Audio Version Of The Blog – 01.07.12

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The Dollar Is Left To Chance

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Avery B. Goodman, a licensed attorney, a member of the roster of neutral arbitrators of the National Futures Association and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority):Bloomberg reports that Bank of America has shifted about $22 trillion worth of derivative obligations from Merrill Lynch and the BAC holding company to the FDIC insured retail deposit division. Along with this information came the revelation that the FDIC insured unit was already stuffed with $53 trillion worth of these potentially toxic obligations, making a total of $75 trillion.

“Even if we net out the notional value of the derivatives involved, down to the net potential obligation, the amount is so large that the United States could not hope to pay it off without a major dollar devaluation… But, if such an event ever occurs, Bank of America’s derivatives counter-parties will, as usual, be made whole, while the American people suffer. This all has the blessing of the Federal Reserve, which approved the transfer of derivatives from Merrill Lynch to the insured retail unit of BAC before it was done.”

My Comment: Naturally, whoever has the money and power uses the power to save money. It’s not only the American people that will pay for the devaluation of the dollar, but the whole world. Obviously, this is the plan: All shall not perish, but generally lose. No wonder, the FDIC is busy….
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Inequality Threatens Democracy

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from Finmarket.ru): “The 1 % of the richest in the West dominates political decisions. Income inequality has become increasingly important in political and economic life in the U.S. and Europe.

“The main question is how to tax the 1 % of the richest (​​those whose annual income exceeds half a million dollars). A tax on super profits has become one the reasons for discord between Democrats and Republicans. The ratio between the income of the richest and the poor is 14:1 in the U.S., and 6:1 in the EU.”

My Comment: Everything is measured relative to the rich and the poor, and that is why the question arises: What should the ratio between them be to produce protest actions like “the Arab spring” in the U.S. and Europe?
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China And Japan Flee The Dollar, The Euro, And The EU

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News: “China and Japan have unveiled plans to promote direct exchange of their currencies in a bid to cut costs for companies and boost bilateral trade. The deal will allow firms to convert the Chinese and Japanese currencies directly into each other. Currently businesses in both countries need to buy US dollars before converting them into the desired currency adding extra costs.

“‘Given the huge size of the trade volume between Asia’s two biggest economies, this agreement is much more significant than any other pacts China has signed with other nations,’ Ren Xianfang of IHS Global Insight was quoted as saying by the Bloomberg news agency.” (Source: BBC News)

“In contrast, the EU shows helplessness in general politics against speculation, wars in Africa and Asia. It is useless to demand for Germany to create the United States of Europe so that the ECB acts as the Federal Reserve in the U.S. because the Germans and the British do not want to lose their sovereignty unlike the people of southern Europe.” (Source: L’Occidentale)

My Comment: For the time being this also shows the lack of a common firm decision. Due to its absence, the Asian market only tries to isolate itself from the rest of the world in hopes of reducing their losses. But the future will show that without uniting all world economies into one single system, the crisis cannot be overcome.
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BRICS Countries Are At Risk

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from Panorama.it): “2012 will be very difficult for the global economy.

“BRICS countries will be in the most unfavorable situation mainly because a currency crisis may break out within their borders, which has been underestimated for too long.

“To counter the financial crisis of 2008, central banks in developed economies eased their monetary and fiscal policies, and most of the “hot” Western capital has been directed to countries with emerging economies in order to support their growth. But now there is a danger that that old credit bubble will burst.

“The financial balance of BRICS can fail because the dollar continues to rise and the credit institutions of the Old World are suffering from poor liquidity.

“What’s more, the Chinese real estate bubble may implode, causing the fall of commodity prices, which so far were moving the growth of emerging economies.

“The crisis will break out when they run out of foreign currency reserves. If the global recession brings energy prices down, it will adversely affect the national economy of Russia. For China, the biggest danger lies in the real estate bubble that can burst at any moment. If the U.S. and Europe fail to cope with the situation, the world should prepare for the worst.”

My Comment: The crisis will force us to rethink our attitude towards ourselves and the world.
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Does Society Have The Right To Deprive Me Of Freedom?

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “The Freedom:” Now we have come to a clear understanding of the sentence concerning the freedom of the individual. Indeed, there is a question: “Where did the collective take the right to expropriate the freedom of the individual and deny him of the most precious thing in life, freedom?” Seemingly, there is no more than brute force here.

What should we do if collective interests are more important than personal ones? Can a society constantly force me to take care of it? Would enforcing this help us? Therefore, we need education.

Parents also decide for their child to what faith he will belong, what school he will attend, what kind of education he will get, and with what views he will be imbued. Practically, they define his whole life in advance. Are they given such a right?

Meanwhile, the father and mother predetermine their child’s future by their very existence; moreover, they develop certain character traits in him.

The family, kindergarten, school, and environment—all these factors together form a person, and thus, at the age of 15-20, he becomes an individual for whom everything has been decided in advance. What rights does society have to make out of me what they want: a bun, pie, loaf of bread, or bagel? But that is how it happens

This order of things stems from the law of following the majority. The “majority” means a conscious society that feels and understands that wellbeing depends on the fact that every person takes care of the whole, that is, cancels his egoism and unites with the community.

In this case, society or parents can really require everyone to study collective interests. Moreover, society is responsible for educating all its members about this principle. Therefore, it is said that the father should teach his son a “craft.” We are talking about the same system, teaching bestowal. [Read more →]

The Group Makes You A Hero

Dr. Michael LaitmanRabash’s Letter #8: Gather in a tight group of people in one place and under one guidance to withstand the attacks of the enemies with the power of overcoming, beyond any human limitations….

The power of overcoming beyond any human limitations—how is this possible? Does anyone really possess such power? Beyond human limitations—this is already the Creator!

This means that only the power of the upper one can help us rise, to withstand this condition and all the inner enemies (obviously, this does not imply external enemies). Every one of us has plenty of thoughts and desires, which confuse us and do not let us be even for a moment. We need to fight against all of them, which is impossible to do on our own—but can only be done by a power beyond human means, the power of the upper.

The power of the upper is the Creator’s power, which is provided to us through the power of the group. We cannot turn directly to the Creator—only to the group. He is in no other place—only inside of it.

This is why we need to try to always be together with our friends, in common thoughts and desires—simultaneously, on the same frequency and in one direction of movement, like singing or dancing together. And there we will find this power that will support us, regardless of all the disturbances that come from the “attacks of the enemies.”

“Of course they are courageous and strong spirited people, their decision is set in stone since they will not take even a single step back. They fight from the very first degree at war with the evil inclination until the last drop of blood. And they only aspire towards victory in this war in the name of the Creator.”

Well, who can say this about himself, which hero will that be? Maybe only a child would from lack of experience. It is impossible with any power except one beyond human means. In other words, it is impossible to achieve success without help from Above—this idea must get imprinted in the group.

A person is not able to hold on to this idea. It is a mistake to think that he can manage to remember it, even by writing it down somewhere…. I see that many people are writing down things during the lesson (I did the same when I was studying). They think that paper is their soul, and they are recording on it. But this will not help at all.

But when I want to record this knowledge in the group through mutual guarantee, I will really be able to make it my memory. Everything that exists in the group is my memory, and I can be sure that nothing will be erased from there and I will be able to use it.

I personally can keep forgetting everything, but my friends will keep reminding me about this knowledge: that I can only succeed through the power of the Creator, and not my own. And the power of the Creator exists inside the group.

And then I will be able to “be courageous,” like I need to be—if I manage to connect all of us together, find the upper force inside of us, and obligate it to help us. As it is written: “My sons have defeated me.” This is the Creator’s condition who is waiting for us to turn to Him, to appeal to Him.

The Creator becomes revealed under the condition that the appeal comes from the group. This is why we call the group a vessel for the revelation of the Creator.
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From the Arvut Convention Lesson 2, 11/18/11

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The Secret Of An Integral Family

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How is an integral family different from the traditional family we’re used to seeing?

Answer: The aspirations of men and women who constitute different charges, different natures, must be aimed at creating a dipole between them, that is, the kind of interconnection that could become a building block of the universe.

As the Bible says, together, husband and wife are a single whole or “of the same breed.” They are two people who are opposite to one another and connected together at the same time. Either they are connected in a natural way, or via a special method, for here nature actually shows us the complete opposite data. This is important to keep in mind.

But this isn’t simply the bonding or cementing of a family; rather, it is the cementing of a family for the sake of achieving general harmony. Therefore, it transpires in a completely different manner, in a different sense. This is very important! In this case the couple feel responsibility not only for themselves, but for others as well, for they are part of a greater whole, and by not “connecting” to this greater whole, they trigger from nature a negative reaction proportional to the disturbance they introduce.

Suppose my spouse and I introduce 10 grams’ worth of disturbance into the general system because we are merely a tiny part of it, these 10 grams are then multiplied by the complexity factor of the entire system, thus turning into kilograms or tons. And then it all comes back to us, presses us and forces us to change.

Even the mistakes we make presently and in the future trigger the correct consequence, which is felt by us as undesirable, forced, and unpleasant. But it is precisely the consequences of our mistakes that push us forward.
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From a “Talk on Integral Education,” 12/12/11

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A Simple Solution To Economic Problems

Dr. Michael LaitmanEconomics is a science about our egoistic relations, which today is gradually transforming into a different kind of economics—the economics of altruistic relationships.

When we solve our family’s economic problems, we usually sit down around the table with our spouses and children and think together how to best use our limited budget. We take into consideration the needs of each family member: the youngest wants a toy, the older child wishes to attend classes, the oldest requires medications, we need to buy food, and so on…. We structure our budget according to everybody’s needs. We have to arrange the world’s budget the same way.

Generally, we bring to our families everything we earn; we don’t automatically set aside part of the salary for ourselves exclusively; for example, we don’t from the start put aside for our own sake 30% of our earnings as regular enterprises do.

Let’s say, a factory produces cups and sells them for $10.00 each; the owner keeps $5.00 for himself; the remainder covers salaries and other production expenses—amortization, insurance, etc.

Why does the owner earn $5.00 per cup above everybody else? He should receive the same salary everyone else does. We are within a single system where everybody should receive in equal proportions and interact with others in a fair way.

If we stick to this plan, each item will cost 50% less because the price of all components would also go down—machinery, materials, transportation, etc. Each person will receive a decent salary to maintain a decent way of life; it won’t be even close to a beggarly salary!

A huge surplus of goods and resources will emerge in the world. Every year, humanity is throwing away a half billion ton of good food. That’s enough to feed another Earth!

It turns out that our wrong egoistic relationships bring disequilibrium to the entire globe. If we strive for balance in the relationships between us, then naturally this will lead to values of peace and harmony, and we will end up with a huge excess of materials and natural resources. We’ll stop wasting the earth’s resources and we’ll stop eating chemically grown vegetables and fruit because all systems will be in balance.

We don’t have to enhance industry. It is enough that we correct the relationships between us in order to provide the world with everything we need: food, clothing, shelter, etc.—all at a normal level. We’ll get there by changing ourselves, rising from the egoistic to the altruistic level.

In the past, this sounded like science fiction: The City of the Sun, communism, utopian, etc. But today we have no other option. Nature forces us to act accordingly.
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From a “Talk About the Integral World” 10/20/11

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