Question

Would the Buddha, if he was still alive, consider life in the Western world as wrong livelihood?

Answer

In the Buddha's life, there were kings, queens, generals, armies, police, bankers, farmers, carpenters, there were thieves, there were murders, there was prostitution. There was basically all of the same kind of livelihoods that we have today. So, no, I don't think the Buddha would consider the Western world as really much different as far as livelihood goes. There may be a lot more variations now. Sure, we have some more specific livelihoods, there were certainly no computer scientists back in the Buddha's days. But really, basically, all the different livelihoods that we have today fall into the same categories of livelihoods that existed during the Buddha's lifetime.

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