Beginner’s Mind is a special project collecting insightful essays written by US college students who have attended experiential-learning courses related to Buddhism. Some of the authors identify as Buddhists, for others it is their first encounter with the Buddhadharma. All are sharing reflections and impressions on what they’ve learned, how it has impacted their lives, and how they might continue to engage with the teaching.

Brandon Pham wrote this essay for his Buddhist Modernism course at the University of Southern California. Brandon is a sophomore majoring in Business Administration at USC. After graduation, he hopes to become a monastic in the Plum Village tradition.

Conditioned Markets: Intention, Dependent Origination, and Structural Precarity in US Capitalism

Precarity is the persistent instability and insecurity that characterizes our economy. Economic instability today comes in the form of the housing crisis, wealth inequality, and the slower creation of new jobs. This is often seen as the normal and unavoidable nature of a self-correcting, cyclical economy. However, dependent origination teaches us that outcomes are a reflection of causes and conditions. Intentions condition outcomes, which implies that large systems, too, have outcomes that are dependent on the intentions of the system. 

The dominant intention in US capitalism is to make as much profit as possible. The instability we see is not accidental, but conditioned by this priority. By analyzing both intention and dependent origination, we can see that economic systems operate through the collective intentions of society rather than through natural and neutral mechanisms driven by objective market forces. This is important because structural precarity becomes a conditioned result when profit becomes the dominant intention.

In the Cetanasutta (SN 12.38), the Buddha establishes intention within the broader framework of dependent origination, not simply as an isolated mental event, but as something originating from previously fueled forces. He states: “Mendicants, what you intend or plan, and what you have underlying tendencies for become a support for the continuation of consciousness.”

This suggests that our intentions combine with our habits to reinforce future events associated with these behaviors. By linking intention with the growth of consciousness, the sutta implies that repeatedly prioritizing certain ideas and behaviors increases the structural direction toward specific orientations of experience. It is like being on a train and adding more fuel to it so that it runs faster in a certain direction. 

This challenges the notion that actions arise from neutral and natural mechanisms. Instead, outcomes emerge from previously fueled conditioned thought patterns that are continuously shaped and reinforced. When paired with dependent origination, intention appears as both conditioned and conditioning. 

In the Vibhangasutta (SN 12.2), the Buddha states: “Ignorance is a requirement for choices. Choices are a requirement for consciousness.” Since intention is a part of formations (Pali: sankhara), it arises due to previous causes and, at the same time, conditions further action and consciousness. Buddhist thought frames becoming as deriving from conditioned processes rather than simple autonomous agency.

If profit is the dominant structuring condition, then wages, labor protections, and job stability, risk, and security are affected over time. Markets cannot be neutral since they require human decisions and policies that are fueled by a variety of demands and cultural habits. The conditions that shape markets are the emotions of people invested in the economy and the demand for profit. As the Cetanasutta explains: “What you intend or plan, and what you have underlying tendencies for become a support for the continuation of consciousness.”

These conditions are repeated priorities that are built into the capitalist system. In the Cakkavattisutta (DN 26), when rulers fail to provide economic support, poverty arises and leads to crime and instability, showing how material conditions produce social consequences. Since capitalism is based on the priority and intention of profit, the other benefits the system is claimed to have are not strongly supported and can lead to problems. Profit does not reflect human needs or prioritize the well-being of the people.

Suffering arises through conditioned phenomena, and institutional systems must also be viewed through the lens of dependent formations shaped by habitually sustained priorities and actions. When this concept is applied to contemporary US capitalism, we can see that its prioritization of profit produces the outcomes that follow. 

Dependent origination shows that, at all levels of interaction, continuous conditions generate repeated results. In the Cakkavattisutta, the Buddha explains that when rulers don’t provide money to the poor, poverty becomes widespread. When poverty is widespread, stealing becomes widespread. When stealing becomes widespread, weapons become widespread. When weapons become widespread, killing becomes widespread. (DN 26)

It is not individual greed that causes this chain of violence—there were many conditions leading up to this outcome. It began with the failure of rulers to provide material support, which compelled these people to look toward stealing. The people did not look toward stealing until they lacked what they needed. 

Since the sutta demonstrates how poverty leads to theft and violence, this implies that economic insecurity is not morally neutral. It produces predictable social effects. Since profit is prioritized in the US capitalist system, stable wages, labor protections, public support, and long-term security become threats. Unstable employment, debt, and housing insecurity thereby become widespread patterns. Dependent origination suggests that these outcomes are conditioned by structuring priorities. 

We can see the roots of society problems in the US in a way comparable to the Cakkavattisutta. The governing institution is not providing enough for the lower class, thus forcing them to seek alternative methods, such as stealing. As the Vibhangasutta states: “When ignorance fades away and ceases with nothing left over, choices cease. . . . That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.”

If conditions change, then outcomes will also change. We can apply this to our current economic system by changing the underlying intentions. We can prioritize human rights and happiness. We can measure economic growth not by how much more money we are making, but rather through a sort of happiness index that measures whether we can meet the needs of the population.

Since dependent origination applies to all conditioned phenomena, it applies to global systems as much as it does to individuals. If modern economies prioritize growth and profit, inequality and labor instability will continue to exist. Dependent origination teaches us that global economic structures are transformable with the right intention focused on the very beings they support. This matters on a global scale because it helps us see that we can make great improvements to our economy by changing the structure of intention. Our individual intentions make up the economic system, so by changing our spending habits and economic goals, we can make significant strides for society.

Reflection on AI use

I used AI as a tool only to help find sources to support my writing. I did not use it to generate new ideas. It was more like a consultant that helped me get ideas flowing. The process of learning and writing with AI showed me that I am not a completely separate self. This essay does, on some level, show ChatGPT through its findings of evidence as well as my writing abilities. I was able to freely write this essay because I had AI tools at my disposal. The essay would have not turned out as it did without the use of AI.

References

Sujato, Bhikkhu. Cetanāsutta (SN 12.38). SuttaCentral: https://suttacentral.net/sn12.38/en/sujato

Sujato, Bhikkhu. Cakkavatti-sīhanāda sutta (DN 26): SuttaCentral. https://suttacentral.net/dn26/en/sujato

Sujato, Bhikkhu. Vibhaṅgasutta (SN 12.2). SuttaCentral: https://suttacentral.net/sn12.2

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