Entries in the 'Crisis' Category

Corporate Feudalism

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (OpEdNews.com): “Right now, the Wisconsin legislature is considering a bill that would make Wisconsin the nation’s 25th right-to-work-for-less state. Workers in right to work-for-less-states make less money, get skimpier health benefits and are more likely to die on the job than the workers in non-right-to-work-for-less states.

“The line from Wisconsin Republicans, of course, is that the proposed right-work-for-less law will improve their state’s economy and help build the middle class. But in reality, the exact opposite will happen.

“That’s because right-to-work-for-less laws bring capitalism a lot closer to its natural, unregulated state, and capitalism in its natural, unregulated state tends toward massive levels of inequality that we usually associate with feudalism.

“It looks a lot like this:

“At the top, there is a very small class of super-rich oligarchs and financiers. They’re the monarchs of capitalist society.

“Below them, there is a slightly larger, but still very, very small, class of professionals and mercantilists —doctors, lawyers, shop-owners — who help keep things running for the super-rich and supply the working poor with their needs. They’re nobles or knights of capitalist society.

“And at the very bottom there is the great mass of people who make up the working poor. They have no wealth — in fact they’re typically in debt most of their lives and can barely survive on what little money they make. They’re the peasants of capitalist society.

“So, for average working people, there is no such thing as a middle class in natural capitalism. Wealth accumulates at the very top among the elites, not among everyday working people. Inequality is the default option, just as it was in medieval Europe under feudalism.

“The only ways a true middle class can emerge in a capitalist society are by massive social upheaval (a middle class emerged after the Black Plague in Europe in the 14th century) or by government intervention.

“Historically, the government is the only thing that can put a check on the growth of feudalism, and it’s what we used here in the United States, from the founding of the republic until the Reagan revolution, to fight the elite and build a middle class from the ground up.

“Tariffs, workers’ rights legislation, the Glass-Steagall Act, higher taxes on the rich, you name it — our government used all of these things to restrain the natural tendency of capitalism towards inequality and to create a middle class.

“But ever since Reagan came to town and brainwashed everyone into believing that ‘government is the problem, not the solution,’ we’ve gutted regulations, busted unions and, as a result, returned capitalism to something resembling its natural, brutish state.

“Inequality is now at a record high, and the richest three percent of the population now controls more than half of all wealth.

“And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the child poverty rate here in the US is now among the worst in the developed world.

“Things have arguably gotten even worse since the recession, as the top one percent has absorbed almost all of the gains of our so-called ‘recovery.’

“The kings and noblemen may be long gone, but here in the US, the business and financial elite reign supreme, and corporate feudalism is the name of the game.”

My Comment: Egoism, if it is not restricted, is itself unlimited, and therefore constantly strives to boundless expansion and fulfillment. The more it gets, the more it feels emptiness. “Having received 100, it desires 200, and having received 200, it desires 400,” according to the law of expansion of the desire by the Light.

And thus until its death; when it dies, there is not even half of the desired in its hands. It is impossible to restrict egoism, because it is the basis of nature, and the only force of nature, except for the Light, the quality of bestowal and love. The pull to balance egoism (the middle line) is only by the knowledge of the wisdom of Kabbalah, which is the science of using egoism correctly.
[156885]

Related Material:
America Is No Longer The Land Of Opportunity
Much Bickering
Poverty Will Not Be Eliminated In The 21st Century

The Situation In Europe Is Reminiscent Of The Days Of Hitler

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (riafan.ru): “The Ombudsman for Human Rights in the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the tolerance shown by the West regarding the appearance of anti-Semitism, Nazism and xenophobia has become the reason for the renewed departure of the Jews from the European nations today.

“The situation is developing on a large scale and is already close to a critical situation. Human rights activists warn specifically that anti-Semitism has become the reason for the flight of the Jews from the nations of the European Union to Israel. The West, together with neo-Nazism, is reminiscent of the 1930s in Germany during the last century.

“During the time of Hitler and the Nazi regime, the Jews had nowhere to flee, while the tolerance to the appearance of xenophobia and Nazism of the governments and many Western powers led to the deaths of millions of people. The politicians of the European Union and the United States must remember the lessons of history and not help in falsifying history for lying scientists and the rest of the extremists.”

My Comment: I think that everything is happening according to the plan of the general egoistic development of humanity, which must bring a wave of anti-Semitism and general mutual hatred. The people of Israel will be the focus of this universal hatred. This appearance of egoism as total evil is necessary for activating pressure on the Jews, forcing them to implement the method of uniting humanity and in this unity, the discovery of the Creator.
[156361]

Related Material:
Anti-Semitism Has Provoked Emigration From The EU
“Fall Of EU Could Help A New Hitler Come To Power”
An Unpaid Bill

The Wisdom Of Ascent

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The modern Israeli society suffers from divisiveness. People feel that they are strangers to each other, really to the point of loathing and hatred. Sometimes, you simply want someone to disappear, board an airplane with your family and depart forever.

Answer: This is what we felt at the time of the Egyptian exile. This is the slavery when the ego dominates us, “plays” with us more strictly, and creates relationships like these among us.

As a result, we find ourselves in a position where we simply have no where to go. Today, some still think that they can flee somewhere to another country, but nothing will help.

Question: So, Israel will become a boiling pressure cooker in which people are locked up, totally unable to tolerate each other?

Answer: Right, that is how it was in the past and it is what will also happen in the future. There will be no other choice for us besides attaining unity. In addition, being unable to find the exit, we will agree that unity is possible only above the hatred.

A Bridge Above The Abyss

Question: The chasms that divide the people have taken shape and crystallized for years. Today the impression is that it is impossible to build bridges over them. Is it possible to forget all of the differences and insults? Is it possible to take control over the negative potential?

Answer: It is possible. I don’t ask you who and what you are, to what community or party you belong. It’s nothing like that. I know only one thing: I am with you, we are with everyone, we need to be together, and this is what I am going on. Certainly, we are different, opposed. We even hate each other. All of this is completely unimportant. Rather, what is important is only one thing: We must begin to connect and unite between us.

We demonstrate this connection and unity through workshops where we sit very different people, strangers, reflecting the entire social spectrum. Let’s take one representative from each party, sit them down together and arrange a workshop and you will see that even in such a mixed composition, they will suddenly discover ways of connecting. They would discover this on condition: that no one tramples on the others and foments his hatred in this ground. On the contrary, each is ready to unite and connect with the others above all the previous thoughts and desires.

So, we actually realize this, and in the center of the circle some kind of new force is revealed, warmth, mutual understanding, an ability to support and maintain a mutual connection. This is the second fundamental force latent in nature itself, the power of love. It is not the love that breaks out between a man and woman, but the same force that penetrates through interpersonal relationships.

Steps Forward

Today, we are in the dimension of hatred and egoism. I do not tolerate others; I always search for superiority above them and want to see them below me, under my control.

But, it is impossible to continue this way. We have reached a point in our development where egoism is devouring us from within. It won’t let us live as before, neither the people of Israel nor humanity as a whole. So, for the first time in history, the wisdom of Kabbalah has been revealed to the world. Its function is to teach us how, under new conditions and in spite of the opposition, we can hold and maintain a good, mutual connection.

[156342]
From Israeli Radio Program 103FM, 3/22/15

Related Material:
Meeting On The Bridge Above Hatred
We Depend On One Another
Global Darkness Before Dawn

An Uneasy Peace That Will Tear The Global Economy Asunder

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Mark Leonard, director, European Council on Foreign Relations): “In 1914, the world’s economic order collapsed because its most powerful nations went to war. A century later, the great powers are averse to shedding blood — and perversely, that could be the trigger for another unravelling of the global economy.

“Rulers once sent in the cavalry when they wanted to redraw the map. Now, the main battleground is economic. In many theatres, sanctions have taken the place of military strikes. Competing trade regimes becoming as important as military alliances. The American historian Edward Luttwak calls this a contest of geoeconomics, defined by the ‘grammar of commerce but the logic of war.’

“Trade talks, too, have become an economic weapon. With fading hopes for a global deal, a maze of bilateral and regional trade talks is taking place. But rather than linking the world in a single system, strong regional players are trying to create gated markets with preferential access for their own companies at the expense of weaker states.

“An optimistic theory once held that multinational companies would make once-hostile nations more dependent on each other, and that this would make them a force for peace. Governments, it was held, had an enlightened interest in guaranteeing open, predictable rules that would allow companies to thrive, unimpeded by political borders.

“But rising tensions between the great powers are turning these sometime knights of the corporate world into pawns. The multilateral institutions that were supposed to be the benign invigilators of a new era of win-win co-operation are becoming a battleground for geopolitical competition.”

My Comment: It cannot be otherwise since the world is developing through the development of egoism, so evil is pushing the world forward. Thus, to be optimistic means not to know the basis for the development of the world. It is written, “I created egoism and created the Torah for its correction,” and without the knowledge of correcting egoism by its opposite force, we have only one negative force in the world, which controls it and pushes it to destruction.
[156398]

Related Material:
A Financial War
Political Economy Of The New Globalism
“The Unruled World”

Our Aggression Could Destroy Us

Laitman_727Opinion (Steven Hawking, English Theoretical Physicist, Cosmologist, Author, Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge):

“’The human failing I would most like to correct is aggression. It may have had survival advantage in caveman days, to get more food, territory or a partner with whom to reproduce, but now it threatens to destroy us all,’ Hawking answered her, according to the Independent. ‘A major nuclear war would be the end of civilization, and maybe the end of the human race,’ he explained.

“Not only does human aggression no longer serve an obvious purpose, but technological advances, such as nuclear weaponry, have made it so that an incredible amount of damage could be done with very little effort by a small number of people. Hawking isn’t the only prominent scientist to have made this observation; Carl Sagan was outspoken against the development of nuclear arms during his life.

“[He was also asked] which human traits he would like to see more often. Unsurprisingly, he commented that he would like to see more kindness and understanding.

“’The quality I would most like to magnify is empathy. It brings us together in a peaceful, loving state,’ he replied.

My Comment: This opinion is obvious, but how can we reach empathy to others, like to our relatives, our children..? – This is what the wisdom of Kabbalah explains!
[156763]

Related Material:
War Or Peace?
Why Are The Rioters So Aggressive?
US-European Banks Bring World To Brink Of War

The United States Is Losing Interest In The Middle East

Laitman_633_4In the News (from Maariv Online): “I saw a study on a television program that until recently the United States imported 25% of the global oil exports. It was dependent upon Saudi Arabia and other nations. Today everything has changed.

“It has developed a technology for attaining cheaper gas and oil from shale (a type of mineral), and presently the United States is standing at the top of the market of the principle suppliers of energy.

“Now the United States is facing the opposite problem, finding markets for the sale of its resources. The preferred direction is not the Middle East, but the nations of Europe and the Far East region. This factor explains the loss of interest of the United States regarding Israel. For the allies of the Jewish nation, the main asset is technology, but the United States doesn’t need this and can get along without the Israelis.

“Russia, China and Europe need technology, but the Chinese steal it, and the European Union replaces it with immigrants. Russia has itself defined extremist Islam as a threat to security and on a background of geopolitical changes a situation could be created whose signs are already sprouting up today; its interests will be identical to those of Israel and it will become its ally.

“In order to establish an alliance with Russia, a two-term Republican regime in the White House is required. This will gradually change the character of the mutual relationships and will not bring about a conflict with the United States, that in turn was expressed in the prohibition of supplying ammunition, weapons and spare parts. In a general view it is possible to say that the United States has decided to leave and go away, and what will Israel be for them? It will not have any importance. The time has come to search for new allies.”

My Comment: The strength of Israel will not be in the force of arms and technologies but only through a connection with the upper force that can be increased and expanded endlessly through unity between us according to the method of the wisdom of Kabbalah.
[156184]

Related Material:
The Salvation Of Israel Is In Its Mission
Which Way Will The World Scale Tip?
The War From The Middle East Will Move Through The World

One Of The Two, There Is No Third

Laitman_421_01Question: Why does Baal HaSulam write that after democracy and socialism comes a fascist regime?

Answer: Because democracy is incapable of satisfying the desire for pleasure. The desire for pleasure grows and demands progress. The person himself wants to be more connected, and democracy brings him to this. Yet what kind of benefit does he get from connection; how do we realize it?

The realization of unity can only be either for the sake of our personal benefit or for the sake of the Creator. One of the two, there is no third. If we advance in a simple and natural way, then the connection comes about for the sake of our benefit. And this means that we are connected against everyone else and we try to turn them into our slaves, subjugating them.

An approach like this can be seen all over the world, more or less following every democratic government. After people get at least a little freedom, they immediately begin to feel that they lack connection. Yet they don’t know how to use it: “So we got connected, and what’s next?”

We are compelled to exploit this connection for the sake of someone or something. Ultimately it is realized in fighting against the others and showing how strong, unified, and consolidated we are among all of the people. This emerges naturally and inevitably. Today this tendency can already be seen in the world. From month to month the world approaches Nazism more and more.

It is enough to look at what is generally happening in the common European market, their decision-making, events happening in the United States, in Russia, and in many nations. It could be that you don’t feel this very much, yet I see that Nazism is becoming acceptable in society.

We are beginning to talk about it as something legitimate. We begin from a distance with the fact the we must discuss it so that it won’t return. But in the meantime, until we begin the discussions, we arrange conventions and printed material and people get used to the subject. This is the first stage.

Although it is said that Nazism is a negative phenomenon, but researchers and historians supposedly should discuss it. After that philosophers and futurists join this discussion, they investigate and examine how and why this happened. As a result of this, they reach the conclusion that this behavior is inherent in human nature and the Nazi regime was a natural and valid stage in the development of humanity. That is, it is embedded in our nature and cannot be avoided.  And so the legitimization of fascism is made.

After that begin the speeches about the necessity of the unity of the people, the need for sanctions against immigrants, the necessity of uniting against enemies because we are weak and losing. It would be like talking about steps necessary for survival. The idea gradually spreads. For this purpose there exists a special technology with whose help in a few years it will be possible to sell people anything.

Hitler didn’t immediately come to power either. Many years passed from World War I until World War II. He had some kind of a base upon which to stand; he was truly elected by the majority. Today it is even easier to do this because connection in our day is even more in demand, an even more sensitive topic. There is even greater disappointment in our development.

We as humanity have stopped developing. A new mobile phone every half-year doesn’t testify to technological advancement. These technologies are already old; there is nothing new, just a change in the external shape to sell the product. We have reached the limit of development of technical thinking and soon the same thing will happen in biology and everything else.

So there are many reasons for the development of Nazism. These trends are continuing to grow in all nations: France, Ukraine, United States, Russia, and it would be worthwhile to think about this before it is too late.
[133847]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/28/14, Topic: Holocaust Memorial Day

Related Material:
The Roots Of Nazism
The Danger Has Not Passed
Say “No” To A New Holocaust

Europe’s Future Is In Our Hands!

laitman_426Question: What is the future of Europe as you see it and what will be the solution to the impending problem of the immigration that the local population encounters?

Answer: Europe has been tolerant to the great number of immigrants without demanding their integration into their new home. Consequently, the national identity has disappeared, and now the ethnic diversity in Europe is too great.

There are two approaches to this problem: a multi-cultural society or assimilation.

I see the problem in the complete destruction of social ties. Society becomes global, integral but at the same time increasingly more egoistically separated. The social alienation is typical of the whole society, and they will not be able to restore the old civil society.

It can only be built by keeping the diversity and establishing a general cover of love above it. This is possible only by using the method of the wisdom of Kabbalah, and we can reach that either by the path of sufferings or by the path of the Light. The choice we make will determine the success of our dissemination of integral education (of the wisdom of Kabbalah).
[155945]

Related Material:
Will Europe Reunite?
Awaken Europe
Europe Is The Center Of The World And The Modern Babylon

How Power Is Dangerous

In the News (from Psychologies.ru): “Why do people in power clearly display tyranny, obstinacy and mental instability? The answer is simple: a slight feeling of superiority over others might have a significant impact on all of us.

“We all notice how almost instantly the people appointed to high office become transformed. They are impatient and demanding. Any, even minor progress on the career ladder may radically change their behavior. The tone of their voice rises, and they become harsh and arrogant. Like all of us, they have no doubt about being right.

“In receiving power over others, we feel our superior. Our desires become higher than the rules of decency and behavior, less ethical. A sense of authority allows us to behave noisily and leave a mess.

“From this moment we stop understanding the feelings of others and ignore their efforts. All decisions are made independently and self-confidently, especially in cases when the fate of hundreds or thousands of people depend on this.”

My Comment: Therefore, Kabbalah encourages allowing only corrected people to “steer,” those who are free from personal selfish purposes. It was like that in the ancient kingdom of Israel during the First and Second Temples when the whole population and especially the sages who managed it were in the state of revelation of the Creator, which kept everyone above his egoism.
[155350]

Related Material:
Power Really Does Corrupt
The Will Of The People In The Modern Era
Who Is Bigger Or Who Is Better?

We Depend On One Another

Laitman_115_06Question: Is there a reason for all our problems?

Answer: If there is a conflict with our spouse, our children, our neighbors, at work, and even within ourselves it means that our ego, called Pharaoh, dominates us.

Question:  But the slavery in Egypt, which the Torah tells us about, was only in ancient times and ended a long time ago.

Answer: Pharaoh dominates us all the time, even right now. The events described in the Torah are not related to a certain time and are not a historical story. We are still enslaved to the same ego, to our egoistic nature, which doesn’t allow us to live a normal life.

We live in a special world today, in a special time. We are all connected in one network to an integral world, an integral economy, and depend on one another. If the international community imposes certain sanctions against any country, it cuts off its connections with that country , like Iran for example, this state falls, since everyone depends on everyone else.

This shows us what an integral world we are living in, in which everyone is connected to one another. If we don’t keep the good relations in this interdependent world, we harm ourselves.

Therefore, if we don’t manage to fix the relationships between all the nations, all the countries, and all the political parties within a country, we will simply destroy ourselves. Nothing can help us if we are opposite to the general law of nature.

Question: But it is a fact that we don’t get along with each other and we still go on living.

Answer: There is a limit to this confrontation: how large it can grow and how long it can continue. The reason for this confrontation is our nature, which forces each of us to think only about himself. But a person doesn’t understand that his own good and wellbeing depend on everyone else. Our foolish ego operates in such a primitive way. People cannot understand that if we connect with good relationships with others we  will only benefit.

Question: It seems contrary that in ancient primitive societies people were more closely connected and that we draw further apart as we develop.

Answer: Don’t consider ancient societies as primitive. They realized that they depended on each other and that they were connected and couldn’t survive without these connections.

The problem of modern society is that we have reached such a high level through technological progress that it seems that we can live independently of each nother and so each one locks himself in his apartment with his cell phone and his computer and doesn’t want to see anyone. The main point is that he shouldn’t be touched.

This lack of connection between us, or the negative ties, are called Pharaoh, our ego. We don’t want to consider others and we don’t understand that we are mutually connected in one network and this is especially true for the nation of Israel. We always need to value ourselves according to this scale: the extent that we are against others or for them.

The whole Torah is only about “love thy friend as thyself,” which is the great rule of the Torah. This rule includes everything and there is nothing but reaching the right unity.
[155915]
From Israeli Radio Program 103FM, 3/15/15

Related Material:
Under The Yoke Of The Ego
The Leap Into The “Red Sea”
Passover – The Level Of The Exodus From Egypt