Entries in the 'Economy' Category

Regarding Terror, Rising Prices And The Unification Of Society, Part 4

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If we want to lower prices, then why don’t consumers simply boycott the expensive food products? Why go through such a long and circuitous route through the unification of society? Thousands of years will pass until we merit that the capitalists will be ashamed because of the influence of the general atmosphere and agreement of society to establish greater equality.

Answer: I am going out according to the wisdom of Kabbalah, which explains that the world must advance towards unity and connection. And to push the world towards unification,  prices of food products essential for life are rising in Israel.

So we are forced to act because of the expensive price of yogurt for children, but essentially, this yogurt is only a pretext to push us towards unity and connection between us. That is how the general law of all of creation works.

There is an old joke about how a Jew immigrated to Israel from the Soviet Union and took a portrait of Lenin in a heavy gold frame through customs. The customs officer says to him that it is forbidden to take gold out of the country. But the Jew answered, “Well, I am taking the portrait of Lenin with me!” And they let him go through. When he reached Israel, then they asked him, “What did you bring the portrait of Lenin for?” So he answered, “I brought gold.” This is to say, everything depends on the angle from which we are looking at things.

Question: Three years ago there was a campaign of social protest to reduce prices and a broad social consensus was reached. Why was this not effective?

Answer: This social consensus was not based upon connection. Connection and unity are the main things that nature is demanding of us. It is only the lack of unity that causes all our problems, including the cost of living, the intifada, illness, divorce, conflicts with children, and problems in education.

Today, it has become clear that the reason for all human problems is the lack of unity and connection in society, meaning a good connection and unity, not on a fascist basis but on a communistic basis.

Do you want to lower the cost of living? I have a plan for this: unity. If we unite, then the prices will lower.

Question: I don’t believe it! We already tried to do this three years ago, so why didn’t this work out?

Answer: There was no real unity then. Unity doesn’t mean gathering a crowd of thousands of people, going out to the public square and shouting. Unity like this is created for destruction, not for the sake of unity and love. It also creates a negative force instead of a positive one. We wanted to break the capitalists, to make a revolution, to cause a fire in the nation, but this is not the proper method.

Nature, according to its tendency, is drawn towards connection. We see that the world has become global, united in commerce and international relations. And the moment this connection is torn, conflicts and wars immediately appear. In other words, nature places us before the need to unite, and in particular, before the proper unity and connection.

Modern technology and techniques all work for the sake of connection and it is only human society that acts in the opposite way and yearns for greater and greater separation. Each one is concerned only about himself and everyone else doesn’t interest him. Everything should burn, since the main thing for him is that things will be good for himself.

Human intelligence has not developed in parallel with nature. Nature that surrounds us, the world of the still, vegetative, and animate, is more developed regarding general integrality and connection than the human society that lives within this sphere.

People are not in harmony with nature, so separation, conflict, and anger dwell among us. This is how human society exists, and in such a form, nothing is waiting for us other than total destruction. The only thing that can save both the Jewish people and all of humanity in general is the right connection and mutual cooperation. Only with this can we correct the situation.

There was a time when this didn’t succeed for us, but this is because we didn’t yearn for unity and connection. We went out together against someone, but not for the sake of the unity that we must reach according to the program of nature.

Human society seems like a cancerous tumor on the body of the rest of nature. It is completely mangled, like a rotting, disintegrating body. And that is what we must bring to unity so that everything will work out wonderfully.

The problem is specifically in this, whereas the inflated price of yogurt is only the result. If we want this result to disappear and the price of yogurt to be a few pennies instead of a few dollars, this is absolutely possible, and we only need to reach unity for this to happen. Nature demands only this one thing from us.

Now, along with this yogurt, health, separation in the family, children’s education, and housing are problems in Israel and are worse here than in any other place in the world. This is because this is the central place where balance must be restored first.

And the whole world, which is suffering from imbalance, blames us for not having stabilized the balance. They cannot express this clearly, so they just blame the Jews for all of their troubles.

So unity and connection within society are the only methods for resolving all of our problems. And this doesn’t just affect the price of yogurt but everything in general, including typhoons, tsunamis, the intifada, and social and natural disasters. Everything depends only on balance, and in particular, balance in Israel.

For each person, it is possible to reach the good life all over the world only through connection and unity of the people of Israel. We are instructed to carry out the major operation, which determines the fate of the world. We began with the price of yogurt and we will finish with bringing the whole world into balance.
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From a Talk 4/13/14

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Using Money For The Good Of Society

Dr. Michael LaitmanComment: As of today, most people are in a very difficult situation, and the main concern of every person is his livelihood. Unfortunately, not everyone has enough income to meet even their basic needs. The subject of money arouses many fears and other feelings associated with the inability to earn.

Answer: That’s right, but it is necessary to understand that everything depends on existing values. If we say that humanity is beginning to change its perception today, this is only the first stage that exposes the inability of a person to fulfill himself according to previous values. These values were created by people who wanted to obtain money and power in the world at the expense of others because the world was dominated by money.

In fact, the world is dominated by a few dozen families that over the course of hundreds of years have accumulated power that made it possible for them to control the world. And all the governments that we are familiar with are subject to them.

These families determine which needs must exist among the world population and in what form. These values are designed to cause people to work and provide those in control with more power and more profit.

We see that we are found in a state in which these rules are worthless. If humanity discovers that it cannot continue to develop as it did previously, this situation is called the recognition of evil.

Today a person has seemingly become freer. On the one hand, he doesn’t belong to his owner, but on the other hand, desires that have developed in him hold him captive. The idea is that the desires of a person are not developing early in life towards something higher: I have a wagon, now I want a car, I have a small car, but now want a big one, I have a big car and I want an airplane.

Our desires are developing not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. A car or an airplane instead of a wagon doesn’t create something different in principle. Instead, the previous desire has simply been realized and new needs are being felt.

Ultimately, we are found in a limited and tense situation in many respects. First, within the present structure of society, I am not prepared to supply myself with the necessities for existence. Second, I cannot develop as I developed in the past. Third, I see the end of this development on the part of nature. Fourth, I feel that I am not fulfilling my new desires and needs that have suddenly grown in me because they don’t belong to the level at which I have become disappointed.

Historically, our development has always moved naturally into a new stage under the pressure of circumstances. But this way of development is very long and difficult and is accompanied by disasters that happen regularly, and we see that these disasters are increasing.

We are talking about climatic changes in the direction of global warming or cooling and are phenomena with which we cannot contend. Humanity could really find itself in such a situation where only a small group of people will arrive at the new stage of development, in the best case a billion people, or even less.

Isn’t it better to learn from the past, as stated in Talmud Babyli, Tamid 32a: “A wise person sees the outcome,”  and to begin to develop ourselves only through new methods? This is the question. It follows that everything depends on explaining the situation in which we are found so that humanity will understand its causes and in what direction we must advance.

Until now, humanity has developed an educational system that is made up of schools, kindergartens, colleges and universities. There is no place in which people are not given education. And even though one third of the population doesn’t know how to read or write, it is possible to present an explanation of the Integral Education method to most of the population, and this will be enough. Everyone else will just join in, almost unconsciously just as they now live.

For all of those people that can be reached, it is necessary to give an explanation and bring them to an understanding that the solution to the problem is in changing the person. But this requires effort and work on his part, and a person must work on this. And, the work required to ensure a rational standard of living won’t take more than two hours a day.

All the rest of the time a person will work to ensure coverage “money” for himself for the fulfillment of the new needs that the society creates in him. And for these needs, there are no limits, since we create them through social connections and through the participation of a person in society.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 8/30/12

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A New Way Of Thinking About Money

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: As Einstein said, we cannot solve our problems on the same plane that we create them. What kind of new thinking must we develop regarding money?

Answer: In the past, people depended on money much more than today. There was no social security, no health or retirement funds, nor any kind of social assistance for single-parent families or those living below the poverty level and so on. In all such cases, people had to have money to cover themselves.

If we were suddenly to refund those sums that were subtracted for the maintenance of schools, kindergartens, and hospitals from a person’s salary, his salary would grow by a third. But he would certainly not keep this money for difficult times. He would waste it, and if something happened to him, he would be the responsibility of society.

We see that our development obliges us to advance in such a direction that money, meaning coverage for all kinds of different expenses, will pass more and more into the hands of society. Clearly, it must be utilized correctly and not for political games.

If we see that people are concerned that their salary is not enough to maintain their home, to pay for services and food, so it could be that we must advance in this direction.

For example, it is necessary to make a general accounting for a city’s inhabitants as to how much is necessary to pay for water, gas, and electricity for everyone. The problem is that we will need to educate people to plan economically for every need, since without education there could be many more expenses than today.

But regarding the basket of commodities, we absolutely can do this. By allocating a particular sum from everyone’s salary, we can supply everyone with coupons with which they will be able to use at a store to get whatever groceries they need for a month. We could even organize a weekly delivery.

In addition, I would also suggest creating storage facilities for various things. Instead of people keeping things in their attic and throwing them away later, it is worthwhile to provide them for general use by others. When you need something, you would come and take, if not yours, then goods that belonged to someone else. This relates to clothing, children’s toys, and other things, even kitchenware.

In this manner, we could utilize not only household items, but also our professional services. For example, we could organize various systems for offering services to each other that we cannot pay for by ourselves. Once a week, every professional would work voluntarily for a number of hours and everyone would be aware of this. We would not need to pay for these services with money even though it is available. It follows that we would receive a meaningful addition to our salary.

Comment: In the meantime we believe that money gives us independence and we don’t want to depend on each other that much.

Answer: Home economics realistically demonstrates how much water, electricity, gas, and fuel I need, how much I can allocate for renovations, how much will be left for food, clothing, etc. If we write down all of these items, then a person will be convinced that he will always remain in a deficit (minus). Is this called living with money? He simply has pictures in his hands with which children play. If we explain all of this logically, basically people will move away from independence like this.
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From the program “A New Life” 9/02/14

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Transitioning To An Altruistic World Order

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do you see the transition to an altruistic new world order?

Answer: On its own, the world cannot smoothly reach a state in which it would begin to reduce the production of commodities, consumption, and services to reasonable limits, for then the economy would simply die. People would not know what to do and they would rebel.

So, capitalism will need to artificially maintain the employment of people and find something to keep them busy with. In spite of it all, this would be a big problem. There would be rebellions, demonstrations, civil wars, and even world wars, until humanity came to the decision that it must be educated anew to reach a new world order in which we would manufacture only what is necessary, and people who are freed from work would be involved in integral education. Or, it is possible to say it this way: All the rest will be involved with spiritual work according to the general rule, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

The wisdom of Kabbalah recommends not waiting until suffering forces a person to think and reach an understanding that he needs a new education and to do something about himself. The wisdom of Kabbalah offers a scientific way to reach this state now, meaning to understand that the future of humanity is still only in the moderate, rational consumption of everything that a person needs for a normal existence.

All the rest of his resources and possibilities must be directed toward creating a single society in which the Creator will be revealed because, from the start, he exists in this world only for this purpose.

We must be able to show and tell everyone that there is no other way and this is what the wisdom of Kabbalah offers. We are now faced with a choice of which way: in the natural way, in the way of in its time, which is the way of terrible blows until we become smarter, or to go in the right and intelligent way, consciously, which is what the wisdom of Kabbalah offers. With this, we re-educate ourselves not by force but by beginning to change our world, meaning by gradually reducing its consumption and production accordingly and by arranging for equal distribution to everyone accordingly, and so on.

There is no smooth, egoistic way toward this state since the egoistic way is directed toward excessive manufacturing. In this manner, it contradicts our call to provide rational quantities of food, products, and services.
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The Last Stage Of Corporeal Evolution

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Can we say that our spiritual advancement is parallel to the evolution of the world?

Answer: No. The corporeal world has already evolved to its ultimate phase. We on the other hand, are on the human level and can continue our evolution on a higher spiritual level.

This means that the still, vegetative, animate nature, and man in his animate nature, have exhausted all the options of their evolution. Therefore, the world doesn’t know how to go on. A person doesn’t have the powers or the right attributes to change anything. Civilization has reached a dead end in the course of its evolution and is now confronted with a general crisis in every aspect of life.

No one can see any way of putting an end to the situation we are in. There are, of course, wise guys in society who try to come up with solutions and thus advance, become more prominent, and make a profit from the current situation, but their suggestions very soon prove to be useless and are just like a hiring a “fakir per hour” and nothing more than that.

No matter what philosophers, economists, politicians, or sociologists say, they cannot offer anything constructive and positive. Although they see things correctly, and understand to some extent what is going on in society, their suggestions turn out to be totally absurd once put to a test. It is simply their ego that wants to say that it has some idea or a solution or at least a way to prevent the coming end.

We are in a very unpleasant state. The people have been anesthetized and thus keep on living with their small joys and sorrows, and staggering through their temporary existence as long things don’t get any worse.

For the first time in history, humanity is in a state of total apathy.

We have tried everything: feudalism, capitalism, socialism, and communism and now there is a certain inclination to return to the feudal system and split countries into small parts. It is the same idea as feudalism. Two hundred years ago, Germany was comprised of dozens of small principalities, and is now ready to split up again. Recently, there was a poll in Venice about breaking away from Italy.

They believe that there is something logical about this breakup: “If I detach myself from you and you detach yourself from me, we become independent administrative units and since we will be on our own, it will be easier to manage life within our borders.” The ego doesn’t conquer large areas, so it dominates small republics that have split up.

On the whole, they are very nationalistic and are even ready for sacrifice as long as they can be independent. The Catalonians, for example, cannot stand the Spanish and the Corsicans cannot stand the French and the Scots cannot stand the British.

This is a sign that we are not ready for unity and are trying to avoid it in any possible way, although nature obliges us to unite. If we were ready to unite, according to our parameters, feelings, and desires, there wouldn’t be any problems.

When the Europeans decided to establish the EU, they didn’t understand that they have to annul, not only the borders, but also to the imbalance between the states. They could have done all that, but their egos didn’t allow them to do so. It remained uncorrected and so many nations now want to go back to something more tangible and small and the feeling that “this is mine.”

Every one of the seven billion people on this planet is isolated in his corner. More and more people communicate with each other only through the Internet. Only the method of integral education provides a way out from this dead end.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 3/26/14

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The Correct Livelihood

laitman_626Question: What is the “correct livelihood” according to the wisdom of Kabbalah?

Answer: The proper livelihood (business) is the manufacture and production of the means of production and consumption in an amount required to provide every member of society with a rational normal standard of living and no more than this.

For example, every animal needs only food that is useful and appropriate for its physiological functioning. A cow never drinks champagne, and a horse will never eat hamburgers. It needs oats and a cow needs grass.

Likewise, normal healthy food is required for a person not exceeding a required level of necessity. With this he will fill his body and all the rest of his needs will be fulfilled only by rising to the next spiritual levels.

Question: What would be a normal profit in business?

Answer: A business must be constructed only to give a person normal fulfillment for his living, not profit.

Together with this, between us we will do great work by mutually satisfying the greatest necessities. But work like this is already included in our spiritual ascent and will be evaluated as spiritual work.

Or all of humanity will gradually begin to be included within it by devoting one or two hours per day, or particular groups of people will work in shifts, several million today, several million tomorrow, and so on.

This means that working for the sake of business will itself quickly retreat into the past. Business circles now think only about how to change some bank notes to others to return the world to the real value of money. But in any case, its value is gone and it is impossible to change anything here.

The integral world must be like one family, and in a family everything is divided according to what each one needs.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/23/14

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Business Is A Product Of Egoism

laitman_547_06Question: How does Kabbalah relate to business?

Answer: Business is a product of egoism. If people had properly engaged in the development of their earthly infrastructure, they would have created a civilization in which all exists on an equal footing, they would have served each other, together they would take care of their children, grandchildren, and themselves.

All this would require a minimum amount of effort and time.  People wouldn’t waste too much effort on themselves but would cherish the land, nature, and the environment.

Egoism makes a person reach farther, grab more and more at the expense of others, and on this basis business came into existence. Business is the use of others to benefit oneself, in addition everything is legal and punishment can be avoided. In principle, such a subordination of a person to another person is the same as slavery, only more subtle, civilized, and tame.

Kabbalah states that this is a temporary phenomenon due to nature’s implementation of its own program.  As soon as we reach the level of self-awareness as integrally existing people who depend on each other, then all our political, economic, financial, trade, other interactions and communication will begin to crumble. We won’t be able to control and manage them.

The world will come to such a state where the means of production and finance won’t play any role because, on one hand, they will be suppressed by the human factor and, on the other hand, there will be a new technology that will make everything so accessible and cheap, it will lead to a depreciation of any other means.

Businesses today rely on triggering wars, on exploiting people, on keeping people sick for the prosperity of the pharmaceutical industry, etc.  However, everything comes to an end, as it all gradually withers away.

As a result, a person experiencing frustration and depression will reach a desire to destroy the world. It already has started with the Islamic fundamentalism.

Therefore, in any case, everything will be reborn either in an evil way (and we are already witnessing this), or, in a good way, depending on how much we succeed in explaining to humanity that there is another, a good way.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories,” Part 2, 10/23/14

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Real Love And Not Hypnosis

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How will an integral system help me cope with fear? Now I know only that I have no money in my wallet.

Answer: First, it is important to establish a proper relationship with family members, then with the environment. A person depends on the environment. All that is in his apartment was obtained through society.

Each individual is dependent on society and cannot be disconnected from it.  So let’s see how we can tie ourselves to the society so that everyone feels comfortable and, at the same time, feels responsible. Then there will be more confidence.

We must introduce a question of reciprocity between money and egoism and a requirement to be considerate towards others. Otherwise we would eat each other, like a cancer eats an entire body.

All this has to be explained gradually, attracting the evidence of scholars and the media so that a person would learn it in its entirety. We’re talking about feelings, the ones that gnaw at us and are impossible to neutralize with money: fear, worry, uncertainty.

Question: Why can a society give me, as a person, the warmth and confidence, which I myself cannot achieve?

Answer: Confidence, warmth, love, and a pleasant sensation are received from the outside, and depend entirely on the environment, and never on one’s self or one’s inner feelings. We can influence you so that we can take you through all the senses, from one extreme to the other. We will fill all of your bodily material desires with the optimal basket of consumption and all your human aspirations above this basket. What else?

A person should be able to keep himself in the inner equilibrium, inner harmony, and to feel good. Can it be completely healthy? Yes, and is due to the positive vibrations that emanate from society. And this is the real state, not an illusion or hypnosis.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 9/3/14

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Life With Unending Pleasure

laitman_276_01Question: Let’s try to translate concepts about money that are rooted in society to a new level of thinking. For example: “Money runs the world.”

Answer: I would say that it is not money but want, desire, and need that run the world. Money only covers the desire and even eliminates it by fulfilling it. After I fulfill my desire with the help of money, I don’t feel good. Once again I must want something, yearn for it again.

What is the pleasure that is most attractive to me? It is in connection and unity with society. The pleasure there is not only attractive but also endless; it only continues to grow. This is what is special about fulfillment from the environment in comparison to all other fulfillments.

Question: Another old concept: “Money buys everything.”

Answer: That’s right. In our world money buys everything except health, loyalty, dedication, and dominance over the angel of death. To transfer this concept to the new thinking, it will be necessary to rise to another level of explanation. If instead of with money, I cover the needs and deficiencies in my relationship, then this is true loyalty and devotion.

Thanks to new attitudes, love is developed, the same needs and fulfillments that were hidden by money and never fulfilled. For these needs are relevant to loyalty, love, and freedom from the angel of death.

Comment: “Money gives us freedom, making it possible to be independent.”

Answer: We don’t acquire independence by being able to fulfill all of our constantly changing deficiencies. I am free only when I am found above the deficiencies and not within them. This is called the right-coated screen.

If I own a bank and everything that I want I cover with money, I am not free because I am always engaged in this activity: covering my needs with money. But if I am found above my deficiencies so that I don’t feel them, I also have no need for money.

Question: I don’t need anything?

Answer: If I am above the desire to receive, let’s say in a society in which everyone is connected together and supplies each other with everything necessary, then I don’t live in my deficiencies but in the deficiencies of the society. In this case, I don’t feel that I lack the money to fulfill myself. I fulfill others, and the others fulfill me.

If we live like this, then I don’t feel want because I am found above it. I care about everyone and everyone cares about me; in this way I feel that I am free. And everyone feels themselves free because they are concerned about everyone. So we don’t live under the pressure of want, and we are truly free.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 9/2/14

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America’s Pharmaceutical Nightmare

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from End of the American Dream): “According to the New York Times, more than 30 million Americans are currently taking antidepressants. Americans account for about five percent of the global population, but we buy more than 50 percent of the pharmaceutical drugs.

“The rate of antidepressant use among middle aged women is far higher than for the population as a whole. At this point, one out of every four women in their 40s and 50s is taking an antidepressant medication.

“Americans also consume a whopping 80 percent of all prescription painkillers.

“It is hard to believe, but doctors in the United States write 259 million prescriptions for painkillers each year. Prescription painkillers are some of the most addictive legal drugs, and our doctors are serving as enablers for millions upon millions of Americans that find themselves hooked on drugs that they cannot kick,

“A survey conducted for the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that more than 15 percent of all U.S. high school seniors abuse prescription drugs.

“The amount of money that the pharmaceutical industry is raking in is astronomical. It has been reported that Americans spent more than 280 billion dollars on prescription drugs during 2013.”

My Comment: As long as the drugs are bought with money, their consumption will only increase and Americans will be taught to use them.
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