Fat Fritz is one of my good friends, and we disagree about just about everything except food, which he eats way too much of. He also drinks prodigious quantities of beer, which he brews himself.
Lately Fat Fritz has been on a crusade against the oil companies, and anyone else he thinks make "obscene" profits. He has allies like Joe Biden, Tom Dodd, and Nancy Pelosi. All of them are on the record as wanting to take a look at corporate profits, which they claim are excessive, and evil.
According to that logic, the majority of businesses in America must be evil, and John Q Public must be Satan himself.
I was talking with a Buddhist friend of mine the other day, and I asked him what the Buddhist point of view would be on this issue. He laughed, and said the answer might surprise me. I told him to hit me with his best shot.
It was just then that Fat Fritz arrived, beer in hand. I told him that Lama was just about to tell me what Buddha thought about business. He smiled from ear to ear, and said that Buddha would agree with him.
Lama started by saying that Buddha fully approved of doing business. Then he said he not only approved of doing business, but that it was the duty of a businessman to make as much money as possible. The more money he made, the more spiritual he would become. In fact, he said the wealthier a man is, the better. The more money he had, the more money he could put in circulation.
By chance I looked at Fat Fritz, and all the color had drained from his face. His mouth was hanging open, and I thought he was going to fall off his chair. He was dumbfounded.
Even Lama paused, and asked Fat Fritz if he was okay.
Fat Fritz said that he had never heard such a thing, and that he thought true Buddhists gave up everything.
Lama said a Buddhist could give up everything if he wanted to, but didn't know what purpose that would serve, other than another hungry mouth to feed.
Then he went on, saying that many well meaning people come to Asia to learn about Buddhism, and when they get home they distort the meaning of what they have been told for any number of reasons. They create what he called Ultra Light Buddhism, which really has no relationship at all to what Buddha actually belived.
But politically it is very palatable, and no one rebukes them for misusing the truth.
Just for kicks I asked Lama about the oil companies. I wanted to see if I could really shake up Fat Fritz.
"They are doing their jobs," replied Lama.
"They pay tens of thousands of salaries, and they provide an income for those who invest in their companies. Isn't that what they are supposed to do?"
Fat Fritz started warming up. "But they made $40 billion dollars in the middle of a recession. Isn't that obscene?"
"No," said the Lama. "Wouldn't you expect the largest company in the world to have large profits? I think I would be looking at the other companies who can't seem to do things right, or are breaking the law by misusing other people's money."
Fat Fritz went silent.
From the big saddle,
Jim Whelan The Chairman of the Board
P.S. What we do here at the ranch is try to help you maximize your hard earned money. We do things better, faster, and at a price that is more than fair.
thejoanrandallagency.com 206-407-3124.
