Pink House

“Thoreau, Gandhi, Schumacher... Over the last century or so, a number of original thinkers have had the audacity to suggest that economics is not only about how humanity satisfies its needs but also about what those needs should be. It appears that they were onto something, for, today, it is precisely excessive human needs that have brought the earth to a state of crisis. If there is to be a way forward, it will likely involve the exemplary rethinking being led by people such as Abhay and Jane at the Pink House.”—Robert Leonard, Intellectual historian and Schumacher scholar, Université du Québec à Montréal

“At a time when so few of us can envision a truly imaginative future, Pink House has found a way. I applaud these efforts and support them as best I can.”—Carol Becker, Writer/Professor/Dean Columbia University

ICE CREAM!

As for Pink House, this year Jane and I used our savings meant for Christmas presents for each other and our family and friends to host a great ice cream giveaway at midnight Christmas Eve and it was truly beautiful.

Jane opened the store at midnight and asked the throng of kids outside, “Who wants ice cream?”

All the kids froze midplay as in the children's game.

"For free."

I can honestly report that for three whole seconds the kids' bodies stayed frozen while their faces changed from lack of comprehension to disbelief to utter joy for I was watching them from the Pink House terrace and gesturing a hearty invitation to them.

And then the mad rush was a pleasure to behold!

Soon the street was full of lauging kids (and we soon invited the eager-faced grown-up ‘kids-at-heart’ who were watching) squeaking loudly to their friends up and down the hills, "iiiice cream!!!!"

Abhay

Wealth and illth

Dear friends

In the realm of economics the only distinction that matters is between that which is used and that which is not used. What is used is wealth. What is not used is negative wealth, or what John Ruskin called illth.

One of the reasons we find ourselves in a world that is in crisis is because the world's illth, the unused portion of the stuff of the world far outweighs what is actually used.

Today illth, or negative wealth, far outweighs wealth itself and creates an ever increasing burden on life.

None of the traditional distinctions between necessities and luxuries, capital and consumption goods, small and big scale of operations address this essential matter raised by Ruskin. All that matters is that everything we have we must use.

Gandhi said, "If you use it you should keep it." And it follows from that that if you don't use it you should give it away. All the illth or negative wealth of the world can turn into wealth simply by people keeping what they use and giving everything else away.

Contrary to a key tenet of modern economics, freedom is not the ability to consume and hoard freely. True freedom is net wealth, or

True Freedom = Wealth minus Illth

True freedom is in using everything that we own and giving away what we don't use, or

Hoarding = 0

One of my student projects in my economics classes involved making an inventory of all the wealth and illth that the student possessed and after due thought organizing a giveaway of their illth.

My students uniformly reported feeling lighter and happier with their purposeful actions, and their illth went back into circulation, turning into wealth.

Wealth, like blood, is of no use until it circulates.

Abhay

Pink House

Bohol island

Philippines

Sisyphus and Arjuna

When times are hard I remind myself that the wise of the East and the West have talked about such times with equal wisdom.

For example, Camus and Krishna teach a lesson that is startlingly similar. (1)

We are entitled to our life’s work but not to its fruits.

Thus Sisyphus with his giant boulder and Arjuna with Gandiva, his divine bow, separated though they are by oceans of both time as well as space, must simply do their work.

And leave the fruits of that work to Providence.

Abhay

Pink House

22 November

2020

Note

The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus, 1942 and the Bhagavad Gita, second century BCE.

Pink House First Anniversary gf.me/u/y6q87z

PINK HOUSE ESTABLISHED 19 NOVEMBER 2019

Pink House is a social business, a term originally coined by economist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, creator of micro-lending.
Through an exchange of letters in the 2010s, Yunus mentored Abhay on the concept of Social Business.
When Jane and I created Pink House on November 19 2019, we adapted the idea to include mindfulness meditation, community-building, a revival of social reciprocity and zero profits in a community of five-hundred households on Bohol island in the Philippines.
Abhay and Jane
Pink House
Bohol island
The Philippines
19 November 2019

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Abhay Ghiara

Abhay Ghiara is a multifaceted scholar and artist who seamlessly blends economics, performance, and building community worldwide. As an economics professor at Central Oregon Community College (COCC), he applies economic principles to real-world challenges, particularly in marginalized communities. His experiences in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and the slums of Mumbai have shaped his understanding of global inequality and inspired his work.

Ghiara's artistic pursuits extend beyond the classroom. He creates thought-provoking interdisciplinary performance lectures that explore the intersections of culture, economics, and society. His collaborations with Every house has a door and his role in Broken Aquarium demonstrate his commitment to pushing artistic boundaries.

A dedicated advocate for international exchange, Ghiara is a lifetime member of the Fulbright Association. He has served as a Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Scholar and has contributed to the Fulbright Commission and the United States-India Educational Foundation as a peer reviewer.

Beyond his academic and artistic endeavors, Ghiara and his wife Jane are building Pink House, a community-oriented project on Bohol Island in the Philippines. This ambitious undertaking combines a home, a store, a koi meditation pond, and a yogic meditation center, reflecting their commitment to holistic well-being and cultural exchange.

Our Anniversary campaign is now underway Let’s Make Pink House Christmas Magical Together! :) .

As always, we set no dollar goal nor minimums.

Community-building: the creation or enhancement of community among five hundred families within our neighborhood on Bohol island by creatively addressing common needs and building reciprocity.

Mindfulness: living in the moment and being fully aware of our inner and outer experiences, our own needs as well as the needs of all others in our community.

Reciprocity: that delicate cobweb of human interrelationships that transforms “the masses into a society.” (Gandhi)

Social business: a mindful business with the stated aims of zero profits and community-building.

Pink House dictionary of useful terms

A to Z (under construction)

Colonization: a failure of the collective imagination in favor of material structures replacing human-animal relationships.

Community-building: the creation or enhancement of community among five hundred families within our neighborhood on Bohol island by creatively addressing common needs and building reciprocity.

Cookies: Jane is a wonderful baker and our cookies are always made with fresh butter, local whole wheat flour and aluminum-free baking powder.

Decolonization: return of the imagination in favor of deep and lasting human-animal relationships, reciprocity, family, community, and society.

Eggs: the eggs we eat and sell in Pink Store are local farm-fresh, organic eggs, delivered the day that they are laid.

Frozen foods: we are always looking for ways to introduce healthy, organic, preservative-free foods to Pink Store. In October 2020, we invested in a large freezer, connected with a local supplier of fresh meat & fish, and started carrying our own line of frozen foods, much appreciated by our customers, most of whom do not own a refrigerator, who can thaw out their frozen purchases made during the day and cook a healthy meal by sun down.

Glass: we use reusable glass bottles for our drinks as far as possible, and collect them after use to be returned to the local soft drink, energy drink, and beer bottling plants.

Ice cream: our Pink Store bestseller! Priced at half of what the grocery store in town charges, our giant ice cream freezer (used solely for ice cream, the meat has a freezer of its own), has lollies and cones, cups and tubs, to serve every taste of every child (and child-at-heart).

COMPLETED PROJECTS (Fully operational)

Pink Store: a community grocery store with high quality products sold at very low prices to our neighbors consisting of five hundred families.

Koi meditation pond: a public microspace for contemplation complete with benches, a bridge across the pond & of course, beautiful Koi fish! A place for family and neighbors—and in the future, also international visitors—to mingle mindfully.

Rice now pay later: Any neighboring family may obtain rice from us and pay us when they can.

Great ice-cream giveaway: at Christmas and New Years we invite children (and children-at-heart) from our family and neighbors to join us for free ice-cream by the koi meditation pond.

BLUEPRINTED PROJECTS (Awaiting funds)

Community kitchen: A ‘dirty kitchen’ with wood-burning stove for the community and visitors alike.

Yoga and Meditation center: a tranquil place where visitors and locals can deepen their practice of yoga and meditation.

Guest-house: a small guest house within our home for students and international visitors to the Yoga and Mediation center.

Library: a children’s library, the first of its kind on Bohol island.

Arts Center: a children’s performing and visual arts center, the first of its kind on Bohol island.

Recent appreciations

“Pink House puts into practice a beautiful vision of what could be, manifested by you and Jane and members of your community!”

“Thanks Abhay and Jane, this is so clear and wonderful!”

“I'm glad you included me in your fund drive. Next year I hope to be more generous. I am proud of you for this work. Merry Christmas!“

“Happy Anniversary to Pink House. We wish you a bright future, and we hope to visit one day!”

“A bright spot in the world :))”

“I want to see them succeed in this exciting endeavor!”

“Thank you for inviting me to donate and sharing the lovely work you are doing. I wish you and your community love, light, joy, peace, inspiration, and grace.”

"For those of you who know and love Abhay Ghiara, wise trickster performer economist, and for those who may get that pleasure one day...consider a donation to Pink House!"

”Dear Abhay, thank you for being an inspiration in this world and doing everything that you do with so much PLAY and joy and invitation for engagement. I hope to one day to visit you and Jane on your island. In the meantime keep teaching through your emails, your acts, your big big heart.”

“You are great at fundraising! I love how you did it. I have to do it all the time for our festival, and yours was inspiring to me. So much fresher and more playful and sincere than most.”

“I'm so happy to see you building community in Bohol!”