We must not be ashamed of weakness, thinking that weakness can cool our desire for advancement. There is a “gate of tears” on every step, which only opens after the realization of one’s own helplessness. And how could we even have the ability? After all, advancement happens through additional power of bestowal. We do not have it; we must acquire it.

This is why I am right to discover that I have no ability to advance. And I am also right to discover that I have no desire to advance. What happens next? Just one thing: the right appeal to the Creator through the group for Him to correct the connection between us is made. And then, each time this is done, a new stage of our unity becomes revealed.

A person is unable to do anything on his own. No matter how strong he sometimes thinks he is, no matter how certain he is that he will attain everything; he will fail at everything. It is written: “Do not believe in yourself until the day you die.”

This is why having a group, which constantly awakens the person, is a necessary condition. And for this reason, when a person does not know how to advance and becomes desperate the person’s pride is usually to blame, thus he is unable to receive support from the group.

There is nothing to be ashamed of here; the person just needs to work with it. But essentially, this is the only disturbance. There is an enormous strength in the group. Like in the tale about Rabbi Yossi Ben Kisma. He was a great Kabbalist in his generation, and his students were very simple people. But he received a lot of strength from them since he knew how to work with them. And he was a great person! And this tale speaks of small people.

This is why when a person says that the Creator is not helping him, it is his pride speaking. How does it manifest? It is in his inability to cancel himself before the environment to receive the value and greatness of spirituality from it, and to then perceive the power of the Creator who helps him and the realization of the greatness of spirituality.

This is why there is no reason to cry over disturbances. It is written: “My soul shall weep in secret” in concealment, in darkness. Crying is good, but everything depends on what you are crying about: Do not cry over not having help; there is help. You need to cry over the fact that your pride is not letting you lower yourself a little before your friends, the Creator, and receive help from them.
[71614]
From the Arava  Convention 2/24/12, Lesson #4

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Opinion (Peter R. Orszag, vice chairman of global banking at Citigroup): “A weak labor market, like the one we’ve experienced since the financial crisis in 2008, imposes enormous stress on people. Given the added anxiety created by a weak economy, you might think life expectancy would decline. Oddly, though, during recessions, exactly the opposite tends to happen: Life expectancy rises.

“The age-adjusted death rate in the U.S. declined by 2 percent from 2007 to 2010, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As a result, projected life expectancy at birth rose to 78.7 years in 2010 from 77.9 years in 2007, an increase of 0.8 year. In contrast, from 2004 to 2007, when the economy was much stronger, life expectancy rose by only 0.4 year.

“Life expectancy appears to have risen more in the states with relatively large increases in unemployment. In Michigan and Illinois, for example, where joblessness rose much more than in North Dakota or Iowa, age-adjusted death rates have had a steeper decline since 2007. (In the states with the smallest increase in unemployment, the death rates have perversely risen.)

“These cross-state data are consistent with historical patterns that economists Douglas Miller, Marianne Page, Ann Stevens and Mateusz Filipski have found. Their research shows that a one-percentage-point increase in a state’s unemployment rate is associated with a 0.5 percent reduction in the state’s mortality rate.

“During the Great Depression, too, life expectancy rose, according to research by Jose Tapia Granados and Ana Diez Roux of the University of Michigan. As they conclude, ‘The evolution of population health during the years 1920-1940 confirms the counter-intuitive hypothesis that, as in other historical periods and market economies, population health tends to evolve better during recessions than in expansions.’

“How could this be? In a series of important papers, Christopher Ruhm, an economist at the University of Virginia, has explored the reasons. It appears that while suicide rates rise during downturns, other types of fatalities, such as from motor-vehicle accidents, fall more. The surprising findings apply even to heart attacks. In a study titled ‘A Healthy Economy Can Break Your Heart,’ Ruhm finds that higher unemployment reduces deaths from heart attacks, perhaps because when there is less economic activity, hazards such as air pollution and traffic congestion are less severe. Smoking and obesity also tend to decline.”

My Comment: To eliminate suicide, it is necessary to give a person a feeling of happiness. The universal network of integral education will create the best conditions for human health.
[71558]

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Opinion (Michael Dittmar, physicist): “…there are currently 440 operating nuclear reactors with a further 65 under construction. Operating nuclear reactors require the equivalent of about 68 000 tons of natural uranium ore every year.

“Given that one-third of the ‘known’ deposits are only an estimate, a more accurate interpretation would be that perhaps enough uranium exists to operate the existing nuclear power plants for about 70 years.

“Many countries import close to 100% of their uranium needs today; this is especially true for the USA, France and the rest of the European Union. Thirty years ago, the USA produced about 16 000 tons of uranium ore annually; today, that has declined to less than 2000 tons, whereas its power plants require about 20 000 tons. Thus, less than 10% of their needs are satisfied by mines on their huge territory.

“Every year, the USA has to import about 10 000 tons of natural uranium equivalent nuclear fuel from Russian military reserves.

“Unfortunately, biogas and wind and solar energy still play only minor roles worldwide. Even if the strong growth in renewables over the past couple of years continues, their share of the total electrical energy mix will remain small. Neither nuclear energy nor new renewable forms of energy will be able to forestall the inevitable decline in energy production in the coming decades. This decline will result from the combination of a slow nuclear phase-out and a decline in fossil-fuel use as a corollary of both the drop in oil extraction after stocks peak and concern about climate change.

“Once we have exhausted fossil fuels and uranium, the alternative energy options will all be renewable. But renewable sources of energy will never be able to compete with current energy production levels, so we shall have no choice but to become more economical with energy.”

My Comment: Indeed, there is no alternative—we need to become more economical, and this is only possible by reducing unnecessary production and transportation, that is, by bringing all our activities to a reasonable (required) level of consumption.
[71486]

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Opinion (Michael Khazin, an economist, from vz.ru): “In November 2011, the industrial production in China declined for the first time in three years. This is explained by the debt crisis in Europe, which has reduced demand for Chinese goods, as well as by reduction in domestic consumption.

“China now cannot quickly replace the falling external demand for the simple reason that it no longer produces any truly cheap goods. Energy costs have increased, labor costs and production costs have increased… In general, only wealthy Chinese can afford Chinese products.

“Excess production and infrastructure built for growth will put much pressure on the economy, requiring permanent and ineffective expenditures for their maintenance. Serious social problems will also burden the economy and the state. Like everyone else, China too faces very serious problems.”

My Comment: The crisis will spare nobody, and all countries and nations of the world will be plunged into it in order to feel the need to change the whole trend of human development from the material goals to the spiritual ones.
[71213]

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In the News (from The Final Hour blog): “The city of Detroit has become the poster child for everything that is wrong with the U.S. economy – and for good reason. It literally looks like it is in the middle of a war zone or like a hurricane has hit it. The truth is that the city of Detroit is dying and it is simply not going to recover.

“It wasn’t always this way for Detroit. Decades ago, it was a shining example of America’s incredible manufacturing prowess. It was the center of the automobile revolution. At the time, nobody could have ever dreamed that one day Detroit would be the biggest economic disaster in the United States.

“But that is what has happened.

“Just consider the following facts….

“During the boom days of the 1950s, Detroit was a teeming metropolis of approximately 2 million people, but today the current population is less than a million and people are leaving in waves. The mayor of Detroit has admitted that while the “official” unemployment rate in Detroit is 27 percent, the ‘real’ unemployment rate in his city is somewhere around 50 percent.

“House prices of under $1000 are quite common in Detroit now, and there are some houses in the city that you can actually buy for just one dollar.

“Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb has announced a plan to close 44 Detroit schools. According to one estimate, the city of Detroit has 33,500 empty houses and 91,000 vacant residential lots.

“So how do you possibly save a city that is dying right in front of you? Well, the mayor of Detroit has unveiled his radical solution – you bulldoze one-fourth of the city.

“But sometimes it is not enough just to read facts and figures. Sometimes you just have to see what is going on with your own eyes before it will start to sink in. The short video news report posted below shows just how bad things have gotten in Detroit. Would you like to live in a city that looks like this?…

“Before you jump on Detroit too much, the reality is that this is going to happen to a lot more American cities before all of this is over. It is not just the economy of Detroit that is dying. It is the entire U.S. economy this is dying.

“The United States has piled up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world, and now the day of reckoning is here. Millions of Americans have already lost their homes and their jobs, but this is only the beginning. Incredibly hard economic times are on the way, and unfortunately America is going to pay the price for going into so much debt. Please make sure to prepare yourself and your family for the times that are ahead because they are not going to be easy.”

My Comment: Of course, salvation is the immediate introduction of the law of mandatory integral education and upbringing, whereby instead of benefits, participants of integral education courses receive scholarship, and their study is considered as work or study at university (to make it reliable and attractive).

The next part of the program is to make the city crystal clean and attractive to tourists and shoppers. All the residents of the city should voluntarily participate in this, as a result of their integral upbringing. It cannot be done without upbringing. Upbringing makes everything possible!
[71382]

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Opinion (Andres Arrak, professor, liberal economist, Estonia): “It is impossible to restrain the economic crisis. ‘The long economic crisis is happening now. Such crises emerge as a consequence of bad decisions. The 2012 will be a decisive year. This is a crisis of values, rather than finance or real estate.’

“The ideology of ‘more is better’ that represents a triumph of consumerism has exhausted itself.

‘The problem is that the club of the ‘rich and famous’ has no honest way out….’”

My Comment: There is an honest way out: The rich should continue to manage; they can do that, that is why they are rich. But they should channel all their energy for the benefit of society and be rewarded with gratitude, respect, and love instead of hatred, envy, and humiliation!
[71219]

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In the News (from The Voice of Russia): “Unwilling to accept cuts in wages and social spending, the Europeans go on strike almost every day. Obviously, in the coming year we will see many more strikes in Europe. The EU will have to save in order to overcome the crisis, but the measures to reduce budget spending and market reforms are very painful for the population.”

My Comment: Humanity must switch consciously or through wars and crises from the economy of (unlimited) consumerism to the economy or reasonable (necessary, balanced) consumption. This will free up to 70-80% of the workforce. According to the law of nature, we need to distribute the remainder of work in the most ecological (with minimum cost) and effective way among all the workforce.

We, all the inhabitants of the Earth, must dedicate the time freed from extra (harmful) work to our integral education and upbringing, the method of homeostasis (balance with nature), until we achieve integral connection between us and feel the upper level of the governing forces of Nature.
[70636]

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Opinion (Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winning economist): “The 130-billion euro aid will not save Athens from default, and ultimately Greece will have no choice but to leave the EU. Politicians are not paving the road for exiting the crisis, but leading the EU to the collapse.

“’Europe is a major threat not only to the US, but the entire world economy. A total failure of European politicians to develop a comprehensive anti-crisis solution… is evident.’

“‘The strategy of cutting back on spending during the crisis does not help.

“‘There is a widespread misconception that a time of saving is suitable for structural reforms because the transformation will make more people unemployed. Structural reforms must be carried out at a time of prosperity of the economy. The Lost Decade in Europe is the end of the EU story that simply will not survive such a weak growth.

“‘The crisis heats up society. The “Arab Spring” can spread around the world, or on the opposite, there might be a slant towards authoritarian regimes, like it happened in Hungary. The example of Hungary is a possible scenario for Europe, and it is very scary. The world is now in the state like in 1934, and the economic crisis creates high political volatility. … I have never seen such uncertainty. Any turn of events is possible in social order.”

My Comment: Again, he advocates expanding the economy, rather than bringing it to a reasonable size, and strengthening the consumer society, rather than against it. The EU will disappear not due to the lack of growth, but due to the lack of unity because it is not the EU by concept. And as for the possibilities of the Nazi regimes in the EU countries, Baal HaSulam wrote about it in his newspaper “The Nation (HaUma)” 70 years ago.
[70873] 

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Opinion (from Reuters): “Risk consultancy Maplecroft said its Global Risk Atlas, which highlights potentially destabilising factors in the world’s key growth economies, found that Brazil, Russia, India and China were no less susceptible to potential security or economic shocks than in previous years….

“For some of them, governance and reform have not kept pace with economic growth, leaving them vulnerable to potential risks such as terrorism or climate change, the survey found.

“According to the report, India and Russia are among 41 countries classified as ‘high risk’, with poor governance, systemic corruption and terrorism identified as particular risks.

“China, meanwhile, is also exposed to security issues, but is classified as ‘medium risk’ due to the unlikelihood of social or political upheaval on a national scale, the report said.

“Brazil, also ranked ‘medium risk’, is considered the least susceptible to global risks of the four BRICs, due in part to the stability of its political structure and record of strong governance.”

My Comment: The crisis will spare no one because it is global and will eventually lead to the need for all countries to change goals and development programs, to replace the material development of society of unlimited consumption  with a society of reasonable consumption, and instead of chasing fulfillment in shopping, fulfilling oneself above our life with what a human seeks subconsciously.
[71376]

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Opinion (Shigehiro Oishi, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia): “Using General Social Survey data from 1972 to 2008, we found that Americans were on average happier in the years with less national income inequality than in the years with more national income inequality. We further demonstrated that this inverse relation between income inequality and happiness was explained by perceived fairness and general trust.”

My Comment: According to many studies, happiness is measured relative to others, and that is why, no doubt, it will be optimally felt in a society of equal members.
[71379]

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