Sufficiency Economy and the Bourgeois Virtues

The king of Thailand articulated the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP). Supporters of sustainable development, including the United Nations Development Program, have embraced the SEP. However, the SEP also confronts many critics, perhaps in part because critics disapprove the monarchy's perceived political outlook. The SEP is understood most usefully as a primer to help Thais, especially those with modest assets, to make their way among the largely unfamiliar signposts of globalized markets. In support of this understanding, the article introduces broadly similar, norm-focused survival guides associated historically with the onset of capitalism in Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.