Opinion (Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in economics and professor at Columbia University): “The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos has lost some of its pre-crisis panache. After all, before the meltdown in 2008, the captains of finance and industry could trumpet the virtues of globalization, technology, and financial liberalization, which supposedly heralded a new era of relentless growth. …

“Those days are gone. But Davos remains a good place to get a sense of the global zeitgeist.
“It goes without saying that developing and emerging-market countries no longer look at the advanced countries as they once did. But a remark by one mining company executive from a developing country caught the spirit of change. In response to one development expert’s heartfelt despair that unfair trade treaties and unfulfilled promises of aid have cost the developed countries their moral authority, he retorted: ‘The West never had any moral authority.’ Colonialism, slavery, the splintering of Africa into small countries, and a long history of resource exploitation may be matters of the distant past to the perpetrators, but not so to those who suffered as a result.

“If there is a single topic that concerned the assembled leaders the most, it is economic inequality. The shift in the debate from just a year ago seems dramatic: no one even mentions the notion of trickle-down economics anymore, and few are willing to argue that there is a close congruence between social contributions and private rewards.

“While the realization that America is not the land of opportunity that it has long claimed to be is as disconcerting to others as it is to Americans, inequality of opportunity at the global scale is even greater….

“The Associated Press organized a sobering session on technology and unemployment: Can countries (particularly in the developed world) create new jobs – especially good jobs – in the face of modern technology that has replaced workers with robots and other machines in any task that can be routinized? …

“Those suffering the most are the young, whose life prospects will be badly hurt by the extended periods of unemployment that they face today. …

“… If the euro was to survive in the long run, there would have to be a fiscal and banking union, which would require more political unification than most Europeans are willing to accept. …

“In the last 25 years, we have moved from a world dominated by two superpowers to one dominated by one, and now to a leaderless, multi-polar world.”

My Comment: It may seem that the world is better and more equal without strong leaders, but in the right system, there is always a hierarchy, as in the body, the one who is more caring and responsible is higher, as in the body, the brain and other vital organs that live not for themselves, but for the entire body.
[100151]

Related Material:
Humanity Without Leadership
The American Dream Boomeranging Back
The Lack Of World Leadership

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, News, Politics, Unity, World - No Comments →

Question: Let us say that over the course of integral education, people have felt one another very well and become friends. How is this beneficial to the employer? Friendship is good, but what will happen to productivity?

Answer: Currently, the available data shows how people’s stubbornness, their inner hostility, their lack of desire to work and advance, stalls any productivity and scientific research. Statistics show that the productivity of an unhappy employee is 40% less than the productivity of a happy one, and these are good results because usually, the “hidden rocks,” the different obstacles, and the lack of desire to work stall productivity even more.

However, the advantage of the integral interconnection comes through in a direct improvement of productivity, a decrease in absences due to sickness, better attitudes toward one another, a stable family, and improvement in every aspect. Not only does the person feel a general improvement in his mood and thus works better, and not only does he become friendlier toward others, but together, they all feel that their common work gives them something. The person becomes so fulfilled that the salary becomes less important to him than the pleasure he receives from work, even if it is a low paying job.

Man is a simple being; he is not a mechanism, nor is he an animal that blindly obeys its instincts. This is why when we refer to a “salary,” we imply the entire combination of pleasure a person receives from work, creativity, and his union with others, from the fact that he enjoys work, that he is not as tired since there are no more conflicts, that there is general kindness in his family since he comes home from work in a good mood.

This way, people start feeling so fulfilled by the general complex of sensations that according to the dynamic of the development of humanity, people will not be working for a salary. In reality, there will be communism, not the kind of communism the Soviet society practiced, but the kind that really will provide people with the necessary normal, rational existence. However, all his pleasure actually will come from the integral system because he will receive fulfillment, the feeling of kindness, and plenty of nice sensations from all the other people.

A person changes and thus, he needs a greater fulfillment. There is no way to avoid this. We see that namely in the countries that have high salaries and social assistance, for example, the countries of Northern Europe, a large percentage of people are depressed. And what about the number of suicides in developed countries? This is because people do not yet receive the fulfillment that they need at the end of their evolutionary development.
[100189]
From a TV Program “Professional Secrets” 2/3/2013

Related Material:
There Is No Harmony Without Integrality
Talks About A New Life, Episode 2
Depression: The Disease Of The Century

Filed under: Crisis, Depression, Evolution, Integral Upbringing, Society - No Comments →

Opinion (Bill Gross, PIMCO founder and co-chief investment officer): “Bill Gross, the Pimco bond guru, said on Thursday a heavy reliance on credit has put the U.S. economy on a trajectory toward extinction, and he warned of an investor exodus from financial markets.

“The level of credit needed to spur economic growth has grown five-fold since the 1980s, said Gross, who is a founder and co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co….

“Using a supernova as a metaphor for the U.S. financial system, Gross said the universe is expanding so rapidly now that in the far future it will end in a ‘big freeze.’ Dependence on credit for growth will produce similar results, he said.

“U.S. government, corporate, household and personal debt is now $56 trillion, a monster that needs ever increasing amounts of fuel, Gross said, calling it a ‘supernova star that expands and expands, yet, in the process begins to consume itself.’…

“The end of credit markets will begin, said Gross, when assets offer too much risk and too little return, causing an investor exodus into alternatives such as cash or real assets.”

My Comment: But exit to other markets is not a cure from the capitalist approach to life; the individualistic view of the world itself should explode like a bubble and expose the only alternative–mutual responsibility, agreement, and complement.
[99978]

Related Material:
The U.S. Economy Has Fallen
The Housing Downturn Is A Prelude To The Real Crash
The US Is About To Plunge Into A New Recession

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Integral Upbringing, Mutual Guarantee, News, World - No Comments →

Today’s problems stem from our attitude. There is no doubt that we are building all the systems of human society correctly, but there is also no doubt that we are using them the wrong way. And the reason for this is our wrong attitude towards one another.

Apparently we have created systems that are good and necessary for everyone: healthcare, educational, national security systems, etc., but the outcomes are grim. For example, the more medicines we consume, the better it is for the health care system and for the pharmaceutical industry. Their profits grow and the state receives more from taxes. “We wish you to be ill more often.”

The same thing happens in the food industry: the more we eat, the more profitable it is for the industry. The abundance of unhealthy food brings about illnesses. “So be greedy and a glutton, buy as many food products as possible and by that help the economy“.

The systems are good but they are used against people’s wellbeing. The banks, in fact, have to make the “blood” flow through the system, but instead, they “suck the blood” from the system. The military industries provide jobs and technological and scientific progress, but it’s all implemented to arm different states and eventually they will have to make use of these arms. So the result is endless conflicts and wars.

So it turns out that we have built necessary systems and mechanisms, but we use them in an increasingly more destructive way. There are circles, which, in fact, are interested in a person suffering, being ill, and living a poor and miserable life; all this is determined by the system itself.

Economists scare us: “We have to increase demand and consumption otherwise everything will come to a halt!” But a person doesn’t want to continue this chase, and internally he has despaired from this kind of life and doesn’t see any point in shopping, even if he has the money.

Our desire to receive has been upgraded and has moved on to the next level and the neighbor’s lawn isn’t greener any more. The desire has changed, perhaps not in everyone yet, but the process continues; fashion, temptations, incentives and enticements are all disappearing.

So what’s next? Is the world really coming to an end? No. It’s simply that capitalism is coming to an end; it doesn’t work any more and in the next few years we will see that. It’s about a natural unavoidable process.

Question: How can that be that the system was built correctly but we are using it incorrectly?

Answer: It says, “God has made an honest man and they asked for many accounts”, (Ecclesiastes, 7, 29). Straightforwardness turns into confusion and discord in every direction, but of course, this is also part of nature’s program so that we will reach the recognition of evil by ourselves and will “straighten it out” ourselves.
[99906]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/7/13, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”

Related Material:
Learning From The Crisis
Unemployment: The Threat Of Global Scale
Karl Marx And Kabbalah

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Q&A, World - No Comments →

Opinion (from PR Newswire): “Business executives around the world believe that protectionism is on the rise in both developed and emerging markets, according to a new Economist Intelligence Unit survey and report commissioned by UK Trade & Investment. …

“Ian McCartney, UK Trade Minister responsible for UK Trade & Investment, commented: ‘World trade has been one of the principal engines of global economic growth over recent decades, and increased protectionism risks putting the brakes on that growth. Globalisation should be seen as an opportunity, not a threat. Protectionism leads to less trade, lower growth and therefore lower employment and more poverty.’”

My Comment: There is no solution to this without rebuilding the world, or rather the human! Only a view of the world as a single integrated whole in which humanity produces only rational necessities, equally shares everything necessary for existence, is content with integral fulfillment, and feels a single integral space will lead the world out of the crisis. We feel the labor pains of the birth of a new, not individual, but integral attitude to the world. In the end, economic protectionism will lead to world wars.
[99921]

Related Material:
How The World Economy Will Collapse In The 21st Century
Why No One Will Dominate The 21st Century
The Discrepancy Between The Two Systems

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Integral Upbringing, News - No Comments →

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.
[99775]

Related Material:
Several Possible Scenarios For The Fate Of Europe
Only Full Integration Can Save Europe
“Eurozone Biggest Threat To Global Outlook, OECD Says”

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, News - No Comments →

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.
[99677]

Related Material:
Why No One Will Dominate The 21st Century
The End Of Capitalism
The Law Of Globalization In Action

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Love, News, Unity - No Comments →

Question: Tomorrow is international “Safer Internet Day,” and it is dedicated to the problems of the virtual environment which online users surf. Surfing the net today involves many problems and threats both for children and for adults. Can we light up this labyrinth of dark “alleys?”

Answer: We are talking about labor pains. The Internet is indeed a common meeting place, everyone’s “common market.” I think that it should go through the recognition of evil, through a cleansing process; it should understand itself better and the reason it was created. In the meantime, this virtual labyrinth is like the Wild West, but people are gradually maturing and gradually systematize this “territory.”

Generally speaking, humanity is getting acquainted with itself on this network. It is like a mirror, and so on the whole, I suppose that it is a positive process. Perhaps it should be hastened, but we should be careful of corrupting it. The corruptions on the way will only generate new problems. People want to enjoy this tool, but they cannot manage it. Eventually they will reach the recognition of evil and will understand what they should actually do.

But if the network is limited and regulated according to the old way or if it is cut off, it will not help. Humanity is used to external limitations, while we contend that people should be educated, that the limitation should come naturally from within and not artificially from the outside. Unless people understand this, no measures will help to bring about any positive change. The Internet will still be a place where people vent all the evil they have on one another. However, if we take care of people, then this global network will undergo a healing process. There is no other means; it is the only solution.

So let’s hope that people will reach it as soon as possible, and then the Internet will really be a safe place.
[99599]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/4/13, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”

Related Material:
Wonderland On The Internet
The Internet As The Means Of Attaining The Goal
The Internet As Evolution Accelerator

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Egoism, Internet, Q&A - No Comments →

We live in times when nature finally has obligated us to pay attention to integrality. Everything closes in, becomes global, and, whether we want it or not, we already are moving toward it, and if a person were given a little theory in addition to the practice that he needs to carry out against his will, he would have a very easy inner linking.

Unfortunately, for now, we only see the negative aspect of integrality since it shows us very well its full interdependence. Be it school, work, or different government institutions, no matter where we turn, we are rejected, pushed away, and so on. The same happens with television in constant soap operas about murder, police, and courts. We see that all these things are a single common integral world, but it is a negative world. Unfortunately, this is the way we must learn about this essential quality.

We must show people that, as soon as we replace a negative with a positive, things can become completely opposite because nature is properly interconnected, and if we, on our behalf, propose a positive connection instead of a negative one, we easily would achieve the manifestation of positive integrality in all areas.
[99594]
From a “Talk On Integral Upbringing” 1/20/13

Related Material:
Studying Nature: The Way To Solve Our Problems
Walking Along With Nature
The Future Lies In A Good Mutual Connection

Filed under: Crisis, Education, Integral Upbringing - No Comments →

Question: How do we show the world that a transition to an integral society is not a utopia, but a real project?

Answer: An integral society cannot be a utopia for two reasons.

First of all, the worldwide crisis is directing us toward it, and there is nowhere we can hide from it. It will continue to pressure us. Millions will be left without work. See what is happening in southern Europe: Spain, Italy, Greece, and is already approaching Germany and France.

And what will happen to the people? How will they react to everything? We are looking at civil wars and revolutions; without integral upbringing, anything could happen! Horrible nationalistic problems will arise. We see fascists coming to power in Greece. This is protectionism, which will manifest in a horrible way if integral upbringing is not introduced in time.

For this reason, a multifaceted horrible crisis will continue to push us from every angle.

How can the population be calmed down? Who will feed the unemployed? No one will! No social work will be able to keep them from explosions of protests and mass disturbances. When people are hungry, death does not scare them, they can climb barricades, nothing matters to them.

And those on top do not know what to do; they are lost. The only thing they can do is escape to an island in the Pacific until they are found there.

In other words, anarchy, terrible absurdity, and chaos are coming over us. This is on one hand.

On the other hand, we face nature, which is showing us the negative side of our inaction and lack of understanding.

For this reason, it is necessary to introduce integral upbringing at least as an experiment in a single region. Let us try! What do we have to lose? Everything is dying anyway.

Two months ago in Italy, I spoke with a representative of the European Community about education. He sat in front of me like a student sits in front of a teacher, writing down every word, he literally had pages and pages of notes. And this is a serious official, who spent the last eighteen years working for the governing body of the European Community in Brussels. He said: “It is a perfect system, but I have no one to tell about it to because we have twenty-seven countries and each wants things done their own way, nobody will want to listen to anyone else.”

He reached out: “Who can I turn to, what can I do?” In his opinion, for this experiment we need a small town with a dying economy from the closing of a huge enterprise that was responsible for the economy of the entire town.

But huge cities will soon be in this same situation. These are not small towns where people can still feed themselves by growing their own food on the land. Countries are in debt, and tomorrow they will not be able to feed their population. What is next? We are facing a huge mess.

The only thing that can save the world from civil wars and fascist regimes is integral upbringing. If we continue following the egoistic path contrary to the integral, “round” development of the world, then the next stage of egoistic development will be Nazism, fascism, and protectionism when countries realize that they are not able to do anything with the common market and they will close their borders and eventually come to the state of war.

Even if they do not want it, they still must break the economic, financial, and other connections they have created between them that are suffocating them. This is what is leading them towards a world war.

Global dependence is natural; there is nowhere to hide from it. This is why if things continue this way, we might even have to go through two wars. According to Kabbalah, there is a possibility of a third and even a fourth nuclear war. And after that, whatever is left of mankind still will be implementing integral upbringing and the integral lifestyle according to nature.

That is the harsh way of realizing the need for integration instead of doing it the reasonable way.
[99484]
From KabTV’s “Integral World” 11/28/12

Related Material:
The Unpredictable World
Economics Of The Future Society
The End Of The Development Of Egoism

Filed under: Crisis, Education, Integral Upbringing, Politics, Q&A, Suffering, Unity - No Comments →