A Buddhist monk with a Texas accent told Arthur Brooks that capitalism was not good — it was great.

To Brooks’ surprise, Swami had a Texas accent and often called him, “dude.” Before becoming a monk, Swami had been an extremely successful businessman who was to make millions.

Swami told Brooks the secret to life: “abundance without attachment — use things, love people.”

Through talks with Swami Yan Muni, Brooks developed ideas on the importance of free enterprise, abundance and community. Now he shares these ideas in writing and lectures.

The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs held its inaugural D’Aniello Family Speaker Series on Thursday with Brooks. Brooks is a New York Times bestselling author, New York Times contributing opinion writer, president of the American Enterprise Institute and former professor at Maxwell.

Only 100 people were allowed to attend the talk entitled “Abundance without Attachment.” Chancellor Kent Syverud, Maxwell Dean James Steinberg and the D’Aniello family were among those in attendance.

Attendees found Brooks’ newest book on their seats. His 10th book, “The Conservative Heart,” focuses on a new conservative strategy that embraces compassion and community.

To David Van Slyke, Louis A. Bantle Chair in Business and Government Policy and associate dean and chair of the Department of Public Administration and International Affairs, Brooks is “the most influential conservative on the subject of economics” despite being a “former professional French horn player and college dropout.”

Brooks said he decided to focus his life on devising an economic system that would create abundance for more people when, at age 7, he saw an image in National Geographic of a poverty-stricken Saharan boy with flies on his face and an extended belly.

“You got to have a system that works while you sleep and share it. You need morals more than markets,” Brooks added. “We need to give more, which is why I believe in abundance.”

Some, however, found that Brooks’ lifestyle was not consistent with what he said.

Dan Apfel, a graduate student in the Master of Public Administration program, had a public policy data printout of Brooks’ estimated compensation from organizations at AEI, which amounted to $101,268.

“He talks about not having an attachment to abundance, but he has an attachment to free market capitalism that undermines people around the world,” Apfel said in an interview after the lecture.

Audra Linsner, a freshman advertising major, had a different opinion on Brooks.

“I really enjoyed it and I’m not conservative,” Linsner said in an interview after the lecture. “We read about him in MAX 123 and he’s really prominent. Because he was someone coming from Maxwell, the lecture was a great opportunity.”

Published on November 15, 2015 at 8:50 pm

Contact Anjani: asiman@syr.edu