Dharamsala, 18th April – The members of the Central Tibetan Administration had the rare opportunity to listen to a talk by the well-known ecological activist Dr. Vandana Shiva. The talk was titled ‘Towards Compassionate Technology and Compassionate Economy’ and was organized by the Home Department of the Central Administration with support from the Kashag.
In his introductory speech, the Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche thanked the speaker for having come all the way to Dharamsala to share her knowledge and experience with the Tibetans. The Kalon Tripa said with optimism that thanks to her illustrious background as a scientist, physicist and thinker, her lecture on the need to promote organic farming in the exile communities would not be received with skepticism. On the other hand he said, if he were to speak on that topic, it might easily be written off, coming as it did from an outdated monk.
Dr. Vandana began her interesting and highly insightful lecture with words of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, concerning what it means to live like a human being based on the basic dharma of compassion. It left the audience at once pleased to have this new insight and at the same time upset about the indifference of the big corporations towards future generations. Resoundingly supported by the facts, the eminent thinker eloquently deconstructed a world which has become a servant to the interests of a select few.
Dr. Vandana spoke at length on the evils of globalization. What she describes as ‘a new wave of consumerism and a profit-generating economy’ which became institutionalized in 1995 with the establishment of the World Trade Organization. According to Dr. Vandana, globalization is not a phenomenon of social change; rather, it is an economic process: a system set up to answer the needs and greed of a few big companies.
Dr. Vandana is the Director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy and is a recipient of the Alternative Nobel Peace Prize (the Right Livelihood Award).
