Capital uses Muslim's as scapegoats, just as it scapegoated Jews in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It goads fundamentalist factions into terrorist acts (I have to stress Islam is a peaceful faith and fundamentalists in no way represent the wishes of the masses). Capitalism doesn't mind terror because terror is what it reeks on the lives of the powerless. To understand the power contained within the working class to radically transform the world is to understand how week the capitalist class really is that it will resort to these tactics.

As for socialist societies being dependent upon bureaucracy it is, I believe inessential for bureaucracy to be perpetuated in the violent manner it is currently manifested if a global socialist revolution is factually achieved. Bureaucracy is necessary to perpetuate socialism in one state, which is a fools notion of socialism. Socialism is a global solution to the attack of the the globalised capitalist class. Third Way thinking is no good for overthrowing outdated notions of nation and power.

Hope that's not too rude but I'm really inimical to third way thinking. It only serves to perpetuate and justify the current abuse of power. Capitalists will not give up their privilege and power without a fight. The small local thinking of which you speak does, however, resonate with the notion of soviets and empowered communities which I am in favour of. However, the question is what needs to take place for those ideas to take root. This is no time to be squemish about revolution and we need to be practical about the means by which we organise and strategise the overthrow of the demonic powers that gorge on the earths resources. We have to do it as a devotional act in order to make the world a place fit for Krishna to be worshipped in all His glory.

[suchandra]

"We have to do it as a devotional act in order to make the world a place fit for Krishna to be worshipped in all His glory."
If I understand you correctly your approach is to first of all remove material injustice (rampant capitalism) from this world and then start to make people self-realized and God-conscious?
Introduce socialism as preliminary state towards the goal of a spiritual human society?
This is of course a most noble way of thinking - not just a few rare souls as Krishna says..

"After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare."

...but instead changing the whole world into a place of transcendentalists, pure servants of Krishna.

Actually one is wise when surrendering unto the Lotus feet of Krishna, but such a mahatma, great soul, is very rare.
Dont you assume that the world's population is already so advanced that they consider spiritual live as worthwhile?
What about if the opposite is true, the whole world wants to enjoy materialism? Introducing socialism by force and then forcing people to develop love of God? May be I'm too realistic, but for me it's even hard to see presently a lot of human beings in this world, rather I see animal consciousness within human bodies, so called humans but acting like crocodiles and rattlesnakes. Socialism like you say has to be introduced by force - but how does it work to change peoples heart of becoming detached from all those pleasures of this world?

The Blessed Lord continues: While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises. One who is not Krsna conscious is subjected to material desires while contemplating the objects of senses. The senses require real engagements, and if they are not engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, they will certainly seek engagement in the service of materialism. In the material world everyone, including Lord Siva and Lord Brahma--to say nothing of other demigods in the heavenly planets--is subjected to the influence of sense objects, and the only method to get out of this puzzle of material existence is to become Krsna conscious. Lord Siva was deep in meditation, but when Parvati agitated him for sense pleasure, he agreed to the proposal, and as a result Kartikeya was born. When Haridasa Thakura was a young devotee of the Lord, he was similarly allured by the incarnation of Maya-devi, but Haridasa easily passed the test because of his unalloyed devotion to Lord Krsna. As illustrated in the above-mentioned verse of Sri Yamunacarya, a sincere devotee of the Lord shuns all material sense enjoyment due to his higher taste for spiritual enjoyment in the association of the Lord. That is the secret of success. One who is not, therefore, in Krsna consciousness, however powerful he may be in controlling the senses by artificial repression, is sure ultimately to fail, for the slightest thought of sense pleasure will agitate him to gratify his desires.

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In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear. BG 2.40

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Last edited by suchandra : 08-22-2006 at 02:54 PM.

[Danielle Field]

Introducing socialism by force and then forcing people to develop love of God? - I don't want to force the general people to do anything. Socialism demands nothing of the people, it is an expression of their desire for a better world. It cannot be attained by force, but the desire for it can be fanned by being aware enough of the world situation to inspire people understand that their world has been stolen from them by the rich and the greedy. And as for forcing people to love God that is impossible. We need to create a situation where people's natural love of God and compassion for one another are not hindered by the economic circumstances in which they find themselves.

The concept of socialist ideas being a false imposition upon the consciousness of the working class by a group of merciless rebels is a representation of socialism as seen through the cowardly eyes of the group which socialist ideas attack. The capitalist class is terrified of socialism because it is the only force which threatens to rob them of their privilege. They like to believe that working class people are too stupid and feckless to organise society, but this is not the case. People when given the right opportunity to act according to their propensity relish the opportunity to do so. When you frustrate people's potential you bring about the dissolution of human culture and all you witness is people's consciousness in decline. Socialist ideas only operate when the working class consciousness is at such a level that they no longer accept this gross parody of socialist ideas from the capitalist class, when they realise the power they have to act collectively as a class for themselves. Don't believe the hype.

Human beings are capable of ridding themselves of the muck of ages by living in advanced conditions but also by aspiring for better conditions. This is why the Varnashrama system is there. Human beings need to work from where they're at towards where they need to go. From each according to their ability to each according to their need. People are at different stages of spiritual development and we need a society that develops all without limiting their potential. There has to be a balance. It demands a society that is subtle and not one based on the principles of competition. The trajectories of spiritual desire and material greed have to be balanced very carefully in order for spirtual goals to be achieved. Repression accomplishes nothing as I learnt at Karuna Bhavan.

In order for people to be able to develop a higher state of consciousness they need to be able to concentrate on the important things in life, take only what they need for the sake of self realisation. We need food, shelter, happy communities and an economic system that enables the potential in human culture to be released. Capitalism is the antithesis of this. It encourages greed and creates a world in its own image. It subverts all the good qualities in human beings by making us think individually and thereby undermining our compassion and concern for the well being of others. It crushes all forms of spiritual development.

We have the power to change this and the world is so thirsty for an end to the misery of individualism. The Neo-liberal agenda has gone too far and it is being maintained by military force. I'm not suggesting we use unnecessary force, only enough to chastise the errant minority which is the capitalist class. Like all demonic personalities they drag the consciousness of those around them down unless they are kept in check. I am suggesting we have the power to collectively shout "Enough!" and bring an end to the use of force, at least for a good age. There is enough people with no vested interest in the continuation of capitalism for it to be overthrown. They are the few. We are the many. The world belongs to Krishna not George Bush.

Thanks for getting back to me. I'll have another look at whats going on tomorrow. Hope thats ok.

[theist]

Srila Prabhupada used this term more than once. Communism dovetails nicely with Vaisnavism. Once in a conversation with his disciples someone brought up the Soviet symbol of the hammer and sickle and Srila Prabhupada responded by saying that the hammer could be taken off and tilak added in it's place. Tilak and sickle. Drop the heavy industrialization and concentrate on agriculture and dedicate that to Krsna. This will bring about a heaven on earth state for the planet and it's residents.

Godless attempts at Communism brought about the Soviet Union, communist China, North Korea etc. which are hardly to be considered worthy of emulation. Gaurachandra pointed out how state communism concentrates power in the hands of even fewer than Captalism. Castro is a prime example. He has positioned it that when he gives up power (by dying it looks like) it will then go to his brother. Looks like a little kingship in the making to me.

The Vaisnava view is that supreme power is eternally held by the Supreme Lord. All ownership rests with Krsna so why should we try to be owners of anything?

The first and ESSENTIAL thing that must be praticed for communism to work is the development of God consciousness. This is where true communism, spiritual communism, can be realized and praticed. This is the point where communism becomes perfect by dovetails itself with krsna's will for the earth.

These are not new ideas. Here is a qute that you are familar with from Sri Isopanishad.

[theist]

TRANSLATION verse 1
Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.

PURPORT
Vedic knowledge is infallible because it comes down through the perfect disciplic succession of spiritual masters, beginning with the Lord Himself. Since He spoke the first word of Vedic knowledge, the source of this knowledge is transcendental. The words spoken by the Lord are called apaurusheya, which indicates that they are not delivered by any mundane person. A living being who lives in the mundane world has four defects: (1) he is certain to commit mistakes; (2) he is subject to illusion; (3) he has a propensity to cheat others; and (4) his senses are imperfect. No one with these four imperfections can deliver perfect knowledge. The Vedas are not produced by such an imperfect creature. Vedic knowledge was originally imparted by the Lord into the heart of Brahma, the first created living being, and Brahma in his turn disseminated this knowledge to his sons and disciples, who have handed it down through history.
Since the Lord is purnam, all-perfect, there is no possibility of His being subjected to the laws of material nature, which He controls. However, both the living entities and inanimate objects are controlled by the laws of nature and ultimately by the Lord's potency. This Isopanishad is part of the Yajur Veda, and consequently it contains information concerning the proprietorship of all things existing within the universe.
The Lord's proprietorship over everything within the universe is confirmed in the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita (7.4-5), where para and apara prakriti are discussed. The elements of nature -- earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and ego -- all belong to the Lord's inferior, material energy (apara prakriti),whereas the living being, the organic energy, is His superior energy (para prakriti). Both of these prakritis, or energies, are emanations from the Lord, and ultimately He is the controller of everything that exists. There is nothing in the universe that does not belong to either the para or the apara prakriti; therefore everything is the property of the Supreme Being.
Because the Supreme Being, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, is the complete person, He has complete and perfect intelligence to adjust everything by means of His different potencies. The Supreme Being is often compared to a fire, and everything organic and inorganic is compared to the heat and light of that fire. Just as fire distributes energy in the form of heat and light, the Lord displays His energy in different ways. He thus remains the ultimate controller, sustainer and dictator of everything. He is the possessor of all potencies, the knower of everything and the benefactor of everyone. He is full of inconceivable opulence, power, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation.
One should therefore be intelligent enough to know that except for the Lord no one is a proprietor of anything. One should accept only those things that are set aside by the Lord as his quota. The cow, for instance, gives milk, but she does not drink that milk: she eats grass and straw, and her milk is designated as food for human beings. Such is the arrangement of the Lord. Thus we should be satisfied with those things He has kindly set aside for us, and we should always consider to whom those things we possess actually belong.
Take, for example, our dwelling, which is made of earth, wood, stone, iron, cement and so many other material things. If we think in terms of Sri Isopanishad, we must know that we cannot produce any of these building materials ourselves. We can simply bring them together and transform them into different shapes by our labor. A laborer cannot claim to be a proprietor of a thing just because he has worked hard to manufacture it.
In modern society there is always a great quarrel between the laborers and the capitalists. This quarrel has taken an international shape, and the world is in danger. Men face one another in enmity and snarl just like cats and dogs. Sri Isopanishad cannot give advice to the cats and dogs, but it can deliver the message of Godhead to man through the bona fide acaryas (holy teachers). The human race should take the Vedic wisdom of Sri Isopanishad and not quarrel over material possessions. One must be satisfied with whatever privileges are given to him by the mercy of the Lord. There can be no peace if the communists or capitalists or any other party claims proprietorship over the resources of nature, which are entirely the property of the Lord. The capitalists cannot curb the communists simply by political maneuvering, nor can the communists defeat the capitalists simply by fighting for stolen bread. If they do not recognize the proprietorship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all the property they claim to be their own is stolen. Consequently they will be liable to punishment by the laws of nature. Nuclear bombs are in the hands of both communists and capitalists, and if both do not recognize the proprietorship of the Supreme Lord, it is certain that these bombs will ultimately ruin both parties. Thus in order to save themselves and bring peace to the world, both parties must follow the instructions of Sri Isopanishad.
Human beings are not meant to quarrel like cats and dogs. They must be intelligent enough to realize the importance and aim of human life. The Vedic literature is meant for humanity and not for cats and dogs. Cats and dogs can kill other animals for food without incurring sin, but if a man kills an animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste buds, he is responsible for breaking the laws of nature. Consequently he must be punished.
The standard of life for human beings cannot be applied to animals. The tiger does not eat rice and wheat or drink cow's milk, because he has been given food in the shape of animal flesh. Among the many animals and birds, some are vegetarian and others are carnivorous, but none of them transgress the laws of nature, which have been ordained by the will of the Lord. Animals, birds, reptiles and other lower life forms strictly adhere to the laws of nature; therefore there is no question of sin for them, nor are the Vedic instructions meant for them. Human life alone is a life of responsibility.
It is wrong, however, to think that simply by becoming a vegetarian one can avoid transgressing the laws of nature. Vegetables also have life, and while it is nature's law that one living being is meant to feed on another, for human beings the point is to recognize the Supreme Lord. Thus one should not be proud of being a strict vegetarian. Animals do not have developed consciousness by which to recognize the Lord, but a human being is sufficiently intelligent to take lessons from the Vedic literature and thereby know how the laws of nature are working and derive profit out of such knowledge. If a man neglects the instructions of the Vedic literature, his life becomes very risky. A human being is therefore required to recognize the authority of the Supreme Lord and become His devotee. He must offer everything for the Lord's service and partake only of the remnants of food offered to the Lord. This will enable him to discharge his duty properly. In the Bhagavad-gita (9.26) the Lord directly states that He accepts vegetarian food from the hands of a pure devotee. Therefore a human being should not only become a strict vegetarian but should also become a devotee of the Lord, offer the Lord all his food and then partake of such prasadam, or the mercy of God. Only those who act in this way can properly discharge the duties of human life. Those who do not offer their food to the Lord eat nothing but sin and subject themselves to various types of distress, which are the results of sin (Bg. 3.13).
The root of sin is deliberate disobedience of the laws of nature through disregarding the proprietorship of the Lord. Disobeying the laws of nature or the order of the Lord brings ruin to a human being. Conversely, one who is sober, who knows the laws of nature, and who is not influenced by unnecessary attachment or aversion is sure to be recognized by the Lord and thus become eligible to go back to Godhead, back to the eternal home.

[suchandra]

Originally Posted by Danielle Field Like all demonic personalities they drag the consciousness of those around them down unless they are kept in check. I am suggesting we have the power to collectively shout "Enough!" and bring an end to the use of force, at least for a good age. There is enough people with no vested interest in the continuation of capitalism for it to be overthrown. They are the few. We are the many. The world belongs to Krishna not George Bush.

I find your work well researched and quite interesting, since you started this topic on spiritual socialism you surely want to discuss details in order to make things more clear. My question is who actually controls the monetary system in your model of spiritual socialism?
When looking at the root of modern global "capitalism" we soon discover a very questionable global monetary system. Without changing this how you want to introduce socialism? Wherever you find nations stuck within huge indebtedness it should be clear that they have a corrupt monetary system installed.
Under the Federal Reserve Bank Act, private bankers control our economy. The private FED controls interest rates and the amount of money in the economy. These factors determine either economic prosperity or the lack thereof. If we don't change this system in near future the only thing our taxes will pay is the interest on the national debt.
By abolishing the FED, we would not pay interest on Federal Reserve Notes. So, the first way is to have the government print the money, debt and interest- free, and circulate it through the economy for use as a medium of exchange. There is no tax levied to pay interest on the currency in circulation because it is debt and interest-free.
Under the FED system, when a new dollar is issued, we pay taxes to pay for the dollar as the principal (debt) plus interest on the dollar. We pay for each new dollar twice, and who gets most of the money? The private bankers, who control this money.
England never gave up on owning the United States. They are still silently fighting the same Revolutionary War. The private Bank of England, owns and controls the FED - not only the FED - the ECB, Bank of India, Bank of China as well, in sum 98% of the global currencies.
The private FED banking system collects billions of dollars in interest annually and distributes the profits to its shareholders. The Congress illegally gave the FED the right to print money (through the Treasury) at no interest to the FED. The FED creates money from nothing, and loans it back to us through banks, and charges interest on our currency. The FED also buys Government debt with money printed on a printing press and charges U.S. taxpayers interest. Many Congressmen and Presidents say this is fraud.
But how to introduce socialism on the basis of a global monetary system controlled and owned by private bankers?

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MyWay, Thursday, March 16, 2006--Senate Passes $2.8 Trillion 2007 Budget
The Senate on Thursday passed an election-year budget plan forsaking President Bush's tax cuts and Medicare curbs, hours after lifting the ceiling on the national debt to $9 trillion.
BY Andrew Taylor
Treasury Secretary John Snow applauded Congress for "protecting the full faith and credit of the United States." He said it ensures that the government "can deliver on promises already made, such as Social Security and Medicare payments and aid for the victims of the 2005 hurricanes."
The present limit on the debt is $8.2 trillion.
The increase is an unhappy necessity - the alternative would be a disastrous first-ever default on U.S. obligations - that greatly overshadowed a mostly symbolic, weeklong debate on the GOP's budget resolution.
Democrats blasted the bill, saying it was needed because of fiscal mismanagement by Bush, who came to office when the government was running record surpluses.
"When it comes to deficits, this president owns all the records," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "The three largest deficits in our nation's history have all occurred under this administration's watch."

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Morning Walk with Srila Prabhupada, Johannesburg, October 16, 1975
You are cheated

Harikesa: So actually this money doesn't even exist in Vedic society—money.
Prabhupada: Money is not required. You require things. Just like instead of money, you are getting papers. Money means gold. Where is gold? You are cheated. Money means gold. So instead of possessing gold, you are possessing some paper, written there, "hundred dollars." And you are such a fool, you are satisfied. You are being cheated. Bank's cheque and currency notes, you keep it in your...—"Oh, here is my money." Is that money? Just see.
Devotee: They only do that to make it easier for them, because they've got so much money that they can't carry it...
Prabhupada: That's all right, but actually it is not money. You are befooled. You are such a fool that you accept a piece of paper as money. Therefore I say you are rascal. That is my business. If I say "Government, give me gold," and government has passed law, "No, you cannot possess gold," that means cheating. How I shall keep gold, that is my business. First of all you give me gold. It is due to me. But you are giving me paper. That means cheating is begun from you.
Harikesa: How will the government decide what my gold is and what his gold is? How does the gold get distributed?
Prabhupada: Gold coins. Formerly there was gold coins. We have seen in our childhood gold coins, silver coins. There was no paper.
Harikesa: But you have to do something to get it.
Prabhupada: Yes. I will have to do something. That is another thing. But why you are cheating me? Instead of gold, you are giving me paper.