Entries in the 'Economy' Category

Manipulation Of The Masses Through The Media

Dr. Michael laitmanOpinion (Noam Chomsky, American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, logician, political commentator and anarcho-syndicalist activist):

“Based on the work of American linguist Noam Chomsky, here is a list of “10 strategies of manipulation” by the media:

1. A STRATEGY OF DISTRACTION.

The key element of social control is the strategy of distraction that is to divert public attention from important issues and changes decided by political and economic elites, through the technique of flood or flooding continuous distractions and insignificant information. ‘Keep the public’s attention distracted away from the real social problems and captivated by issues of no importance. Keep the public busy, busy, busy, no time to think, back to the farm with the other animals (citing text “silent weapons for quiet wars”).’

2 – CREATE PROBLEMS AFTER OFFERING SOLUTIONS.

This method is also called ‘problem-reaction-solution.’ This creates a problem, a ‘situation’ due to cause some reaction in the public, so that it is the principal measure that they will want to accept. For example: let develop or intensify urban violence, or arrange bloody attacks, so that the public is focused on the principles of safety, laws and policies to the detriment of freedom. Or also create an economic crisis to accept the necessary evil of recession, loss of social rights and the dismantling of public services.

3 – STRATEGY GRADATION.

To make it accept an unacceptable extent, simply apply it gradually, a dropper at a time, in consecutive years. This is how radically new socioeconomic conditions (neoliberalism) were imposed during the 1980s and 1990s: the minimal state, privatization, precariousness, flexibility, mass unemployment, inability to pay decent wages, and many changes that cause a revolution would not have to be implemented all at once.

4 – THE STRATEGY OF DEFER.

Another way to make an unpopular decision acceptable is to present it as ‘painful and necessary’ in obtaining immediate public acceptance for a future application. It is easier to accept a future sacrifice than an immediate sacrifice.

5 – ADDRESSING THE PUBLIC AS YOUNGER CHILDREN.

Most of the advertising directed at the general public uses discourse, arguments, characters, and particularly children’s intonation, often close to their weaknesses, as if the viewer were a very young child or mentally impaired. The more you mislead the viewer, the more advertising tends to adopt an infantile tone.

6 – USING THE EMOTIONAL ASPECT MUCH MORE THAN A REFLECTION.

Making use of the emotional aspect is a classic technique to cause a short circuit on rational analysis, and finally to the critical sense of individuals. Moreover, the use of emotional register allows you to open the door to the unconscious to deploy graft or ideas, desires, fears and fears, compulsions, or induce behaviors…

7 – KEEP THE PUBLIC IN IGNORANCE AND MEDIOCRITY.

Make the public incapable of understanding technologies and methods in order to keep them controlled and in bondage. ‘The quality of education given the lower social classes should be as poor and mediocre as possible so that the gap of ignorance that lies between the lower classes and the upper social classes is and remains out of reach of the lower classes.’

8 – STIMULATES THE PUBLIC TO BE IN COMPLACENT MEDIOCRITY.

Promoting the public to think that fashion is the act of being stupid, vulgar and uneducated.

9 – STRENGTHENING REVOLT BY SELF-BLAME.

Make the individual believe that he alone is to blame for their own misfortune because of the failure of their intelligence, their abilities, or their efforts. Thus, instead of rebelling against the economic system, the individuals themselves are helpless and blame themselves, which leads to a depressive state with its effects being to inhibit its action.

My Comment: One can see how great the role of the Internet is in manipulating people. But this only accelerates the exit from the power of Pharaoh or egoism, because our desires and thoughts develop not by the media, but by the law of development, which leads necessarily to the purpose of creation.
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A Burning Question And The Solution

Dr. Michael LaitmanComment: The method of correcting the relationships between people, which is the remedy for every illness, nullifies all of modern medicine.

My Comment: But we don’t need it either. The current health care system doesn’t care about a person, but only about itself. The media conveys information that arouses fear, and no one cares about people.

What is the actual problem? Humanity has long reached such a level in its development that it can fully provide for all its needs. This was true in the 70s of the last century, but everything has come to a halt since the questions of “What’s next?” and “Why should we go on living?” have come up.

But man didn’t think about that and new problems have to be created in order to make it will be clear that we live in order to solve them. Otherwise such questions will come up and will make both the elite and our leaders feel bad.

Thus everything began to revolve around creating different imaginary needs, and health issues are not imaginary at all. Consequently, medicine has gradually reestablished itself by creating new symptoms, so that by using medicines that help heal certain symptoms, people will stay busy spending money on medicines and traveling from place to place in order to seek treatment, etc.

Question: Was this scenario laid in advance? Did people consciously examine this option in advance?

Answer: Of course. We can see advertising on TV for products that are 99% absolutely unnecessary. We have no need even for the one percent that is left, but we only think that we need them. After all, we have become used to advertising, are nourished by it, and the ideas it sells us have already become an inherent need. Therefore, we look for what else we can buy. We cannot manage without these things anymore, just like a drug addict who cannot manage without drugs. We are used to being obliged to watch commercials and implement what they advertise.

A few years ago I was in the hospital after a car accident and I saw how patients behave. One of them constantly spoke to the doctors like they were old friends. When I asked him why he spoke to them that way he answered proudly that he had had 12 operations. It is as if he wanted to say, “Look I am your loyal patient, I am yours!” and subconsciously, they treated him as if he was one of theirs—”He is one of ours!”

This means that it reached the state that they were making a living off one another. It is just like cops and robbers who cannot manage without each other. The police have to solve crimes or conspiracies and therefore cooperate with the mafia so that it will give them some clues or sacrifice one of its accomplices. The police arrest the victim and present it as their achievement, but usually it is the mafia that gives them the lead.

It is the same here. It has become a custom, and it is very interesting to observe the beautiful work of the ego from the outside.

Society imposes its values on us and feeds us these values as if they are a business dinner. They teach us to love, have children, raise them, build, play societal games, consume certain medicines and to be connected in a certain manner. It is all based on the notion of how to fill our day with worries, work, tasks, and not allow us time to think about the meaning of life.

But humanity has already developed to the point where this issue becomes vital. In order to make sure that we don’t engage in it, the authorities have denied us of all our free time, down to the very last moment.

The point is that the question about the meaning of life is much greater. If a person doesn’t find this answer, he becomes so depressed that he cannot overcome it. He doesn’t feel pleasure in anything: not in food, sex, family, his children, in nothing. Therefore the elite suppresses this question.

But the time has come to reveal the meaning of life to the masses. On one hand, it is as if we are playing on the edge. But on the other hand, we say nice things such as, “Let’s live in unity, let’s begin to love one another so that everything will be good.”

The wisdom of Kabbalah is not intended to arouse revolutionary passions in any one, neither in the elite nor in ordinary people. It doesn’t call people to fight but offers to make a soft revolution in a peaceful manner. This is the true spring, when after the long frost, after the inner emptiness, the gradual return to life begins.

Question: Will the elite agree to that?

Answer: The leaders will also change along with the masses, since we all change together. They will begin to realize that, first of all, the environmental situation doesn’t allow us to remain on the same level. We can see what is happening to us.

Disrupting the ecological balance involves a much greater imbalance of the whole earth. No one knows how many billions of dollars have been invested this year and are still being invested in order to overcome the environmental disasters all over the world.

Along with ecological and climate problems, we will also encounter nutritional problems since we have polluted the soil even at the level of thoughts and feelings. But when the authorities begin to change, they will see that everthing has a limit and it is nature that limits us.

They will realize that we have to acquire a totally new perception, and instead of money that has lost its value, a new coin will appear that is related to the communication between people.

Money is a method of connection that emphasizes how much greater you are and how small I am compared to you, and how we can satisfy each other’s needs. In Hebrew the word “money” (Kesef) stems from the word “cover” (Masach), which means that I cover the difference between us.

New methods of communication between people will emerge instead of relationships that are based on money. They will become popular, because society itself will begin to change. If it were only the environment that changed, we would still remain the same puppets and the authorities would continue to endlessly play with us. But because everyone will change, the perception will also change, and the authorities will operate in a totally different manner.

I believe that this will happen in the near future and I hope to see at least the beginning of this change. This is what I am living for.

We assist in the hastening of time. Our ideas automatically flow into society since we are an integral part of it. Accordingly we hasten the development of the elite as well.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/18/14

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Work Will Be Given To Programmed Robots

laitman_568_01Opinion (Bill Gates, American business magnate, philanthropist, investor, computer programmer): “Speaking at Washington, D.C. economic think tank The American Enterprise Institute, Gates said that within 20 years, a lot of jobs will go away, replaced by software automation… .

“Gates believes that the tax codes are going to need to change to encourage companies to hire employees, including, perhaps, eliminating income and payroll taxes altogether. He’s also not a fan of raising the minimum wage, fearing that it will discourage employers from hiring workers in the very categories of jobs that are most threatened by automation.”

My Comment: Gates believes that in this way layoffs will be prevented, unemployment will become hidden, i.e., people will be attached to their jobs, which will prevent the decomposition of society—what we see today in the immigrant districts, where people live on welfare.

Kabbalah believes that it is necessary to involve everyone in the method of Integral Education and Upbringing to correct human nature. After all, this is what the law of our development requires of us.
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Young People No Longer Buy Cars Or Houses

Dr, Michael LaitmanIn the News (Lifter): “The generation that is younger than 35 rarely buy houses, and even more seldom cars. They are called the “generation of tenants,” people who are afraid to borrow money.

“If in the past, successful people were those who owned a house and a car, now in high esteem are those who invest in experiences and impressions such as traveling and start-ups.

“People do not want prosperity and stability but a flexible schedule, and financial and geographical independence. Material things no longer hold people’s interest. Why would you own a car in the USA if you have Uber or Lyft? In essence, it’s a private car with a driver. And it costs no more to use the services of Uber than it does to own a car.

“Why would you buy a house in a beautiful place and go there on vacation if you can find accommodations anywhere in the world through Airbnb? Today’s young Americans change jobs, on average, once every three years, and you can move closer to the office if you are renting, not owning. The very concept of ownership of things is no longer relevant.”

My Comment: Times change and the desire with it, or rather, on the contrary, the change of desire causes a change in the attitude towards the world and life. The revision of the entire scale of values is ahead. The re-evaluation can be bloody or it can be enjoyable much like a game. It depends on how we perceive the necessary changes.
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Progress Is Senseless And Merciless

 Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (Expert): “By the 60th year of the 20th century, Western society had achieved a high level of consumption, and people understood that money was not the main measure of happiness.

“Thus the concept of multidimensional quality of life was born, which in addition to income, is determined by security, access to knowledge, the development of medicine, life expectancy, environmental conditions, etc.

“But how could these different figures be brought together? Scientists have proposed to move from objective to subjective indicators, as measured by public opinion polls. But they depend on the measurement of one’s state regarding the state of his neighbor, and it turns out that those who do not live close to the rich are happier.

“From the subjective point of view, people’s quality of life in the last millennium has not grown, but fell because of the differentiation of the population according to the level of consumption in ancient Egypt or in medieval France, which was lower than it is now.

“That is, from a subjective point of view, there is no progress. Moreover, the spread of innovations causes inequality in terms of consumption, dissatisfaction and conflict.

“Progress, instead of improving the quality of life, reduces it due to the increasing inequality, and stagnation, and on the contrary, stabilizes society. Development is a meaningless process, similar to a dog chasing its own tail, that produces nothing other than envy and suffering.”

My Comment: We cannot stop progress. Its role is to lead us to the reflection on the meaninglessness of our existence so that having asked questions about the meaning of life, we move forward to reveal the Creator.
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What Will Happen To The World?

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Michael Khazin, economist): “The idea of the Bretton Woods system is an expansion of the territory of the dollar. Through expansion of the territory of the dollar it is possible to print dollars, creating additional income that can be redistributed. If these nations comply with the general rules of the International Monetary Fund, they receive a share of additional dollars.

In the ‘70s, the territory for expansion was finished, yet expansion continued through providing loans to private individuals and refinancing from private debt. In the year 1990, the Soviet Union broke up and expanded the territory for the dollar carried out at the expense of the socialist nations. In the year 2000 the crisis began, yet the printing of dollars continued through reducing the cost of credit.

“In the year 2008, the crisis erupted again, and the printing of dollars continued at the expense of changes in the supply of money (reduced rates, specifically the encouragement of loans). As a result of this, the allotment of money market credit was 17 times greater than the allotment of ready cash.

“When the resources for printing money were finished, the problems began; private demand was in decline, even though the economy of the United States apparently showed growth.

Today it is clear that the bubble in the stock markets will collapse; which is to say, the value of assets will fall and the liabilities, meaning the debt, will remain. This means mass bankruptcy. In order to wipe out the liabilities, the banks’ plan for wars in the Middle East, in which, on the one hand, there is oil, and on the other hand, there is Israel with its atomic bomb.

“Another possibility is a massive terrorist attack. This is something that will make it possible for the banks to say to those who have money that the risks have grown to such an extent that they are forced to delay payments because the system of insurance for financial risks has been destroyed.

“There are two scenarios: To save the global financial system at the expense of the American economy (this is the perception of the Democratic Party of the United States), or to save the American economy at the expense of the global financial system (this is the perception of the Republican Party). This situation caused the defeat of the Democratic Party in the midterm elections, and the enhancement of the isolationist forces in the Republican Party (the world doesn’t matter to us, we must save ourselves!).

“The European politicians depend upon the CIA, the SNA and so on, where each one of these organizations holds evidentiary material against them. So these politicians are fighting for their lives. The United States will destroy them if Europe takes steps in its interest and not in the interest of Washington. In this case, Europe will find itself facing a civil war, as in the Ukraine, and a state of disintegration. Russia has its fate – to a state of starvation.

“As of today the politicians active in the government are under the age of 65, and they are unfamiliar with the scale of these problems. And the elderly, like Kissinger, are no longer influential. So the world is standing at the door of a cruel reorganization (territorial, national, and a reorganization of the elites). Most likely some of these politicians will be defeated in the 2016 elections in the United States, and then the situation will change.

My Comment: We need to produce new socio-economic relationships based upon the conditions of the “Last Generation” through integral education, the unity of all in a single society based upon full equality, work only that is required to supply the essential needs of society. The freed resources and the time will be conveyed to national universities that are involved with the education of the new generation among humanity.

In the meantime, we currently don’t see the possibility of a gradual and easy transformation from a market economy to a communist economy, so it now depends upon the success of dissemination of integral education.
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Different But Equal

laitman_423_01Question: All people are different by nature. One is wise and agile, whereas another is lazy and foolish. According to the degree of a person’s maturity, these characteristics are expressed more and more, and as a result of this, one has higher material attainments, whereas the other lacks money for food. Nature, itself, has created differences like these in a society. This is a given.

How must society relate to the weak if it claims to be socially “progressive?” After all, the weak don’t receive any payment in nature. Does society need to support them and assure them of the minimum necessities for existence?

Answer: Yes, and in general, it is up to us to begin to relate to people absolutely differently. They should be integrated into a unique system of education that improves social attitudes so that they will begin to be concerned about society in general, its flourishing and health, social unity, an inclusive connection between everyone, and mutual responsibility.

It is up to the national leadership to take upon itself the organization of a system like this. The learning will not be limited by time. After all, the ego wakes up more and more within a person, and it must constantly be balanced by the appropriate education.

So, if a person studies regularly, he improves and is found in a society that pressures him and demands his conscious and useful participation directed toward a goal in social life. Therefore, each one must be provided with a minimal standard of living that is sufficient for existence.

Question: What is this minimum? How would my life seem if I receive a stipend like this?

Answer: I receive sufficient support to maintain my family, to raise and educate my children and get them on their feet. By and large, I live with dignity from the well-earned social security. It comes to me because I am a part of the society and care about it and its development.

It could be that someone on disability is able only to sit in a storeroom and bring tools from there or to carry out other simple work. Society puts him in a place where he is able to be useful. Moreover, he is educated and educates his children as well.

For all of this, the person receives a “minimum wage,” yet this is enough to maintain the existence of his family with respect and care for all of its needs.

Now, suppose that he has a professional, educated, successful and well-established neighbor. He is very useful to society, develops new devices and technologies, or is a leader in large-scale trading. He gets everything that he needs for his work, yet does he need something different for his home and family than his humble neighbor?

Question: Humanity never has built a social system like this. After all, according to our nature, we always want more than what we have.

Answer: This is exactly what is accomplished through education, which will be massive, permanent, pressing, and put everything in place.

Thanks to this, we achieve general equality. This would not be a forced equality that has already exhausted itself in the previous century. Rather, it is such an equality where each one has everything that he needs in order to exist in dignity and to provide a good, flourishing and organized life for his children.

In addition, regarding the rest of the egoistic drives—envy, lust, honor, and so forth—the person will realize them also, but for the good of the society. The environment itself, the encouraging social atmosphere, will obligate him to act that way. He simply will be ashamed to stand out with his excessive demands through which it is as if he is stealing openly from the others.

I repeat, in a society like this, each one will be concerned about living in dignity, ensuring personal and professional development for his children, yet appreciating himself not according to his wealth, not according to his fame or superiority over others, but according to his investment in society. Additionally, in general, the society preserves a uniform standard of living.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/23/14

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Regarding Terror, Rising Prices And The Unification Of Society, Part 5

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is the meaning of a social consensus, thanks to which it is possible to solve all of our problems?

Answer: Social consensus symbolizes that we have become a single body. It’s very simple! We agree that the people of Israel are a unique people upon which depends the fate of the world, all peoples, and even the mood of the Creator, if it is possible to say such a thing.

Social consensus is the same level to which it is possible to bring the people of Israel living in the land of Israel to common knowledge, awareness, and emotion. Suppose that today we agree that the price of yogurt is way too expensive. Now together with this, we need to reach a consensus that only through our connection and unity can we bring down the price of yogurt by half.

Yogurt is just a typical example. You could use anything else as an example. There are enough examples of high costs in Israel. But who is to blame for this? We ourselves are to blame for not connecting with each other.

Only general education will make it possible to determine what kind of mutual connection there is between us and to actually realize this connection through bringing changes to society. So we invite everyone to take part in our discussion circles.

Gradually a person begins to change. This is called “the influence of the environment on a person.” The environment will change his heart, as there is no other force. The person is not ready to change himself and only the force of the environment does this.

Television must help social unity, such as we do on Channel 66 (in Israel). It is necessary to work on this to create a warm atmosphere in schools so that there won’t be problems such as those that there are now. According to the opinion of sociologists, if 10% of the total population begins to organize something, then they obligate everyone else to participate. In such a manner we can bring consensus to the entire society.

Question: But in what way is this call for equality different from those attempts that humanity has already taken for many years?

Answer: I suggest a working tool, like a screwdriver or a key, through which it is possible to solve our common problem and that of everyone personally at its root by going back to maintaining the balance of nature.

As far as it seems, all previous approaches have been unsuccessful, for the condition of the world is becoming worse and worse. Whereas in the present case, we are beginning to understand the law of existence of human society, the process that it is going through, and the methods that make it possible for us to adhere to this inevitable process, such that we will feel ourselves more and more in every coming point of our development.

This is not talking about trying to convince the government to lower taxes. The solution is found within nature itself, and it requires balance from us. If we don’t establish balance, then all of our various attempts to correct the situation will cost us dearly and will bring even greater loss and damage on a deeper level.

If we don’t heal this illness at its root now, through correction and consolidation of society, then it will break out even more strongly in in another place. Suppose that we gather a particular crowd and go out to a demonstration to make the price of yogurt cheaper by half and we succeed in this. Instead of this, a capitalist will raise the price of other necessary products by 5% and it will follow that we haven’t gained anything.

This is because we have not acted according to the law of nature, according to its trend, but  have instead acted according to our understanding. And when we rely on our intellect, it always follows that we want to correct something egoistically, with the result being worse. The same previous destruction remains In nature and it grows even more. We are then forced to suffer even more, so that eventually we may understand the need for the correction of society.

The problem of the price of yogurt doesn’t exist by itself, rather it is pushing us towards connection with others. Whereas you are saying that you could get its price lowered in another way. But in general we are not talking about yogurt but about social consensus!

Yogurt is only an excuse for making it possible for us to unite. We exist in a global system that is interconnected, a small global village that is embraced by a general crisis.

There was once a very popular slogan: “The people demand social justice!” Today it is possible to change it to this: “The people demand social consolidation!”
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From a Talk, 4/13/14

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The Engine Of Progress Is Dead

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “The Peace”: And humanity has already thrown itself to the extreme right, as with Germany, or to the extreme left, as with Russia. But not only did they not ease the situation for themselves, they have worsened the malady and agony, and the voices rise up to the sky, as we all know. 

Today all the means that were useful in the past are invalid. It makes no difference how we choose to advance, what plans we make, or what recommendations or innovations we come up with. Eventually all this will only deepen the crisis we are in, force us to waste our powers in vain, and increase pain and suffering.

So what can we do? A wise man tries to identify the whole process in advance from beginning to end in regards to a predetermined goal. If we do this, we will certainly save ourselves pain and follow the way that will still bring us to the same outcome.

On the other hand, as long as we keep postponing the only possible correction, the unpleasant phases will only be stretched out and prolonged. If we continue to advance along the corporeal egoistic plane, we raise our ego each time and overcome the bad states that are revealed. Our ego keeps on growing and we invent more and more new sophisticated innovations in technology, means of communication, or legislation.

Instead of a king, we have a parliament; we save money in bank accounts and give priority to private enterprises. Why is this so? In order to give people different opportunities to fulfill the egoistic desire and thus keep advancing. We are in perpetual motion, and on each level we discover its worthlessness the moment when we cannot satisfy the demands of our developing desire by ourselves and it forces us to keep on developing.

Today, the desire has reached a certain level of satiation and now we can decide what to do with it. It doesn’t matter what means we try, nothing is successful. Matter, the desire to receive, which has been the basis for the development of human society for thousands of years, is no longer fruitful. Competition can no longer be the engine of progress.

We are in search of new directions, trying to understand what else we can do. But we find nothing. There are no more opportunities in industry, commerce, or science. We have fulfilled and exhausted ourselves.

Of course, we would rather believe that this is a temporary dead end before a new breakthrough, but there is a fundamental problem here: We have developed society only in order to use the power of our ego. Today the ego doesn’t work anymore.

Therefore, we mustn’t continue our advancement in the directions that we have developed so far. The egoistic force, the basis of our progress has exhausted itself. We can already see that it has begun to consume itself.

In the past, a person wanted to have a family, bring up his children, build a home, and become rich. Only a decade or two ago, these goals and demands were clearly understood. But today, many people are not attracted to it. The old values are suddenly gone. It is therefore better to sit and smoke a joint, which has become practically legal, and that’s it.

Humanity has lost the hold and supporting pillar of the ego, which has been our engine of progress throughout history. Although governments and the media still manage to blur reality, there is actually nowhere else to which we can advance.

If we continue to hold on to the peak and keep on delving deeper into the diminishing pool of opportunities, the troubles will only increase. The more we continue to advance along this path, the quicker our negative development will be. The wrong use of the ego and its overuse in our times will eventually show us that it doesn’t work anymore. The uselessness of self-love is now becoming evident.

We already see behavioral mutations in the relations between people and countries. Many don’t even want to think rationally as to whether it is good or bad for them, but simply act out of their impulses and prefer not to think about the outcomes. Thus the ordinary egoistic behavior is gradually changing.

This is a very dangerous phase since it can lead to an outburst in any possible direction. Therefore, the wisdom of Kabbalah is being revealed, and although it is seemingly an artificial thing, unnatural for us, it is actually the right and natural thing.

If we have already exhausted our human egoistic impulse to advance and develop, then there is only one thing left to do: ascend to the next level that is above self-love. There is another force in the world besides the force of receiving, which is the force of bestowal. So why don’t we establish a new humanity on the basis of this attribute? Why don’t we establish our relationships upon it? Let’s use the second force in nature. We mustn’t continue to ignore bestowal. It has always been at our disposal, but we didn’t feel a need for it because the ego pushed us forward and considered the force of bestowal redundant.

The force of receiving burnt in us more and more and we didn’t even think that bestowal provides us with greater opportunities to advance. It is because with the help of bestowal we use the external vessels of the environment, which are the desires, the attainments, the connections and the great mind, the great force that is on the outside. We never even thought that we could develop along the positive path with the help of the force of bestowal.

Bestowal is based on mutual benefit. It opens up infinite perspectives because humanity can finally unite powers instead of wasting them on inner struggles, because it is actually the separation that weakens us. It is just like a rich couple who gets divorced and their lawyers get all their money. Eventually the two sides are left with nothing compared to what they had before.

On the whole, competition and ambitiousness help us advance only if we don’t directly compete with one another on the basis of mutual hate, but instead, we do this on the conceptual level, for the sake of humanity. Today the competition between us is who is better and whose merchandise is better. In this kind of struggle each one wants to wipe out the competition, which is a destructive state not a constructive one. In such cases it isn’t the general wellbeing that wins and it is therefore harmful to all of us.

We have now begun a period of destructive competition. As a result, the ego begins to consume itself and becomes an illness that destroys people. In the past the ego was the developing force, but now it has become a destructive force.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/26/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Are Mass Protests An Escape From Depression?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Today society doesn’t feel sympathy for people in power. For the past two or three years, many nations have gone through similar processes of social resentment and anger. What can you recommend in connection to this widespread and increasing phenomenon?

Answer: I have met with very wealthy people who say: “If I don’t have profits, what will I share?” I very much wanted to answer them: “Don’t distribute anything! They can have everything without you.”

I certainly didn’t answer them this way, but their position is understandable. In the past, they created the workplaces, distributed bonuses and awards, and through the media, they have broadcast rumors that they have used their wealth to care for others.

Today the rich have nothing to share, even if they wanted to. People suddenly feel empty inside instead of feeling the previous natural drives of “I want this, and this, and this!” Now, it is not possible to build a new desire within them; what would fulfill them if there is no desire, no deficiency?

Do you suppose that an artist or composer entering a supermarket can fulfill himself one-hundred percent? No! He must buy products to sustain and fortify his body, but the main thing for him is to fulfill his inner need. Such a situation today is typical of regular people. Why? It is because nature has stopped arousing us with desires that we are used to receiving through some channel and we have suddenly found ourselves with emptiness.

Mass protests have become a regular phenomenon today. Why do these people go out to the streets? They are looking for fulfillment! They don’t care who will rule because they think that through it they will find new fulfillment, and seize some source and purpose of life. But what is to be done? It won’t happen. They are ready to shut their eyes, to sink into a swoon from using drugs, just to not feel the emptiness. Half of humanity has sunken into depression. We must understand that they have no other possibility.

So leaders have lost their status among the masses. If in the past the masses yearned for wealth, control, and respect, today this doesn’t exist. They don’t see people whom they should worship among their leaders. Today the leaders are worse than the simple people, and they also despise them, asking why they should waste their lives on them?

The younger generation, who are 15-30 years old today, perceive them exactly like that. Only older people remain in this old paradigm. There is no way out for influential people other than to give people Integral Education. Only in this way will they be ready to maintain their influence and even rise to a new qualitative level in the eyes of society.
[146371]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 2/10/14

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