Opinion (from The Financial Times): “You could say that Europe has crises enough without worrying too much about a Hungarian dissident turned petty tyrant.  To overlook Viktor Orban’s journey from anti-communist progressive to populist xenophobe would, however, be to repeat a mistake made about Greece. The troubles of Europe’s small powers can be a harbinger of bigger dangers around the corner.

“Hungary’s prime minister presents a reminder – should anyone on this continent need one – of the familiar trajectory from economic chaos to political authoritarianism. …Mr Orban sends a powerful message about the perils facing democracy.

“This week saw the introduction of Mr Orban’s new constitution. Suffused with ethnic nationalism, it reeks of an ambition for one-party rule. It promises repression of personal freedoms within Hungary and, through an extension of citizenship to Hungarian minorities elsewhere, threatens instability in ethnically-diverse neighbors.”

My Comment: Kabbalah warns that the Second World War can be repeated in a third, a nuclear one, because if humanity does not follow the path of integration, it inevitably will turn to the path of Nazism and universal hatred.
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Opinion: (Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent, The Guardian): “The world tiptoed closer to the apocalypse on Tuesday as scientists moved the Doomsday Clock one minute closer to the zero hour.

“The symbolic clock now stands at five minutes to midnight, the scientists said, because of a collective failure to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, act on climate change, or find safe and sustainable sources of energy – as exemplified by the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

“The clock, maintained by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, has been gauging our proximity to global disaster since 1947, using the potent image of a clock counting down the minutes to destruction. Until Tuesday afternoon, the clock had been set at six minutes to midnight.

“The Bulletin was founded by the scientists who helped build America’s atomic bomb, and the primary focus of their concerns remains the danger of a nuclear conflagration.

“But a number of the scientists who took part in the deliberations said they were also dismayed by a growing trend to disregard science.”

My Comment: Politicians do not listen to scientists, and billionaires do even less so. Science itself is to blame because they started to sell scientific discoveries to the rich, thus giving science, its fruit, which is a public good, to those eager to seize power and wealth. Even Plato and Aristotle warned that scientific achievements should be concealed from egoists hungry for power and wealth.
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We are part of an integral global nature. It has always been this way, but we have never thought about it and didn’t notice it as long as life didn’t oblige us to. Lately life obliges us to do that more and more: We have begun to receive blows in every direction.

In other words, we cannot manage this egoistic life of ours and we don’t succeed in anything: not in the family, not with the children, not with ourselves, not with the world, and not with security. We are not sure whether we have enough stored up for a rainy day and the pension and retirement funds are collapsing.

All the systems that have provided man with comfort, confidence, and security for the future, that helped him and his loved ones with the assurance of support in times of weakness, illness, or old age, are losing their value and disintegrating. Who knows, tomorrow we may find ourselves on the street, penniless with nothing in our bank account.

These problems make people think. Otherwise we would not be thinking about them because we are all an egoistic desire to receive. Here, however, we begin to ask ourselves: “What is actually going on here?”

If we examine things correctly, we will see that we ourselves have built the wrong systems. After all, being part of nature, I can’t do whatever I feel like; I can’t act randomly not taking into account the forces that operate in reality.

According to my level of development, I discover wider and finer things in nature. They were hidden and now they are gradually being revealed, and I discover the strong mutual connection between all parts of nature, and also the mutual connection among people, the mutual bestowal on many levels, and also nature’s bestowal, which in turn influences us.

So it may be that I am not taking into account the data, the laws and relationships that exist in nature, in me, and in human society that are hidden from me? I never took any interest in them because I used anything that came my way indifferently and carelessly, seeking only to profit from them.

There is a problem of how to study these laws? After all, no matter what we study in nature, in physics, chemistry, biology, zoology, botany, or astronomy, on the micro and macro and all levels of nature, we always see one law that encompasses all the levels and that reigns between them: the law of equilibrium.

All of nature tends toward equilibrium, toward balance. This includes our little system the planet Earth.

This means that if we want to live in peace, tranquilly, and good connection with other people, with the family, etc., we must maintain a balance. Our formula should be that all the positive and negative actions in receiving and bestowal be balanced so that one will not exceed the other and so that each one will receive filling.

Then each one will have the right to exist and no one will take precedence over another as we all understand that we all must maintain overall balance. This applies to all parties to the forces of nature—to man’s forces, his desires and thoughts, to the well being of the whole system both the small private system and the integral global system—all depends on the internal balance among all its components.

We see this when studying global nature and the functioning of all its systems, including computer systems, cybernetics, sociology, psychology, physiology; even while a system develops, it constantly balances itself dynamically and is sensitive to imbalances that need to be corrected. Therefore its development and actions will always be successful because it is always operating with the law of equivalence between all its forces, the negative and the positive ones. Whether it is an atom in which the protons and electrons have to be balanced, or living cells, or the solar system: Everything abides by this principle.

So, of course, we must check our adaptation to this law in the family, in human society, in education, and in general in all that belongs to the human level.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/13/12, “The Peace”

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In the News (from the Centre for Research on Globalization): “The expansion of world capitalism (globalization) depended on a global cheap labor economy.

“The development of industrial colonies in the Third World resulted in the relocation of industries to these countries, leading to job lay-offs and the outright closure of a wide range of productive industries in the developed countries.

“In the absence of meaningful state regulation, this relentless process of minimizing labor costs led to a dramatic compression of society’s capacity to consume.

“The exploitation of the huge labor forces in China, India and elsewhere — and the pillage and transfer of billions from ex-communist Russia and ‘neo-liberalized’ South America — filled the coffers of old financial institutions.

“Huge surplus profits spilled over into finance, real estate, and insurance, giving capital greater social and political power. This dwarfed the organization of labor, limiting its bargaining power and multiplying profits.

“The state and state policy became their instrument as public enterprises, land, resources, and banks were privatized.

“This speculative onslaught, a worldwide scramble to appropriate wealth through financial manipulation, has been the driving force behind the crisis.

“The incapacity of the capitalist system to reinvest capital in productive ways led to large scale growth of speculator capital in many forms.

“Profits were bolstered via inflated real estate based on expanded credit, highly leveraged debt and outright fraudulent ‘financial instruments.’

“Real estate speculation was extended into the working class as wage and salary earners took advantage of easy loans to join the speculation frenzy based on an ideology of irreversible rising home values.

“Having caused the financial meltdown, they have cashed in with windfall gains through the bailout money provided under the Bush and Obama administration bank bailouts. This has furthered their control over the real economy, by buying up and acquiring real economic assets; as once highly profitable companies collapse, the money managers pick up the pieces.

“The Bush/Obama bailout measures will contribute to a further destabilization by transferring large amounts of money at taxpayers’ expense into the hands of private financiers, resulting in a spiraling public debt and an unprecedented centralization of banking power.

“State-owned assets and everything under state jurisdiction is up for private acquisition as the financial establishment calls for the restructuring and privatization of state assets.

“What we are dealing with is a large-scale process of appropriation, unprecedented in history.”

My Comment: All this should explode, and the outcome depends on the awareness of what is happening. Undoubtedly, the entire system of social and economic relationships has to be re-built. But this is impossible to accomplish without a completely new approach to the meaning of the existence of society—for the sake of accumulation and consumption (an imaginary fulfillment through wealth) or for the sake of moral ascent (a feeling of reciprocity and love).

Nature (the evolutionary development of people and society) pushes us to unite. The awareness of the need allows a smooth transition to a new level of existence. Will humanity understand this?
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In the News (from The Guardian): “A thinktank, the New Economics Foundation (NEF), which has organized the event with the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics, argues that if everyone worked fewer hours – say, 20 or so a week – there would be more jobs to go round, employees could spend more time with their families and energy-hungry excess consumption would be curbed. Anna Coote, of NEF, said: ‘There’s a great disequilibrium between people who have got too much paid work, and those who have got too little or none.’

“She argued that we need to think again about what constitutes economic success, and whether aiming to boost Britain’s GDP growth rate should be the government’s first priority: ‘Are we just living to work, and working to earn, and earning to consume? There’s no evidence that if you have shorter working hours as the norm, you have a less successful economy: quite the reverse.’”

My Comment: These are attempts to solve the problem of unemployment. But what will people do in their spare time if they are not busy with integral education? This will lead to their degradation! Besides, a shorter work week will reduce their income, and how will they make up for it? There must be fulfillment—either by alcohol or a new integral consciousness. Otherwise, this initiative will bring even greater social problems.
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In the News (from The Huffington Post): “Three researchers put forth a study that was published on Wednesday on the Public Library of Science website saying they’ve found that men and women feel and behave in markedly different ways. They’re almost like ‘different species,’ Paul Irwing, one of the researchers, told The Huffington Post.

“The research, conducted by Marco Del Giudice of Italy’s University of Turin and Irwing and Tom Booth of the UK’s University of Manchester, involved getting 10,000 Americans to take a questionnaire that measured 15 different personality traits. According to their analysis, men are far more dominant, reserved, utilitarian, vigilant, rule-conscious, and emotionally stable, while women are far more deferential, warm, trusting, sensitive, and emotionally ‘reactive.’ The two sexes were roughly the same when it came to perfectionism, liveliness, and abstract versus practical thinking.”

My Comment: According to Kabbalah, men and women are completely different because their roots are in the opposite worlds: Men are in Zeir Ampin, and women are in Malchut. Hence their lack of understanding of each other.

Unity is possible only in at the degree above them both and only in mutual integral combination (mutual guarantee). This can be achieved only through the joint integral upbringing. That is why we see today such dramatic estrangement of the genders. It will make us feel the need to agree with the method that facilitates closer relations, proposed by integral upbringing.
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Opinion: (Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former IMF Chief): “Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn …sharply criticized Europe’s handling of its debt crisis and predicted as many as seven years of subpar European growth unless the Continent’s leaders changed policies.

“Europe’s political shortcomings are ‘bleeding away, day by day, the remaining confidence investors may have in politicians being able to solve the crisis,’ Mr. Strauss-Kahn said. …the IMF is ‘in limbo’ because it requires political approvals that may take months to obtain, he added. (Source: The Wall Street Journal)

“Strauss-Kahn, who attended an economic conference organized by NetEase, one of China’s leading internet companies, stressed that European nations make up 25% of global GDP. If their economy stagnates, the whole world will be influenced, including China.

“He proposed that China should offer direct or indirect assistance to soothe the financial crisis in the eurozone via the IMF. At the same time, he said the IMF should raise China’s voting power in the organization.

“Strauss-Kahn said it is impossible for eurozone countries to get out of their predicament by themselves and this presented a great opportunity for China. He said China is a big country but still has to take a full role as a member of the international community. European countries may be reluctant to accept China’s help directly, and the best way is therefore to do so through the IMF.” (Source: Want China Times)

My Comment: China will not help the EU and neither will any aid, which will simply disappear as in the abyss because this crisis is not the crisis of economy, banks, or state competitiveness, but a demonstration of the lack of correct connections between people. And it will not be over until mutual guarantee is established between people, nations, and the EU countries.
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The worsening economic crisis will leave a great number of people unemployed and virtually no one untouched by it; the need has arrived for both learning and education that will assist people in becoming adjusted to the new integral world. Learning is to obtain knowledge about the integral system and education is implementing this knowledge in practice.

The learning component should, first of all, comprise general knowledge which will renew all the foundations in a person: the history of humanity, geography, and such, to bring everyone, more or less, to the same level from which it will be possible to continue. It is possible that there will be a need for preliminary division into groups according to a person’s initial preparation and previous education level.

Those who completed high school, college, or university will have to go through courses at different levels. But first of all, everyone will have to receive some general education in order to refresh their knowledge. Even when one goes to a university, the first year is usually repeating what was already learned in high school.

Let’s say that it is a course in sociology about the new structure of society that helps a person to understand the structure of the new world. The world is divided into three areas: nature, humanity within nature, and man within humanity. We must research man to know a little about his physiology and psychology, to learn about the human society within nature: how the monkey once came down from trees to transform into man and went through several levels of development until its current state today. All of these are the results of the development of the ego. And here we need to provide information that is connected to history, sociology, and the development of society.

And then afterwards, we will approach the study of nature itself, the outcomes of its development from the beginning of the creation of the universe, the condensing of gases, the creation of the stars, the planets, planet Earth, and the development of life on Earth. Even if a person knows all of that, we must arrange this knowledge within one system so that he will understand the world he is living in.

We need to advance everyone so that even the most ignorant or the most educated professors who have become unemployed will have a common denominator, some common scope of information through which they will understand each other. This will include knowledge about man, society, nature, and the world.

We need to give a person broad knowledge of his psychology. This is very important. One must know the psychology of the individual, of the family, of the group as a small society, of the nation, and of the world. In addition to this, more advanced psychology is needed which is above the usual psychology we currently learn. This advanced psychology is called, “faith above reason,” meaning the psychology that is above the physical body. It is studied later on, but will need to follow the same flow.

Along on the way, there is a need for a great number of practical exercises: discussions about the psychology of family relationships, all sorts of situations and family conflicts, and children’s upbringing. We must learn how to understand the child; today we don’t understand the relationship between parents and children. By this we will already calm many problems.

In addition to this, we don’t just teach a person about social psychology, but also about the structure of society. Currently, a person doesn’t know how a government is run and how laws are made. You can’t refuse to study this like a man of the arts who doesn’t need to study mathematics. Here, each one will need to be acquainted, and not just a little bit, with the world in which he lives. We need to teach each child how a bank works and about other such systems in life.

I study human society: how it functions, how it is managed, how it makes decisions, who leads it, and what my place is in this society. All of this belongs to the structure of the system: how it is built today and what are the desired changes for the future.

These are not just courses. We are building the personality of a person. All of these subjects continue from grade to grade like in school. In each class they learn the same thing, only at a higher level. Most importantly is that every time we increasingly connect them together so that all are intertwined so that eventually he views the world as one integral whole.

The main achievement at the end of these courses is to receive a complete view of the world where there is no separate physics, geography, biology, man, government, and society—all are together as one.

Then it is possible to explain how the ego operates here, the desire to receive, and the Light that bestows on me, how I influence it. Man, society, and the world, without special words, turn into being: me, the group, and the Creator. In this manner, we are advancing towards a world view without Kabbalistic concepts and reminders of the wisdom of Kabbalah, but by learning about the real system of life.
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From “Lessons About a New World” 12/1/11

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In the News (from Global BC): “The World Economic Forum warned Wednesday [January 11] that the financial crisis that has gripped the global economy for the past few years is fueling resentment that could lay the seeds for a rising tide of protectionism, nationalism, and social unrest.

“In its assessment of the risks to the global economy, the Forum flagged a ‘dystopian future’ for much of humanity that could wipe out the gains achieved so far by globalization and undermine a nascent economic recovery.

“‘For the first time in generations, many people no longer believe that their children will grow up to enjoy a higher standard of living than theirs,’ said Lee Howell, the Forum’s managing director responsible for the report. ‘This new malaise is particularly acute in the industrialized countries that historically have been a source of great confidence and bold ideas.’

“With that grim backdrop, the report’s authors warned of an expanding gap between the rich and the poor and between the skilled and the unskilled. As a result, they urged the public and private sectors to work together to prevent a vicious cycle, whereby tough times feed disillusion and jeopardize the social contract between states and citizens.

“The report, which was based on a survey of 469 experts from industry, government and civil society, also found that the policies and institutions that were created in the 20th century may no longer be fit for purpose in a more complex and interdependent world.

“It also warned of the ‘dark side of connectivity,’ whereby societies are susceptible to ‘malicious’ individuals, institutions and nations that ‘increasingly have the ability to unleash ‘devastating cyberattacks.’

“‘Governments, societies and businesses need to better understand the interconnectivity of risk in today’s technologies if we are truly to reap the benefits they offer,’ said Steve Wilson, chief risk officer for general insurance at Zurich.”

My Comment: Decadent sentiments will grow because there is no other solution to the global crisis (in the economy, education, parenting, family, drugs, health, and so on) except achieving (in stages) global mutual guarantee! To reach such unity is possible solely through integral upbringing, which only governments can implement.
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In the News (from Reuters): “The global economy could withstand widespread disruption from a natural disaster or attack by militants for only a week as governments and businesses are not sufficiently prepared to deal with unexpected events, a report by a respected think-tank said.

“Events such as the 2010 volcanic ash cloud, which grounded flights in Europe, Japan’s earthquake and tsunami and Thailand’s floods last year, have showed that key sectors and businesses can be severely affected if disruption to production or transport goes on for more than a week.

“‘One week seems to be the maximum tolerance of the ‘just-in-time’ global economy,’ said the report by Chatham House, the London-based policy institute for international affairs.

“The current fragile state of the world’s economy leaves it particularly vulnerable to unforeseen shocks. Up to 30 percent of developed countries’ gross domestic product could be directly threatened by crises, especially in the manufacturing and tourism sectors, according to the think-tank.

“It is estimated that the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Asia cost businesses $60 billion, or about 2 percent of east Asian GDP, the report said.

“After the Japanese tsunami and nuclear crisis in March last year, global industrial production declined by 1.1 percent the following month, according to the World Bank.

“The 2010 volcanic ash cloud cost the European Union 5-10 billion euros and pushed some airlines and travel companies to the verge of bankruptcy.

“Costs can escalate quickly when transport or major production hubs are disrupted for more than a few days, which can in turn threaten food and water supplies and energy and communication networks, the report said.

“In the event of prolonged disruption, some businesses would be forced to cut investment and jobs or consider closing down, leading to a permanent reduction in countries’ growth.

“In general, governments and businesses are under-prepared to respond to high-impact, unpredictable events, with worst-case scenarios rarely factored into their contingency plans.

“It particularly highlighted social media networks as a useful ‘one-stop shop’ for information in the event of a crisis. In the London riots last year, social networks such as Twitter proved invaluable for many people to track the rioters’ movements across the UK capital and take precautions.”

My Comment: These examples of universal dependence and fragility in the global interconnection lead us to the need to get close enough to be able to replace each other if necessary.
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