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Evidently, Jennifer had completed her train of thought because she became quiet. While listening to her, I had been catching glimpses of a few possibilities that seemed quite consonant with certain aspects of her perspective. Although these ideas ran in a somewhat different direction, I decided to see what she thought about these possibilities.

I began by saying: "If I understand your position, Jennifer, one might argue that, in many ways, capitalism works because it is rooted in the ambitions, desires, purposes and motivations of the ego or false self. Whether one is talking supply-side or demand-side economics, the fuels which run the capitalist engine are so many crude, refined and blended grades of ego.

"Unfortunately, a variety of pollutants are inherent in these fuels. Toxic elements such as greed, oppression, exploitation, selfishness, corruption, heartlessness, and mindless consumption, all have a very marked tendency to lead to the abuse, enslavement and destruction of individuals, families, societies, resources and the Earth.

"Undoubtedly, capitalism does provide a means of helping to feed, house and clothe human beings. Nonetheless, it often does so in a way that is reminiscent of various treatments for cancer. These treatments engage doctors in a race to try to stop the cancer from killing the patient before the treatment does.

"However, unlike medical practitioners who know enough to discontinue, for example, chemotherapy or radiation therapy when the cancer has been checked, most practitioners of capitalism have none of these sensibilities. Long after our basic requirements for life have been met, we continue to pump the toxic dimensions of our egos into our lives and the lives of others. As a result, the very course of economic treatment that has been used to save our physical lives is now killing us, both physically as well as spiritually.

"Oddly enough, the reason why communism, in many ways, does not work is because it is rooted in an inherently unstable dynamic which is the inverse of capitalism. Capitalism requires the activities of the ego in order for it to work, whereas communism needs to curtail the activities of the ego if communism is to work.

"Communism is based on certain philosophical ideals that delineate what are considered, by some, to be a just distribution and use of resources for both individuals and society. Nonetheless, the false self has absolutely no interest, except, perhaps, on occasion, self-interest, to pursue the ideals of communism. These ideals are in opposition to the nature of the ego.

"In fact, the practice of communism, along with the practice of capitalism, has been replete with many kinds of corruption, exploitation, oppression, and abuse of human rights. All of this is a reflection of the dominant role which the false self plays in such systems.

"From your perspective, Jennifer, the only force capable of curbing the appetites of the ego is a spiritual one. Communism, however, is inherently opposed to, and denies the value of, the spiritual principles, practices and disciplines that are necessary to overcome the narrow self-interests of the ego and, thereby, bring to realization, the ideals of justice which are at the heart of such an economic system.

"With considerable pride and vehemence, capitalists are fond of pointing out that the ideals of communism are entirely absent from our way of conducting business. In the gospel of capitalism, whatever distribution of goods and services is established through the, supposedly, blind forces of the market will generate the most efficient distribution of resources.

"Furthermore, according to the capitalist mentality, whatever is efficient is believed to play a fundamental role in maximizing the utility function of society as a whole. Consequently, an efficient economic system becomes an integral part of any theory of justice.

"Once again, Jennifer, from your perspective, the only thing that is capable of countervailing a capitalist's obsession with efficient self-interest is spirituality. However, although any given capitalist may, like his or her communist counterpart, rebel against accepting the remedy which spirituality offers, many capitalists tend to do so in a much more duplicitous fashion than would an advocate of communism.

"In general, a capitalist will do one of two things with respect to the issue of spirituality in the market place. On the one hand, she or he may try to claim that spirituality is an unwarranted intrusion into, and disturbance of, the harmonious, efficient workings of market forces.

"If this should be the case, then this kind of capitalist will want to place spirituality under the authority of an ideology of confinement and separate spheres. In other words, the ego does not want considerations of God, morality, truth, or justice interfering with business, but believes, nonetheless, that going to the mosque, synagogue or church on, respectively Friday, Saturday or Sunday, is a good hedge against an uncertain market in spiritual futures.

"Another way in which a capitalist may respond to spirituality is to try to enlist its assistance and support. For instance, such an individual may attempt to use spirituality to justify the ego's agenda. As a result, greed, ambition, desire, selfishness and material preoccupations all become transformed into spiritual values.

"On the other hand, the false self may use spirituality to legitimize whatever injustices, inequities and so on that emerge as a result of the play of market forces. The famous invisible hand of the market becomes the Hand of God.

"Consequently, people who are successful and wealthy are those who are acting in accordance with the wishes of Divinity, whereas those who are not successful or wealthy are acting in opposition to the laws of God. Everyone gets their just desserts, and issues of oppression, human rights abuses, exploitation, unfairness and corruption merely become woven into the 'natural', if not Divine, order of the invisible forces that set the economic table on which these just desserts are to be served.

"Very few capitalists ever seem to question why we should permit the market to determine the value of things. The market is, after all, not the unbiased, neutral arbitrator that capitalist theorists often try to claim is the case.

"Although the market does provide a mechanism for helping us to satisfy basic material needs, in point of fact, if the satisfaction of such needs is all that is at issue, then capitalism is a terribly wasteful and inefficient way of acquiring the necessities of life. In reality, of course, capitalism is about satisfying the hunger of the ego for different varieties of wealth.

"These various forms of wealth have very little to do with just acquiring the basic amenities of life. Economic growth is, for the most part, just a reflection of the expanding horizons of desire and whim being given expression through the activities of a collectivity of false selves.

"Under these circumstances, the efficiency of the market is almost always a complex function of what is of value to a variety of competing false selves. To the extent this is true, then the market operates in accordance with, and reflects, qualities of the false self rather than the qualities of spirituality or any other approach to valuation.

"The notion of efficiency is allowed to dictate what goes on in markets, but whether the things which are being done in the name of efficiency ought to be done at all, is an entirely separate matter. Efficiency does have a moral dimension to it, since wastage can never be defended, but the issue of efficiency arises only after a decision has been made to go ahead with some project or other. Efficiency cannot answer the question of whether such a project should be undertaken in the first place.

"Moreover, not doing something can be even more efficient than doing something efficiently. Not doing certain things can save time, energy and resources, as well as help prevent a further degradation of the environment.

"Indeed, in a very fundamental way, the most morally defensible form of efficiency may involve a combination of things that are done, along with things which are left undone. The problem becomes one of deciding what belongs in these respective categories of activity and non-activity.

"There is an additional dimension to the efficiency issue. More specifically, establishing the proper relationship between cost-effectiveness and the quality of what is offered as a product or service is not a matter that is straightforward and without ambiguity.

"There are a large number of degrees of freedom which enter into the costing process for a given product or service. Nevertheless, not all levels of expenditure will be capable of providing the minimal amount of quality that are necessary to fulfil all the duties of care that one has with respect to providing services and products.

"When trying to determine what efficiency means in any given context, one has to take a number of things into consideration. Factors such as durability, workmanship, safety, environmental ramifications, the potential adverse impact of a product or service on individuals or society, functional effectiveness, considerations of resource depletion, as well as fairness to both clients and employees- all of these factors have a bearing on decisions concerning efficiency."

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