Opinion (Stanley Fischer, Governor of the Bank of Israel): [Dr. Laitman’s comments are in bold.]

“The International Monetary Fund predicts 3.3% growth in the global economy this year, and when I was at the IMF ten years ago we considered 3.5% growth in the global economy as the borderline between normal growth and recession. We are on the brink of a global recession.”

My Comment: We have been talking about the crisis for years; there is nothing new. It speaks only of shortsightedness.

“The big question is whether there will be a recession in Europe or whether we are facing a financial crisis. If there is a financial crisis in Europe, then so many things could happen such as Greece going bankrupt, or actually leaving the euro bloc with other countries following after. It’s hard to know.”

My Comment: The crisis will be financial; so be prepared for the worst because today none of the “decision makers” thinks about the transition towards an integral economy.

“The good part of the story is that they realize that they too don’t know what will happen to them if they keep the current framework. I was certain when I returned from the IMF Annual Meeting that the situation was difficult and bad, and they that didn’t understand what was happening there. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank has taken creative steps to deal with the liquidity and debt problem. There’s an improvement, but there is still uncertainty.”

My Comment: They will do nothing and will be able to do nothing, as has been the case in recent years due to lack of understanding of the trend of human development.

“Yossi Bachar [Israel Discount Bank Chairman] wants to send me messages, and finds it more convenient to use this stage. That’s fine. He wants to tell me that the capital adequacy ratio must not be raised. So I say to him: The Bank of Israel must not avoid raising it. There is the question of the rate of increase; we are aware of the problem, and I’m not fond of the expression ‘choking credit’, because that creates an unpleasant feeling, as though I’m strangling something, and I find that distasteful. We are aware of the problem.”

My Comment: This might be possible for a different small country, but not for Israel because it has the method of correction of the world, and without its interference the world will continue to slide down towards a Nazi regime and a world war.

“I respect Judaism, but this must change, the situation in which the Haredim [ultra-orthodox Jews], the fastest growing section of the population, does not participate in the workforce. Fewer than 40% of them work. This cannot continue, and it must be stopped. If it continues in the long term, it will be very hard for the economy to provide what people expect: life at a respectable standard.”

My Comment: If they enter the market now, you will get another half a million unemployed people, which will cost much more than today. We need to restrict various “political” subsidies instead of inviting them to the labor market.
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Question: Many people in Israel support our message, so why doesn’t the whole country hear us?

Answer: The message cannot be heard in a vacuum. There must be “air,” the attention of the hearts, through which the sound waves are transmitted. Otherwise, you’re just silently opening your mouth and no sound comes out. The desire that can pick up your words and carry them to a distance isn’t ready yet. This is the whole problem.

So what can we do so that this desire will appear? We can distribute our materials in the streets and at the events we hold, which is what we do, but this is not enough. It isn’t by chance that Kabbalists kept quiet until our time, until the egoistic desire started taking on the form of the general crisis. It wasn’t even a prohibition, but simply an inability to communicate something to the people.

Even if the wisdom of Kabbalah were opened before them, they wouldn’t have seen anything. Using the example of current events, we have been talking about the problem of unemployment for a long time, but only now it is beginning to emerge. Everything is delayed; we are always ahead of things.

We can only make efforts to do our best in dissemination, making sure that it doesn’t turn into “unripe fruit.” Everything must happen all in its time, so that people will understand our ideas correctly. Otherwise they will have the impression that it is just empty talk.

Therefore we should wait a while. We don’t want them to suffer, of course, but still the serious problems must reach the headlines, so that we can come out with our ideas. People need to hear from us what they are ready to hear.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/1/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Question: When we start talking about current global problems during the lesson, many of our friends take it negatively feeling that we are “missing” part of the lesson. I feel that this attitude should be changed. Without current affairs we have no right to exist. If we are not relevant people won’t hear us out.

Answer: This is also true. Baal HaSulam wrote about the Jerusalem Kabbalists who studied Kabbalah like mathematics and didn’t realize that it’s about the connection among us, about how to correct the broken vessel. Today we discover the shattering of the common soul of Adam HaRishon (First Man), and so the wisdom of Kabbalah is revealed to us in order to correct the shattering.

If we don’t examine the current events from this perspective, then why should we study the wisdom of Kabbalah? Clearly we study only for this reason. Missing the lesson means that I come out of the lesson and throughout the whole day I have nothing to hang on to so that my life won’t go by aimlessly. If my wisdom isn’t connected to real “substance,” it disappears. Even if I feel important, that I have acquired something, and that I understand something, it’s only an egoistic filling, nothing more.

Therefore, if someone thinks that we are talking about current problems just to pass the time, then he shouldn’t come here. After all, he is here thanks to the relevance of these current affairs. Only because of this was each of us brought here so that he would contribute to the correction of the world. But if a person sets himself another goal, he can leave. We don’t need him.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/1/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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In the News: “European Union (EU) leaders have finalized a new fiscal treaty for tighter budgetary discipline and pledged to boost economic growth and youth employment in the eurozone’s latest efforts to combat debt crisis.” (Source: English.xinhuanet.com)

“Without economic growth, the problem of 23 million unemployed in the EU cannot be solved. Therefore, European leaders propose to rely on job creation, especially in the advanced science-intensive industries, energy, digital technology, and e-commerce.” (Source: rosbalt.ru)

My Comment: It is impossible to create more jobs, develop the market, and establish artificial workplaces where they will have to be reduced even more. The new EU program is designed to delay the time.
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Opinion (Sharan Burrow, the General Secretary of ITUC): “The chief of the International Trade Union Confederation, Sharan Burrow, said ‘we’ve lost a moral compass’ and said that if governments don’t invest in social protections now, ‘nobody will like the social unrest that will follow.’”

My Comment: For some reason, the rich have no sense of fear. The history is repeating itself, though….
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It is impossible to attain true love without the basis of  hatred. Without hate there is only beastly love, a game of hormones: One shot and you love; another shot and you fall out of love. In our world, love is actually a pursuit of the fulfillment. When you want to eat, you love pie, and when you want to start a family, you love your spouse and children. These are simply different kinds of fillings that can be reconstructed if we implant certain electrodes in a person’s brain.

True love is built only above hate. Otherwise it is impossible to feel it. In our world, there is no love; we are talking about human love, not animal attraction that brings egoistic pleasure.

Question: It reminds me of cartoons where the characters find themselves in the air above an abyss and they still keep running for a while before they look down.

Answer: Exactly, they discover that they are hanging above a chasm, and then they fall. This is exactly what is happening in the world today. This is really a nice description of the crisis. This is why those in power are afraid to look down.

Question: How can we hold on to something in this situation? How can we reach true love?

Answer: Actually, I am a small person and I don’t feel sublime things, but am only confused in my present state. So what should I do?

The answer is simple: You need a group. This is both the diagnosis of the disease and its cure.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/31/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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In the News (from Time Business): “Capitalism needs a fundamental overhaul. …The most rational arguments have pointed out that not only is capitalism the best system yet devised for enhancing the well being of the greatest number of people, but that it is also immensely supple and flexible. But a surprising number of attendees (and these are the world’s most direct beneficiaries of the current system) seems to agree that something is wrong.

“The Arab Spring must end happily. …The powers at the very core of the World Economic Forum are interested in the Arab Spring as a matter of paramount global importance. (That said, among the regular attendees, the Eurozone is of far more interest. At one panel discussion on ‘The Future of North Africa,’ the auditorium was about 10% full. For a ‘Future of the Eurozone’ panel taking place immediately after, it was standing room only.)

“The Eurozone crisis will continue to muddle along, but muddling may be enough. The European finance ministers in attendance are all staying on message: Eurobonds are not happening, austerity measures are the way forward now, greater fiscal union is the end goal, and Greece will not default or leave the Eurozone. Interestingly, for the first time in a long time, most of the policital/policy/media hive mind is cautiously optimistic that the Eurozone may actually be starting to heal itself.

“China is still the star. Brazil has come to Davos in a big way. As has Mexico, and India, and Azerbaijan. But the panels on China are packed, and everybody wants to talk about China, and while the cult of the Chinese technocrat has long been on the rise, we are now reaching the full flower of absolute reverence. American business people speak in hushed tones about the new generation of Chinese leaders as if they are supermen: They are well-educated, worldly, wise, and compared to the haplessness and paralysis that western governments have demonstrated over the past two years, they are paragons of good governance.

“Americans and Europeans are pointing fingers at each other. Why is the global economy not in full recovery? The Europeans complain that none of this would have happened if the Americans had not taxed the global financial system when its housing bubble burst. To which, the Americans respond that that may be true, but they claim to have put their house in order and the only thing that’s holding America’s economy back now is European uncertainty. Then, arguments commence.”

My Comment: So far, most important is to demonstrate to the world that somewhere the smart guys are concerned about it day and night
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Question: Why is “nature” the most commonly used word during these lessons?

Answer: It is because today we are finding ourselves in a certain sphere, which affects us and forces us to react. We are surrounded from all sides, and we have nowhere to run. Therefore, I call this phenomenon “nature,” and I clearly see one law in it that affects everyone on all the levels: the law of general equilibrium of global and integral systems.

The research of different systems shows that one law aimed at balancing the system is acting in them all. Nature tends to maximize a calmest, most comfortable, and balanced state. Like water seeks to fill the lowest level, so does nature. According to this tendency, instead of being separated, we, too, should unite and be one. Numerous studies conducted by scientists who research human society, proves this fact.

Question: It is clear that ecology and the state of our bodies depend on nature; this is our conceptualization of nature as a determining factor. However, it turns out that nature also controls the economic crisis, unemployment, and bankruptcy?

Answer: Since we are talking about the general education of humanity in an integral and global world, this means that we examine precisely this world. It represents a common system, and the concept “integral” means that all the parts of this system are connected to each other and activated by one law, one force, which directs them to connection and balance. This is what I call nature.

In other words, I don’t mean anything that does not pertain to the still, vegetative, animate, or human levels. I am only saying that all existent laws pertain to the integral global system and are under the control of one law:  the law of equilibrium, homeostasis.

We see this law in physics also: Each body strives for rest, stillness, a static state, and a minimal use of energy. This is how the difference in temperature and pressure reaches balance in order to achieve similarity. There is nothing to argue about here. These are laws of thermodynamics, which are taught in school.

I explain this to humanity so that it has a foundation for perceiving the global world where everyone depends on each other, experiences the effect of one law, and needs to follow it. My task is to bring humanity to this worldview. Thus in addition to upbringing, I also give you knowledge. People need philosophy, psychology, and broad knowledge. This learning process does not end with a short course; it continues for one’s whole life.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode #4, 1/1/12

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With each passing day we feel more and more that we live in a very complex and interdependent world. This is why we speak of the law that affects us all that binds us all together, and this law is called the mutual guarantee.

At first glance this law seems to pertain more to governments or large corporations. But does it also apply to the regular Joe? It turns out that it does, and from year to year we feel this truth more acutely. For example, if there’s a malfunction in one of the European or American banks, its consequences are felt in all countries, and especially in, say, China, which sells all the things it manufactures there. And this, in turn, impacts half the world. In other words, we have become so thoroughly bound by commerce, economy, and finance that we perceive these things as a threat to our existence. Indeed, they determine the availability of food, clothes, energy to supply residential heating, the function of international pharmaceutical companies, and so forth.

Today there isn’t a single country in the world that satisfies all its needs, whereas even 100 years ago all countries were almost fully self-sufficient. It all changed when India became a British colony, and the English decided that it would be easier to import fruits and vegetables from India via the Suez Canal, rather than grow the produce themselves. Instead they began to develop their industry. With time people began to realize that specialization—where everyone manufactures only certain goods —was the way to go.

In contrast, in the past, every individual factory would manufacture absolutely everything, starting with the smallest bolt and ending with the complete machine and all its components (motor, electrical wiring, etc.). Moreover, the same plant also utilized small generators to supply electricity. All these processes took place in the same location. But then began the division of labor: one plant manufactured bolts, another screws, another yet electrical components, and so on. And today every automaker receives their supplies from many different countries.

In recent years this trend was taken even further. Instead of developing the auto industry on their own land, Japan began to build their factories in Europe and America, its target markets. Japan continues to manage the production from afar; what’s more, instead of managing them directly, Japan is doing it via their representatives, which are hired right there on location.

Thus, everything became so mixed together that you can no longer tell who’s producing what. One country’s territory contains factories and gas stations that actually belong to another country. There are corporations with owners in several countries, each of which has its share. The economies of many countries have foreign investors , and the local governments don’t interfere since it’s advantageous to them. Their citizens get jobs, and everybody is happy.

And we thought that everything would continue developing in this direction…
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode #5, 1/2/12

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In the News (from CNBC): “Young people should work for free for up to two years to gain experience, youth and business leaders said at the World Economic Forum in Davos Thursday.

“A new UN resolution to enshrine the importance of a couple of years of voluntary work for young people was urged by delegates including Maurice Lévy, chairman and chief executive of Publicis Groupe, as part of a CNBC-moderated debate on how to avert a lost generation of unemployed youth…

“The world needs 600 million new jobs in the next decade to cope with a rising population and the effects of the financial crisis, according to figures released earlier this week by the International Labor Organization.”

Comment: In this way, capitalists want to put the problem of unemployment on the shoulders of society. Moreover, the state should support the unemployed. But the world will not need new workers; on the contrary, unemployment will increase. A person should be engaged, not in useless work, which costs much more than the unemployment benefits, but in what will really help the community: in educating everybody about cooperation and mutual guarantee, which will bring balance with nature and the benefit for the world.
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