Opinion (Lucrezia Reichlin, professor of economics at London Business School):  “‘The economy is spoken about everywhere after the crisis of 2008. It seemed that things will resume, but in reality in Europe, which is in recession, things got worse since the summer of 2011. …’

“‘If Europe, including Germany, does not address the problem and get into a position to invest in “education,” if human capital will not be enhanced, and if the problem of corruption is not solved, I would be very worried.’”

My Comment: Education and corruption cannot be cured without introducing an integral approach to humanity and its re-education.
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In the News (from Iowa State University): “The Media Violence Commission’s research-based report concludes that the research clearly shows that media violence consumption increases the relative risk of aggression, defined as intentional harm to another person that could be verbal, relational, or physical. …

“In their report, the commission wrote that aside from being sources of imitation, violent images — such as scenes in movies, games or pictures in comic books — act as triggers for activating aggressive thoughts and feelings already stored in memory. If these aggressive thoughts and feelings are activated over and over again because of repeated exposure to media violence, they become chronically accessible, and thus more likely to influence behavior. …

“While most public policy has focused on restricting children’s access to violent media, the commission found that approach to have significant political and legal challenges in many countries. For that reason, it recommends putting efforts into improving media ratings, classifications, and public education about the effects of media on children.

“‘Improving media ratings really has two pieces. One is that the media ratings themselves need to be done by an independent entity — meaning, not by an industry-influenced or controlled system,’ said Anderson, himself a leading researcher of the effects of violent media on children. ‘They need to be ratings that have some scientific validity to them.’”

My Comment: Since these media are beneficial to many, it is much more difficult to ban them in our society than smoking. The environment forms a child, but even parents cannot talk in the organized manner against the media that destroy their children and all the efforts of parents to instill good education. Are WHO and UNESCO opposed to these media? Did anyone put forward such proposals in the UN? There is one answer—we cannot resist such media because we ourselves are no different!

According to Kabbalah, a person never commits his own acts, but only what society, his surroundings, his environment, dictate to him. That is why by choosing the environment, a person completely determines his actions, which are the result of the influence of the environment. That is, one can determine his actions only through the environment in which he exists. And his free will is only in choosing the environment. (See Baal HaSulam, “Freedom of Will”)
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In the News (from PLOS.org): “On 22 February 2011, Christchurch New Zealand (population 367,700) experienced a devastating earthquake, causing extensive damage and killing one hundred and eighty-five people. The earthquake and aftershocks occurred between the 2009 and 2011 waves of a longitudinal probability sample conducted in New Zealand, enabling us to examine how a natural disaster of this magnitude affected deeply held commitments and global ratings of personal health, depending on earthquake exposure. We first investigated whether the earthquake-affected were more likely to believe in God. Consistent with the Religious Comfort Hypothesis, religious faith increased among the earthquake-affected, despite an overall decline in religious faith elsewhere. This result offers the first population-level demonstration that secular people turn to religion at times of natural crisis. We then examined whether religious affiliation was associated with differences in subjective ratings of personal health. We found no evidence for superior buffering from having religious faith. Among those affected by the earthquake, however, a loss of faith was associated with significant subjective health declines. Those who lost faith elsewhere in the country did not experience similar health declines. Our findings suggest that religious conversion after a natural disaster is unlikely to improve subjective well-being, yet upholding faith might be an important step on the road to recovery.”

My Comment: Fear, uncertainty, and lack of confidence gave rise to religious feelings and sustained religions. If it were not for them and if there were no death, there would be no religion—the mass belief in the unprovable. Kabbalah refutes the religious attitude towards the world. There is Nature and its laws; this is an upper force. And all the feelings that people feel toward the Creator and attribute to Him originate from sensations that are peculiar to man, and to man alone; it is similar to how we attribute certain thoughts and feelings to animals.
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In the News (from Reuters): “Europe and the United States are set to launch trade talks early next year to deepen the world’s largest trading relationship, EU and U.S. officials say, potentially unleashing billions of euros of new transatlantic business.

“Together, the bloc and the United States account for about half the world’s economic output and nearly a third of world trade. But a debt crisis in Europe and elusive American growth are pushing both sides to consider knocking down the final barriers to trade.”

My Comment: Market consolidation to help global integration may, in a more peaceful way, facilitate the recognition of the need for a universal global integration.
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In the News (from The New York Times): “’There is no doubt that the crisis is pushing people to stay together,’ said José María Redondo, the council’s spokesman, who attributed the drop in the divorce rate to a burst housing bubble and hard economic times.

“The crisis is not only slowing divorces but also transforming the process, according to divorce lawyers. Judges are reducing alimony payments and dueling spouses have moved from fighting over property to sparring over the critical issue of who assumes debts. …

“Some Spaniards say the hard times may have at least one benefit. If the crisis helps preserve the Spanish family by making it harder to divorce, that was no bad thing, said Julián M. Valón, a pioneering divorce lawyer who helped write the country’s 1981 divorce law.

“‘If there’s something positive about the economic crisis it is that people have less money to fight about than before,’ he said, ‘and this could help people to stay together, even through the tough times.’”

My Comment: The crisis is the collapse of our past egoistic nature and the birth of an altruistic nature. It is a historical process, meaning long and painful. It takes place above us. There were a few changes like that in our history. But this is the first time when we can consciously participate in our rebirth and thus facilitate the flow of the birth process. Otherwise, as in the past, we face revolutions and wars simultaneously worldwide.

The crisis is happening in all the areas of our life because it is a crisis of our nature; this is what we need to change: knowingly, by means of integral self-education, or unconsciously, when suffering will force us to accept new changes. As you can see, at the personal level, the crisis teaches us the “correct” life.
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Question: Recently, I’ve been visiting at the hospital frequently and I notice that some patients lack a basic drive for life. People do not cling to life. What has happened to this basic desire?

Answer: It disappears in sick people, and the elderly, and the young. This is the natural course of evolution: The egoistic desire is growing, not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively.

We still judge by quantity; we strive to a greater scale, greater luxury, but in the meantime, the quality changes. And suddenly we discover that development requires something higher, values that do not exist in our world. There are new requests in me, and my environment cannot give me answers to them. It turns out that I have nothing to do here, there is nothing to look for, nothing to live for, nothing to enjoy because I do not just seek pleasure, but want to discover something more essential.

But wait, what essence is there? People themselves do not know what they want.

This is because our world has nothing more to offer them. And then the defense mechanisms of the body push many, especially the younger generation, to all kinds of whims and follies, as well as to suicide, drugs, terrorism, and anything negative. They are looking for something, but cannot find anything. Today, a new egoistic desire is manifested, which sees a wall in front itself: “What have I come to? The world is lifeless. Why am I here?”

People whose mind and feelings have not been yet developed enough become economists, lawyers; in short, they look for success in life. They are still attracted by something, enticed by some benefit. But those who have evolved a bit more can no longer find anything worthwhile for themselves. They initially have no taste for life, and this produces much more serious phenomena than we see on the surface. After all, the media and Internet save many people from suicide. The general opinion makes everyone participate in these “games,” distractions from the main question. But soon, this will end; in six months or a year, the wave will subside, and we will see how media resources and virtual reality lose their popularity.

And then a problem will emerge: how to occupy people? By that time, the number of unemployed will increase; the scale of deprivation will grow. A person will have nowhere to go, even the means that used to be before will disappear…

Question: It is known that the statistics of depression and emptiness are increasing. Where will people get a new desire that will lead them on the spiritual path?

Answer: In fact, it is impossible without the “Light” from above. Of course, we will not be able to awaken them if we do not get the Light for us and for them, according to the principle “the first-born takes double.” Only in this way, will we be able to show them the way, to show them a spark of the Light, which is enough for everyone. In the end, it is our duty.

And if not, the only alternative is a world war. People would feel that that would be better than to continue to live as before. No one will oppose a war. On the contrary, in this month, many looked forward to the end of the world, hoping for at least some diversity. “It hasn’t come yet? Well, let’s wait for the next one…” People will embrace a war, albeit unconsciously…
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/30/12, “Body and Soul”

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Opinion (Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, Co-President of the Club of Rome, Germany): “Every doctor knows that a prerequisite to successful treatment is the correct diagnosis. And here it is: humanity prefers to shut its eyes and think that as long as the climate does not change dramatically, we can do nothing. If humankind continues to talk this way, the world will be nearing its end.

“Unfortunately, for many people, short-term success is more important than the fate of their own grandchildren. Therefore, they all chase scary thoughts away.

“I hope to achieve five things:

We need to develop positive opportunities for growth,

It is necessary to ensure that the scandals around fishing financing (some believe that no fish should remain in the entire world ocean) or around the use of fossil fuels become known around the world,

We need to promote the ideas on “how we make the Earth more suitable for living,”

We need to collaborate with investment funds that have invested funds in accordance with strict environmental criteria; it could seriously influence the markets,

Governments and businesses around the world must adopt mandatory rules to stop the looting of the wealth of the planet.”

My Comment: If you establish a correct diagnosis, then it is not in our attitude towards the planet, but in ourselves, in our egoism, and treating the cause is the correct solution and cure. This means re-educating people, and this cannot be ignored; otherwise we will not achieve a positive result, and the disease will worsen as for all the years of the existence of the Club of Rome.
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In the News (from Express): “Shop food prices in the UK have risen on average by 37.9 per cent in seven years according to the Office for National Statistics as the demands of an increasingly affluent and growing world population strain supply and as weather increasingly deviates from traditional patterns.

“And the situation for billions of consumers around the world can only get worse. The average price of staple foods is expected to double during the next 20 years due to price spikes following extreme weather events such as this summer’s drought in America which destroyed one sixth of its corn crop.

“We are facing nothing less than the onset of a global food war leading inexorably to riots, geopolitical tensions and global inflation as well as increasing hunger. According to a study published yesterday, pressure on the world’s resources is becoming so great that the situation could trigger warfare.

“With demand for basic commodities such as wheat set to soar during the next two decades, relatively small shocks to supply risk causing sudden price rises and triggering ‘overreactions or even militarised responses’ according to a report by the Chatham House think tank.

“This is no Doomsday scenario but a reality that has already been observed in 2008 when the rising cost of grain, maize, rice and soya triggered riots from Mexico to Indonesia as people found they couldn’t afford these vital items. …

“In fact the relationship between food price increases and civil unrest is so strong that one provocative study published last year claims that the price of food is the single most important factor that seems to trigger riots around the world and that this tipping point is reached when prices cross a certain threshold. … The timing of the Arab uprisings is linked to global food price spikes. …

“Inevitably, the problem will increasingly affect not only Third World countries but also those in the developed world.”

My Comment: There is plenty of food in the world; the problem is in its even distribution! But it is necessary to change people for this. That is, re-education is necessary.
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In the News (from Business Standard): “The United Nations has lowered global economic growth forecast for the coming two years even as it warned of a new global recession due to the US cliff situation and EU debt crisis. …

“‘A worsening of the euro area crisis, the “fiscal cliff” in the United States and a hard landing in China could cause a new global recession. Each of these risks could cause global output losses of between 1 and 3 per cent,’ UN’s team leader for the report Rob Voss said. …

“‘It is essential to change course in fiscal policy and shift the focus from short-term consolidation to robust economic growth with medium to long-term fiscal sustainability,’ it said. …

“‘The reorientation of fiscal policies should be internationally coordinated and aligned with structural policies that support direct job creation and green growth. Monetary policies (also need to) be better coordinated internationally and regulatory reforms of financial sectors be accelerated in order to stem exchange rate and capital flow volatility, which pose risks to the economic prospects of developing countries,’ it said.”

My Comment: Their policy indicates only the experts lack of understanding of the cause of the systemic crisis. They are still hoping for a return to the old system of management. We will have to learn the nature of a new integral state of humanity. The sluggishness of world leaders and our (BB) lag in explaining how to correct the crisis can bring about great suffering in the transition to the next stage (formation).
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Opinion (DeAnne Julius, former CIA analyst, founding member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England): “Look around the world and big risks abound. One or more countries may drop out of the eurozone. Violence may spread across the Middle East. The US Congress may yet drive the country off its fiscal cliff and into recession. An island dispute between China and its neighbours may flare up, provoking the US to intervene in the Pacific. But in my view, the single greatest risk is that one of these events or some other throws the world into another global financial crisis, a ‘GFC II.’

“This is a possibility for three reasons. First, the world economy is still in fragile shape and only slowly recovering from the GFC of 2007-08. … Second, economic policy is maxed out. Both fiscal and monetary policy have hit their effective boundaries. … The third vulnerability is political weakness. Prolonged austerity is undermining political support for mainstream parties and encouraging the fringes, both left and right. The peripheral eurozone countries are at particular risk.”

My Comment: To reduce these risks, wide international cooperation is necessary, but we see how governments are quietly watching the growth of protectionism and fascism in their countries. Only the adoption of a unified educational and training policy in all the G20 countries will bring peace and balance; only this will create the conditions for an understanding of the process of integration and making the right decisions in the new environment.
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