Entries in the 'Economy' Category

The United States At The Crossroads

Opinion (Joe Nocera, nytimes.com): “Inflicting more pain on their countrymen doesn’t much bother the Tea Party Republicans, as they’ve repeatedly proved. What is astonishing is that both the President and House Speaker are claiming that the deal will help the economy. Do they really expect us to buy that? We’ve all heard what happened in 1937 when Franklin Roosevelt, believing the Depression was over, tried to rein in federal spending. Cutting spending spiraled the country right back into the Great Depression, where it stayed until the arrival of the stimulus package known as World War II.

“That’s the path we’re now on. Our enemies could not have designed a better plan to weaken the American economy than this debt-ceiling deal.”
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In The Zone Of Choice

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the past egoism spurred us on from behind and from the sides, always leaving the path forward free. However, today the barriers are not arising along the sides, but in front of us. It’s as if a wall rises up before us, leaving us no place to run, nothing we can do.

This state is becoming more and more apparent: I don’t really want anything, I don’t feel that I can keep growing in my egoism. It is incapable of giving me answers to the questions that arise in me today. I have outgrown the previous phases and have entered the next level of questions, the level of adulthood and new necessities.

Food, sex, family—all of these are falling apart, taking on strange, “mutated” forms. Wealth, fame, and knowledge don’t seem to promise me a lot either.

Science is in a crisis and does not answer my questions, even though a mere 50-60 years ago it still seemed like it would give us answers to everything.

Power has become petty in our eyes: We see that its only objective is money. And money…. Is it really worth wasting your entire life on!? My questions have already outgrown any number of zeros that a bank account can display.

When a person loses the necessary “fuel,” emptiness emerges inside of him and he finds himself asking, “What is worth living for? For myself? But I lack fulfillment. For my children? But when they get older, they will leave the nest. And besides, why raise them at all? What bright future do they have ahead? Disintegrating families and a decomposing society?” A person does not feel attached to anything and does not have hopes for anything. That is the kind of impasse that our questions have led us to.

But there is also a completely different reason for the dead-end state: We are exhausting the natural resources. Today it is already clear that human progress won’t be infinite, both from the point of view of our demands and from the point of view of our existence as a whole. If we continue squandering the natural resources at the current rate, then very soon we won’t have any raw materials left even for the vitally necessary products.

90% of what we produce today consists of oil, be it energy, plastic materials, and so on. When the oil reserves end, we will be left with nothing. But nevertheless, we still keep on squandering it.

Thus, on one hand nature places a barrier before us in the form of ecology, climate, and resources, and on the other hand, egoism no longer pushes us forward. It asks questions that we cannot find answers to here, in our world, in this small children’s room where we had so much fun playing until now.

Today the situation already resembles suicide: We are irrationally using up the last remaining resources.

We have to understand that because of this, we find ourselves in the zone of choice. This is where freedom of will emerges, the freedom for us to start understanding the program of our development: “Who are we? Why are we here? What for?”, and together with us, the rest of the world. Now is exactly the time for us to solve this challenge. Otherwise humanity will find itself in a truly hopeless impasse.

In reality the gist of the problem is not the financial crisis, the technology crisis, or the crisis of families. We are in a crisis with ourselves. We have to understand who we are and what we are here for, both from the point of view of nature, which obligates us to this, and from our own point of view. Only then will we be able to set things right inside of us and in the world.
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From the Talk about a New Book 7/11/2011

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Learning To Be In Balance With Nature

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe must organize integral education around every person and require each to enter it. The general crisis will end with such a big blow that no one will have a job. We will not need all these extra goods, and there will be no need to produce more. There is plenty of everything. The world produces garbage, throws it away, and only pollutes the planet.

Suddenly, we discover that out of seven billion people existing in the world, 80 percent are extra. What can we do with them, kill them? There are theories that it is necessary to get rid of “extra people,” and then the rest will have jobs. However, the rest will not have jobs either as this war will leave a person wondering whether it’s good that he has remained alive.

That is why we have a simple solution. Every person’s job will be to enter an educational, learning environment. Just as we teach our children and 100 percent of the children study until they are 18, an adult should study or get continuous education throughout his life, working a couple of hours a day to perform the tasks assigned to him by society.

Then, every person will go through inner changes in a mandatory manner. We would not exclude one single person from this. Each would study in a virtual system, watching clips, listening to songs, or reading humorous stories, where everything will be on the topic of globality, integrality, unity, and mutual guarantee. Everyone will have to do homework, submit it to be checked, and pass exams. If one has completed everything, he will get a salary at the end of the month. This will be his job.

Question: Who finances his salary if no one works?

Answer: This does not mean that no one works. We all work to the extent that we have to, to produce the necessities of life. However, we do not make things only to pass them to each other and then throw them in a landfill because people hardly use them. We produce only the necessary items that everyone requires to exist normally.

The same education system includes studying how to live within the framework of life’s necessities, at the human level, in balance with nature, and observing its requirements. It should explain to everyone that by consuming more than we need, we become out of balance with nature.

Each organ of the body receives not for itself, but only to exist to help others, to serve them. We should understand that we have no choice. We must come to this system. Kabbalists spoke much about it, and we have to bring this knowledge to everyone.
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From the Talk about a New Book 7/11/2011

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The Solution Is In Unity

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Dragutin Matanovic, senior adviser to the Interior Minister of Serbia, the chairman of the Socialist Party of Serbia, d-pils.lv): “Speaking of the civilization crises, Matanovic emphasized the three factors: the end of the oil era, the end of cheap food supply era, and the increase in Earth’s temperature. It brings about the collapse of neoliberalism and the end of capitalism in general.

“Oil is a non-renewable resource: 90 percent of all production uses oil, and there is no alternative to it….The end of oil will cause conflicts and wars….

“The collapse of neoliberalism implies the destruction of the idea of ​​European unity. As a consequence, nationalistic and left-wing parties come to power in Europe.…

“The EU policy towards other the new members of EU and the countries of the former Soviet Union… is to destroy their industry and agriculture. It’s because the production capacity in the West is huge, and they need just a market for their goods, not competitors.”

“As Dr. Henry Kissinger said: ‘Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls energy can control whole continents; who controls money controls the world.’”

My Comment: These are all the signs of decaying capitalism, or rather, global egoism in all the countries and governments. Now, we only have to realize that the way out of the complete collapse is in total unity. There is no other way out because this is the condition of nature. We have to search together how to achieve this.

And then, suddenly, the eyes will open, and a new method of correction of human nature, changing it precisely for a correct connection, will be found. And the reward, besides achieving perfection in this world and on the planet, is the revelation of the new level of existence—eternal and perfect.
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New Strategy: Preparing For The End Of Times

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from nytimes.com): “Europe’s debt crisis, as well as natural disasters and political uprisings, are prompting investors both big and small to seek out investments that promise to protect their portfolios in the event of economic Armageddon.”

My Comment: Previously, diversification was meant to protect investments from a market collapse, but since today they are certain everything will collapse, they are seeking how to make money on it.

They use the insurance principle: They pay in the event of a collapse from the funds accrued specifically for this. Give egoism a chance, and it will be happy to profit from its own death.
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The Crisis Is Just Beginning

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Sergei Karaganov, Deputy Director, The Institute of Europe at the Russian Academy of Sciences; Chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy): “The global crisis is just beginning and will affect everyone. But it is not clear how and when countries will come together to jointly start overcoming it….

“This crisis and this new period in world history threaten to inflict inevitable hardships on billions of people… Coupled with rapid geopolitical changes… this period may bring a dramatic destabilization of the international situation and an increased risk of conflicts….

“The matter at hand is not just a deep financial and economic crisis. This is an overall crisis of the entire system of global governance; a crisis of ideas on which global development was based; and a crisis of international institutions….

“Overcoming this overall crisis will require a new round of reforms, the construction of international institutions and systems for governing the world economy and finance, and a new philosophy for global development….

“Some principles for building the future system:
– Free trade and a liberal economic order coupled with basically stricter international regulation.
– Joint elaboration and coordination of policies by the most powerful and responsible countries….
– Collective efforts to fill the security vacuum, rather than create new dividing lines and sources of conflict.
– Joint solution of energy problems….
– Russia and the European Union must strive… for a strategic alliance.
– The goal of development must be progress, not democracy. Democracy is a consequence and an instrument of progress.”

My Comment: To summarize, the crisis is just beginning, and the solution is unification. Otherwise, we are headed for deprivation!
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IMF Chief Warns Of Global Catastrophe

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News: “Newly elected head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde says that she ‘can’t imagine for a second’ that the United States would default on its debt obligations, saying it would be ‘a real shock’ to the global economy if no agreement is reached.” (abcnews.go.com)

“The Obama administration says if the debt ceiling is not raised by Aug. 2, the nation would default on its obligations, with potentially calamitous financial consequences worldwide.” (forbes.com)

“‘There is no alternative to enactment of an increase in the debt limit,’ [Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner ] wrote.” (Washingtonpost.com)

My Comment: What is next? “Be whatever it may be!” The main thing is to postpone the day of reckoning! Everyone in the world wants to keep on playing this game because they do not see and will not see any alternative until sufferings will force them to listen to the recommendations of Kabbalah on how to transition to a society of reasonable consumption and distribution.
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At The Breaking Point

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The protest movement in Israel is expanding. What would be the right course for its development?

Answer: Of course, at this stage it is necessary to take care of the average citizen.

But generally, the problem is that the whole world had put great hopes on the middle class. There are simple workers who are satisfied by simple pleasures in life, and opposed to that, there is a higher layer, which comprises a very big part of the population. It includes youth who still haven’t chosen their life path. As a whole, we are talking about people who want to live, to experience the world, and to live a normal life by the modern standards.

However, due to the crisis, which has actually gone on for about twenty years now, the world is starting to lose the impulse of gradual movement. Japan, which once made a gigantic leap, has reduced its turnovers a long time ago. And everyone else is also slowing down and even rolling backwards. These are the systematic processes that correspond to the program of creation, and you cannot do anything about them.

As a result, the middle class is losing hope of a good life and is descending to the level of the simple worker. This was caused, in part, by technologies, and generally, by the new turn of development. But the main reason is that we have found ourselves in a global world and societies are now being permeated by an integral interconnection. Today a family is barely able to raise even one child. All the areas of our lives are immersing in a crisis which demands new investments in order to avoid total collapse.

Thus, the middle class, including students, has no hope for the future. And this is a very big mass of people. For example, in Spain unemployment has enveloped up to 50% of the youth. Upon returning home, graduates of European universities discovered that there is nothing for them to do. They cannot get work or create a family. The time for this has come but there are no hopes. Moreover, they do not see an improvement happening now, nor in several years. They don’t even have a chance to put something away for the future because instead of economic development, we are shifting to a decline.

So what should we do? There is just one way to achieve success at the next stage: by directing the world to integral relationships. This is the only thing that will bring us success in our earthly activities. After all, we are all in an integral system and therefore it is necessary to give everyone the appropriate upbringing. People should be told, “Here’s the country’s budget. This is what we can do. We will gradually correct the situation, starting from the bare necessities, but on the condition that you begin to study.”

People have to be taught about the integral world in a form that’s accessible and clear to them, using examples and obvious illustrations. This learning has to happen over the radio, television, and Internet, through literature, theater, music, and cinema, so everyone would understand what kind of world humanity has entered. It is necessary to make use of culture and arts so people would become imbued with this and would feel where they are.

Then, no matter what we do in the nation and in the world, success will come our way. That’s because our actions will be aimed toward correction. On one hand, we will calm people down, providing them with the necessities, and on the other hand, we will educate them, and a few months later they will become different. They will become aware of what is happening and will start feeling the world’s globality, which does not leave any other solution besides a change in relationships.

When masses of people learn this, the results will correspond to the new conditions because every person is mentally connected with others and everyone influences one another even without saying a word. Besides, this message is heard everywhere. It permeates all of the mass media and conquers the Internet, “Everyone is global and you must also become global. Otherwise you don’t have any chances to succeed in anything.”

Thus, if we are talking about the right way for the social outburst to proceed, then at the next stage everyone will come home from the demonstrations, receive additional means from the government, without which they cannot do for now, and begin studying. This can’t possibly harm them, so let’s see whether the science of Kabbalah is correct. Let’s see whether we will really change as a result and by virtue of that, so will the whole world.

After all, society and the world are a product of our attitude to one another. It’s enough to work on yourself, and everything around will transform as well, becoming more effective and blossoming. So let’s try it, especially seeing that humanity has no other solution.

The problem is us: How quickly will we be able to explain to the nation and the world that this is the salvation? One way or another, all the countries are at risk and the situation will only get worse. No one besides us can give the world an explanation of the reason for the crisis and the way to come out of it. No one will reveal the actual opportunity to change the situation and show that the current breaking point is part of the program of human development instilled in us from the beginning. Kabbalists have discerned this point a long time ago and have described the exact timetable of its realization. So let’s listen to them.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/29/11, “One Commandment”

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The Role Of Scale

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What can force people to start studying the laws of an integral world?

Answer: They should be advanced by the environment aimed at that direction. Today, you can get people into the streets because of high prices of cottage cheese or housing. When the protest exhausts itself, you will have an opportunity to explain to them what the problems is.

But they will not be able to achieve anything because to meet their demands, the whole country has to be shaken up. It is not easy to begin constructing affordable apartments. Here, you have to break whole systems, carry out laws, and turn everything upside down.

The current situation is contrary to justice, but it is very difficult to correct. Each person is an egoist; each pulls to himself, and as a result, everything will remain as it was. Not a single government, not a single member of parliament is interested in anything else but his own career.

And that is why it is impossible to get anything real from them. They will throw a trifle, the effect of which will be cancelled by other factors. It cannot be otherwise: Such is our world. In reality, people in power are no worse than us, ordinary citizens.

And therefore, our task is to educate the people. General changes among the population will lead to correct changes at all other levels.

You should not think that it will take too much time. If the process unfolds on a large scale, it will gain completely different power. Another law is acting here: the law of a closed system. And the need here is different—the need to live a normal life. But here is a trouble: The modern state is organized in such a way that it does not care about this.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/28/2011, “The Peace”

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The Ideological Crisis Of Capitalism

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Joseph Stiglitz, Professor at Columbia University, Chief Economist of the World Bank, a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001)): “The medicine du jour is simply timeworn austerity packages and privatization, which will merely leave the countries that embrace them poorer and more vulnerable. This medicine failed in East Asia, Latin America and elsewhere, and it will fail in Europe too. Indeed, it has already failed in Ireland, Latvia, and Greece.

“There is an alternative: an economic-growth strategy supported by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund….

“Regrettably, the financial markets and right-wing economists have gotten the problem exactly backwards: they believe that austerity produces confidence, and that confidence will produce growth. But austerity undermines growth….

“A failure of either Europe or the United States to return to robust growth would be bad for the global economy. The failure of both would be disastrous…. Unfortunately, unless wiser heads prevail, that is the way the world is heading.”

My comment: The world continues to move in that direction because the artificial stimulation of growth—or saving—does not make sense. It is impossible to “stimulate growth” artificially: It depletes resources, the environment, and increases the gap between rich and poor countries and people. We cannot promise work to everybody: There will be less work. It is pointless to oppose this trend; we have to understand it. Therefore, a third direction emerges.

The solution is to bring society to a new system of internal connection:

  1. Reasonable consumption—distribution that provides life’s necessities to everyone.
  2. Mandatory and constant training and education for everyone in the global and integral vision of the world. As school for children, the school should be on-going and teach everyone to exist in the new, integral, globally connected world.
  3. Educating everyone in the possibility to sense a new level of awareness and perception of the world.

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