Opinion: (Joshua Muldavin, professor of human geography at Sarah Lawrence College): “Like China’s leadership, the world should continue to play close attention to Wukan and to the tens of thousands of incidents of rural unrest that occur each year in China, the vast majority resulting from land grabs. Why? Because what happens to China’s peasants is crucial to our collective future.

“The Wukan incident reveals the shaky foundation of China’s rise to economic super power. It is built upon an unresolved land struggle with hundreds of millions of lives in the balance. Anything that negatively alters the quality of life of China’s rural majority has the potential to impact the already fragile global economy, sending ripples across the world.

“The result is the complete loss of land for approximately 75 million peasants who join the over 200 million rural residents migrating around China daily in search of work.

“Land loss leaves many rural families — still the majority of China’s population — without access to enough land to produce their food. …Their rising anger and desperation is seen in other rural areas nationwide.

“Land grabs are part and parcel of growing social inequality in China. …China today rivals the most unequal countries in the world. The 400 million Chinese at the bottom face continual threats to their livelihoods through land loss.

“Beijing’s success in quelling daily unrest around the country, mainly through the use of local officials as scapegoats, fails to address the fundamental problem: a development path built on an eroding foundation of unjust land grabs, environmental destruction, social polarization and the resulting vulnerability of the country’s poorest and most marginal people. Until these structural issues are addressed, the Wukan incident will only be a harbinger of things to come.”

My Comment: In this case, too, we see that only the gradual creation of correct social relations of mutual guarantee will be able to bring peace and prosperity to this fragile society.
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In the News (from BBC News): “The Japanese word “kizuna,” meaning bonds or connections between people, has been chosen as Japan’s kanji of 2011.

“The kanji, or Chinese pictorial script, for ‘kizuna’ emerged top of a public poll for the character that best summed up the year.

“For Japan, 2011 was dominated by the earthquake and tsunami in March. The disasters led to unprecedented numbers of Japanese helping one another.

“In April the then prime minister Naoto Kan thanked the world for its help in a letter entitled ‘Kizuna – the Bonds of Friendship.’”
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Opinion (Avery B. Goodman, a licensed attorney, a member of the roster of neutral arbitrators of the National Futures Association and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority): “Bloomberg reports that Bank of America has shifted about $22 trillion worth of derivative obligations from Merrill Lynch and the BAC holding company to the FDIC insured retail deposit division. Along with this information came the revelation that the FDIC insured unit was already stuffed with $53 trillion worth of these potentially toxic obligations, making a total of $75 trillion.

“Even if we net out the notional value of the derivatives involved, down to the net potential obligation, the amount is so large that the United States could not hope to pay it off without a major dollar devaluation… But, if such an event ever occurs, Bank of America’s derivatives counter-parties will, as usual, be made whole, while the American people suffer. This all has the blessing of the Federal Reserve, which approved the transfer of derivatives from Merrill Lynch to the insured retail unit of BAC before it was done.”

My Comment: Naturally, whoever has the money and power uses the power to save money. It’s not only the American people that will pay for the devaluation of the dollar, but the whole world. Obviously, this is the plan: All shall not perish, but generally lose. No wonder, the FDIC is busy….
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In the News (from Finmarket.ru): “The 1 % of the richest in the West dominates political decisions. Income inequality has become increasingly important in political and economic life in the U.S. and Europe.

“The main question is how to tax the 1 % of the richest (​​those whose annual income exceeds half a million dollars). A tax on super profits has become one the reasons for discord between Democrats and Republicans. The ratio between the income of the richest and the poor is 14:1 in the U.S., and 6:1 in the EU.”

My Comment: Everything is measured relative to the rich and the poor, and that is why the question arises: What should the ratio between them be to produce protest actions like “the Arab spring” in the U.S. and Europe?
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In the News: “China and Japan have unveiled plans to promote direct exchange of their currencies in a bid to cut costs for companies and boost bilateral trade. The deal will allow firms to convert the Chinese and Japanese currencies directly into each other. Currently businesses in both countries need to buy US dollars before converting them into the desired currency adding extra costs.

“‘Given the huge size of the trade volume between Asia’s two biggest economies, this agreement is much more significant than any other pacts China has signed with other nations,’ Ren Xianfang of IHS Global Insight was quoted as saying by the Bloomberg news agency.” (Source: BBC News)

“In contrast, the EU shows helplessness in general politics against speculation, wars in Africa and Asia. It is useless to demand for Germany to create the United States of Europe so that the ECB acts as the Federal Reserve in the U.S. because the Germans and the British do not want to lose their sovereignty unlike the people of southern Europe.” (Source: L’Occidentale)

My Comment: For the time being this also shows the lack of a common firm decision. Due to its absence, the Asian market only tries to isolate itself from the rest of the world in hopes of reducing their losses. But the future will show that without uniting all world economies into one single system, the crisis cannot be overcome.
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In the News (from Panorama.it): “2012 will be very difficult for the global economy.

“BRICS countries will be in the most unfavorable situation mainly because a currency crisis may break out within their borders, which has been underestimated for too long.

“To counter the financial crisis of 2008, central banks in developed economies eased their monetary and fiscal policies, and most of the “hot” Western capital has been directed to countries with emerging economies in order to support their growth. But now there is a danger that that old credit bubble will burst.

“The financial balance of BRICS can fail because the dollar continues to rise and the credit institutions of the Old World are suffering from poor liquidity.

“What’s more, the Chinese real estate bubble may implode, causing the fall of commodity prices, which so far were moving the growth of emerging economies.

“The crisis will break out when they run out of foreign currency reserves. If the global recession brings energy prices down, it will adversely affect the national economy of Russia. For China, the biggest danger lies in the real estate bubble that can burst at any moment. If the U.S. and Europe fail to cope with the situation, the world should prepare for the worst.”

My Comment: The crisis will force us to rethink our attitude towards ourselves and the world.
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Economics is a science about our egoistic relations, which today is gradually transforming into a different kind of economics—the economics of altruistic relationships.

When we solve our family’s economic problems, we usually sit down around the table with our spouses and children and think together how to best use our limited budget. We take into consideration the needs of each family member: the youngest wants a toy, the older child wishes to attend classes, the oldest requires medications, we need to buy food, and so on…. We structure our budget according to everybody’s needs. We have to arrange the world’s budget the same way.

Generally, we bring to our families everything we earn; we don’t automatically set aside part of the salary for ourselves exclusively; for example, we don’t from the start put aside for our own sake 30% of our earnings as regular enterprises do.

Let’s say, a factory produces cups and sells them for $10.00 each; the owner keeps $5.00 for himself; the remainder covers salaries and other production expenses—amortization, insurance, etc.

Why does the owner earn $5.00 per cup above everybody else? He should receive the same salary everyone else does. We are within a single system where everybody should receive in equal proportions and interact with others in a fair way.

If we stick to this plan, each item will cost 50% less because the price of all components would also go down—machinery, materials, transportation, etc. Each person will receive a decent salary to maintain a decent way of life; it won’t be even close to a beggarly salary!

A huge surplus of goods and resources will emerge in the world. Every year, humanity is throwing away a half billion ton of good food. That’s enough to feed another Earth!

It turns out that our wrong egoistic relationships bring disequilibrium to the entire globe. If we strive for balance in the relationships between us, then naturally this will lead to values of peace and harmony, and we will end up with a huge excess of materials and natural resources. We’ll stop wasting the earth’s resources and we’ll stop eating chemically grown vegetables and fruit because all systems will be in balance.

We don’t have to enhance industry. It is enough that we correct the relationships between us in order to provide the world with everything we need: food, clothing, shelter, etc.—all at a normal level. We’ll get there by changing ourselves, rising from the egoistic to the altruistic level.

In the past, this sounded like science fiction: The City of the Sun, communism, utopian, etc. But today we have no other option. Nature forces us to act accordingly.
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From a “Talk About the Integral World” 10/20/11

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Question: Who will study at the courses on integral education: only those who are left without work or everyone?

Answer: I think that the number of unemployed will be very high. And since we are talking about correcting society, then we need to attract not only people who have lost their jobs, but also housewives, retirees, and in general people who do not work. It turns out that at least 80 percent of the population will be ready for this course.

And if on the next day, a person finds employment or an income, it does not mean that he should leave the course. We believe that to complete the course of integral education will be everyone’s responsibility, and people need to divide work among themselves to spend only a few hours a day on the job.

These are big changes from the conventional approach, but we do not introduce them on our own; the crisis does, leaving us no choice. I think that this would take no more than a year.

Question: What will happen in the interim period, when we have not yet come to dividing the work among ourselves and working for several hours a day, and when people have not given up the hope to return to the previous state?

Answer: I think that a high percentage of unemployment will lead to unrest, the impotence of the government and the loss of direction. This will cause a state of complete anarchy, and there will be no choice but to adopt such a framework. This will happen very quickly; otherwise, we will come to a complete collapse of the whole society and a world war.

As the government now cannot take control of economic systems, so they will not be able to rule anything. If millions take to the streets, neither the army nor any other force will be able to stop them. The government will not know what to do. Everyone saw what happened in Syria and Egypt.

Every country will have to take into account their local context and national character. For example, it would not be as easy to make people come to school in Greece as in Germany. The Germans will study as diligently as they work today. But in countries like Greece, it will be necessary to attract people by some kind of compensation.

The problem of all European countries is the aging population, living between home, café, and little trips. Every place needs a program, adapted to local conditions.
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From “Lessons About a New World” 12/1/11

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Question: Let’s say Greece is going through a difficult economic situation: bankruptcy and high unemployment. At the same time its citizens hope that some day the crisis will end and they will return to their previous life.

The purpose of the proposed course is to change this approach so that a person would not expect that the crisis would end in one, two, or five years. He should understand that this process is consistent with the law of nature and he is part of this process. In general, the entire world is changing. Does it mean that the person has to change after taking this course?

Answer: This course provides the understanding of the new world and helps to enter it. It should be clear to the government that it opens a person’s eyes. He becomes intelligent and gains the ability to understand. He simply will not go out on the streets to protest and smash store windows. First of all we are talking about calming down the tensions. We are going to take small steps rather than initiate a spiritual revolution.
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From “Lessons About a New World” 12/1/11

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Question: In our methodology of children’s integral upbringing, there are a few basic fundamental principles: single sex education for boys and girls; younger kids are taught by their older peers; children learn “in a circle” and through discussions. Particular attention is paid to practical, lifelike upbringing as opposed to its abstract part. Are these principles different in any way for adults?

Answer: Practically no, because in this regard we are entirely like children who are about to master something new. We are now starting to reveal a new world, a new life, and a new attitude towards it. We have to change and to reveal a new world for ourselves. We are like children who have to understand this new integral world that is approaching us.

In order to avoid experiencing its approach as the modern crisis, all of our actions should be directed towards entering into a state of harmony with this integral world.

Today, nature is starting to treat us as an integral, interconnected, and reciprocally balanced system in which all parts exist in equilibrium, support, and in mutual concessions. We are the most important element in this system! And for that we need to work on ourselves quite hard and to understand that all of this is not someone’s whims, inventions, or philosophical speculations, but truly a law of nature.

This law gradually and inevitably realizes itself within human society, except we don’t correspond to it. Let’s say that someone is trying to insert us into a circular frame, yet we are a square shape and cannot possibly function within a round framework—therein lies the crisis. Therefore, all grownups will have to sit at school desks again and learn to live in a new world, prepare themselves for it.

Question: You spoke about the fact that based on your experience in children’s upbringing in your center, lessons need to be held in a circle and be videotaped so that kids could later see how they look from the side. This is a very effective methodology. Can you also apply it to adults?

Answer: You can apply absolutely the same methods because age does not matter. The only thing that matters is our status relative to that new world, the new social system that we need to enter. Relative to that we are all children, and we have to study it and gradually transform, shape ourselves to match it.
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From a “Talk on Integral Education” 12/12/11

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