Opinion (Gary Cohn, President of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.): “Goldman Sachs Group Inc. President Gary Cohn said Europe still faces ‘fundamental problems’ and policy makers lack plans to foster economic growth in southern European nations. Spain’s recession deepened in the last quarter of 2012 and its economy is set to shrink a second year in 2013, undermining the government’s efforts to reorder public finances amid a 26 percent unemployment rate.”

My Comment: When will financiers finally stop dreaming of new growth? Already for many years, they have been producing just to buy, throw away, and buy again. They are ready to lend for this purpose and they live in a dreamland that all this will continue. Of course, the process of establishing new (necessary, rational) needs runs consistently and gradually, but it is strongly implemented around the world by Nature.
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Opinion (Michael Khazin, economist): “The feelings of the end of 2011 were optimistic. Everyone was confident that the crises would end in 2012. … But by the end of 2012, the situation began to change dramatically. The main example of that was the report of the U.S. intelligence community about the future of the world in 2030. The report itself is not crucial, what is important is that none of the reviewed scenarios considers the option of the U.S. dominance in that period. …

“It is not just an important event, it is in some ways a radical change in the conditions of human existence in the last 2000 years. … Since then, there was always a group of people who were ready to take responsibility for the entire humanity, offering universal “rules of the game.” Originally, they were built only on the basis of the Biblical values (Christian global projects and Islam), then, from the 16^th century, there were also projects that began to limit the Biblical value system (the global capitalist project). …

“Today, we see that the elite of the “capitalist” project … is ready to hold back and give up on imposing the rules of conduct and social behavior.

“But people in all the countries and regions are not ready to write rules for themselves. This means that they will be established spontaneously and not always peacefully and safely. …

“Unless someone takes responsibility again by proposing common rules. But there will be a problem because in any case this “someone” will have to be strong enough to explain to the nervous opponents that some things should not be done. …

“I think that it was namely the refusal of the elite of the “capitalist” project to dominate globally that became the main result of the previous year. …. The crisis that we faced was not only economic; it has already reached the systemic level.”

My Comment: For those who study Kabbalah, it is clear that with the destruction of connection with the upper world 2000 years ago, religion (the religious project) prevailed in the world, which was replaced during the time of Ari (the 16^th century, the beginning of correction of the world) with the economic project. All these are the stages of development of egoism that are manifested in the form of various “projects.”

In 1995, we actively entered the latest “project”—the correction of egoism, integral humanity, ascent to the upper stages of unity, bestowal, and love—unwillingly, through suffering, or knowingly, with joy. No one but Kabbalists wants and is able to lead us forward because we know the next states of humanity.
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Opinion (Ian Bremmer, President of the Eurasia Group): “You know, we’re in my view, what we call a G0 world, not a G7 or G20, but a G0 – a place that has an absence of global leadership and puts nobody as number one I think really does reflect the fact that there is a vacuum of power.

“Before the financial crisis, the US was really leading all of the world institutions, you certainly saw that in trade, you think about the IMF, you think about the World Bank, the UN. I mean these are all institutions created by the US with their allies, their priorities, their capital. The US is no longer leading global institutions, but this doesn’t mean there’s no leading going on. It’s just that leading hasn’t been done globally. And you will see in 2013 the US working hard to push through, for example a very big trade deal the TransPacific Partnership. If it happens, it will involve forty percent of the world’s GDP, that’s not 100 or 80 percent – that’s 40. But it’s effectively the coalition of the willing on the economic side.”

My Comment: The development of society has led us to leveling everything and everyone. True, this is a long process, but it is already underway. It could not be otherwise because the world is moving toward full integration, unification, and unity, against its will through suffering, or consciously and willingly. Moreover, these two paths, although they lead to the same goal, are different for us: the long path through war, destruction, and starvation, or the fast path, easy, happy, peaceful. Choosing the path means accepting or not accepting integral education for everyone as a means to achieve the same goal through the good path.
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Opinion (Vasiliy Koltashov, head of the Center of Economic Research of the Institute of Globalization and Social Movement): “The characteristic of our time is that the meaning of crisis seems lost and we are not trying to look for it.

“If from the point of view of the layman, the economic crisis is a disaster, and from the point of view of economic theory, the crisis is a strange fall because of some errors, although the economic crises are objective factors and created by real economic conditions. They are useful precisely because they do not lead to the end of the world, but only appear to be the end of the world, and at one point seem like a terrible crash. The old economic model is collapsing, and a new one is emerging.

“We are in such economic crisis, but what is interesting is that it does not end there. It is not an ordinary crisis of production, of trade-related character (when there is an overproduction of goods, overproduction is liquidated, industry is updated, development continues); no, it is a crisis of a big breakdown. …

“We see that the crisis is not yet over, and, moreover to end it, there must be a qualitative change. What is this qualitative change?”

My Comment: We are in this crisis; no innovations, discoveries, technological breakthroughs, or changes around us will help get out of it, but only changes in us! We have entered the zone of integral nature, or in other words, nature has begun to influence us integrally, to treat us as one whole. Until we become like this, we will remain in increasing imbalance with nature, which we will feel as pressure: environmental, natural, social, in health, family, etc.
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Opinion (Michael Chazin, economist): “Americans have admitted that politicians are sober people and understand that sometimes it is better to admit: there is a fiscal cliff. The reaction of experts: the worst expectations in relation to the fiscal cliff have come true. The actions of the U.S. government become completely predictable. There are no real actions to combat the crisis; there are no explanations, just a reference to the ‘objective’ factors. …

“The question is what they will do next. The recession will increase, there can be problems with the U.S. rating, and it is far more dangerous.

“Another option is to force the banks to lend to individuals despite the fact that they will not return them. But as soon as it becomes clear that the loans do not have to be returned, citizens will start spending money on silly things. It will give a surge in sales, but salespeople will use this opportunity to raise prices. This will be ugly and minimally effective.

“How will the U.S. government compensate for falling demand that causes an economic downturn? The GPD data should not be misleading: the growth of personal consumption expenditure is associated with permanent compensation; these expenses are much higher than normal household income. …

“In the EU, citizens are suggested “to tighten their belts.” It is possible that the U.S will choose this course as well. But the U.S. Federal Reserve is not going to tighten monetary policy. The authorities are in a state of dilemma; the crisis continues, there is nothing new in this.”

My Comment: Restructuring, resetting, rebooting, no matter what, but everyone will have to listen to the relentless law of nature. Life develops and exist only due to the combination of two opposing forces “reception and bestowal” (egoism and altruism) in the middle point between them, in the middle line if we consider the point in motion. Instead of including egoism along with altruism, we should use it wisely, carefully including it in the property of unity, in altruism, for the development of integral relationships. In this case, we will develop in harmony with nature.
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Opinion(Jeremy Rifkin, American economist, writer, political advisor, activist, author of The Empathic Civilization: Rethinking Human Nature in the Biosphere Era): “‘Empathy,’ explains Rifkin, ‘conjures up active engagement – the willingness of an observer to become part of another’s experience, to share the feeling of that experience.’…

“Biologists and cognitive neuroscientists are discovering mirror-neurons–the so-called empathy neurons–that allow human beings and other species to feel and experience another’s situation as if it were one’s own. We are, it appears, the most social of animals and seek intimate participation and companionship with our fellows. …

“By extending the central nervous system of each individual and the society as a whole, communication revolutions provide an evermore inclusive playing field for empathy to mature and consciousness to expand. For example, during the period of the great hydraulic agricultural civilizations characterized by script and theological consciousness, empathic sensitivity broadened from tribal blood ties to associational ties based on common religious affiliation. Jews came to empathize with Jews, Christians with Christians, Muslims with Muslims, etc. In the first industrial revolution characterized by print and ideological consciousness, empathic sensibility extended to national borders, with Americans empathizing with Americans, Germans with Germans, Japanese with Japanese and so on. In the second industrial revolution, characterized by electronic communication and psychological consciousness, individuals began to identify with like-minded others.

Today, we are on the cusp of another historic convergence of energy and communication–a third industrial revolution–that could extend empathic sensibility to the biosphere itself and all of life on Earth.”

My Comment: Undoubtedly, we will continue to develop in this direction according to the plan of Nature. The only question is whether we will overcome egoism driven by blows or repressing it consciously.
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In the News (from BBC News): “The home of the ancient Greek gods is snow-capped and steep and the road that winds its way up the slopes of Mount Olympus leads through lush, fertile forest. But the vegetation is dotted with bare patches – precious trees ripped away.

“This is now the site of some of the worst illegal logging in Greece. The practice has risen here by more than 300% in the past year since a new tax pushed up the price of heating oil by a third.

Many people are now unable to afford heating oil, instead turning to wood to heat their homes.”

My Comment: Hunger and cold will force people to do anything. Could we require them to refrain from providing themselves with the minimum necessities?!
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In the News (from Bloomberg): “The euro-area jobless rate rose to a record in November as the fiscal crisis and tougher austerity measures deepened Europe’s economic troubles.

“Unemployment in the 17-nation region rose to 11.8 percent from 11.7 percent in October, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. That’s the highest since the data series started in 1995 and in line with the median estimate of 27 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.”

My Comment: We must agree that there is no returning to the consumer society, and the sooner we switch to a new integral thinking (reasonable consumption, equal sharing, closure of all the “excess” enterprises, the establishment of a rational economy, without anything extra), the less we will lose in transitioning to the new phase of development.
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Opinion (Nouriel Roubini, cofounder and chairman of Roubini Global Economics): “Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Davide Serra, founder of leading hedge fund Algebris, and Nouriel Roubini, the head of Roubini Economics known as Dr Doom for predicting the financial crisis, set out the case against those who think quantitative easing (QE) and low rates are benign policy tools.

“’When governments borrow, they are taking money from our children. QE is the same – we are lowering returns for future generations. QE creates an inter-generational dilemma,’ Mr Serra said.

“Mr Roubini warned that central bankers need to think about turning off the cheap money tap or risk creating another, possibly even worse, bubble.”

Opinion (Steen Jakobsen, Chief Economist & CIO, Saxo Bank): “In Europe, two core countries, the Netherlands and Germany, are now recession bound. The crisis has finally arrived at their doorstep. Meanwhile, European Central Bank monetary transmission remains obstructed by hodgepodge policies. … You can run from your debt burden but you can’t hide, and that will be the reality that Europe and France face in 2013. …

“So how can it be that stockmarkets are hitting multi-year highs while employment is hitting historic lows? In a real bull market, everyone partakes in the upside—but this market and the economy are driven by those who have access to central bank funding. In short, they are detached from reality. Like a David Copperfield stage act, it is a grand illusion. We have capitalism without capital or free markets.”

My Comment: At least many begin to understand that something (although not what) needs to be changed, but politicians do not hear. The realization that some understand the need for change, but others not, is already movement. But the real awareness must be in recognizing the need for full integration of all of humanity as a condition (the ultimate goal) of our development given by nature (evolution).

This can be achieved only by using the property of unity, the unifying force, which is revealed in the desire to unite according to the method of Kabbalah. Nature is integral on its three levels: still, vegetative, and animate. The human being, evolving from the animate level, must himself recognize the need to “fit” in the general picture of nature as its highest integral part.
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Opinion (Oxfam): “The world’s richest 100 people earned enough last year to end extreme poverty for the world’s poorest people four times over, Oxfam has said.

“The charity said an ‘explosion in extreme wealth’ was hindering efforts to tackle poverty, in a briefing released ahead of next week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“Releasing The Cost Of Inequality: How Wealth And Income Extremes Hurt Us All, Oxfam said the net income last year of the 100 richest people was 240 billion US dollars.

“In contrast, people in ‘extreme poverty’ live on less than 1.25 US dollars per day, and the charity called on world leaders to commit to reducing inequality to levels last seen in 1990.”

My Comment: No charities can correct the situation, and what arrives to the starving population does not contribute to its development, but rather leads to its degradation because it is not accompanied by integral education. So, even if all the rich had shared with all the poor, the world would not have become better. On the contrary, it would have become worse.

Until we eliminate the root cause of our problems— our egoistic nature—all of our actions, being egoistic, will always bring a negative result. The only problem is that the action is far removed from the result and we do not see their connection. We need to initially combine help with integral upbringing, not just education, and then we would attain the development of humanity, which would be capable of establishing itself in a new world.
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