Category: Society (Page 1 of 4)

The recent announcement that Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder, and his wife Priscilla Chan would be “giving away” their fortune to charity has become the subject of some controversy. It turns out that the new charitable entity that Zuckerberg and Chan have set up is actually a for-profit company and several critics have said that what is really happening is that this rich couple is just trying to evade taxes and then be able to decide which charitable causes to support. For me the controversy is actually deeper than about one couple deciding what to do with their vast fortune. What we should really be asking is why do we need philanthropy in the first place? Continue reading

In January I published my memoir, From Brooklyn to Benares and Back, and wrote about my experiences in the 1960s when I first came in contact with Eastern spirituality. I also wrote about the social upheavals of that colorful era.

One friend who read the book remarked “I wished I was born earlier so I, too, could experience what Dada describes.” A few other people said the same thing. While they may wish to have been born earlier, I feel that this younger generation is more fortunate than me. Continue reading

By Dada Vedaprajinananda

The surprise candidate of the presidential primary race is Donald Trump. He is now the front runner in public opinion polls among Republicans and as I travel around I hear ordinary people saying good things about him. Despite his public appeal he is widely denounced by commentators on the left and on the right. One political pundit, though not in favor of Trump, said that the reason for his success is that his campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” speaks to what common people are feeling.

Let’s look at the slogan and see whether Trump can actually deliver on his promise. Trump’s general idea is that America was once a great superpower but is now in a state of decline due to “stupid” politicians. Before we ask whether America is truly in decline and what is the cause of that decline, it is important to decide whether America was once “Great.” Continue reading