In the News (from poorrichards-blog): “The guests were assembled in the Warfare Analysis Laboratory, surrounded by uniformed officers from the highest levels of the Pentagon and a dizzying array of screens normally used to simulate nuclear world war.

“Behind the scenes, the military are worried about the market. For who owns much of this debt? China, the US’s most powerful rival and threat. And that makes America vulnerable to a new kind of bloodless but ruthless war.

“The group was split into five teams: America, Russia, China, Pacific Rim, and a ‘grey team,’ representing shady outfits such as terrorist organizations. They were sent into ‘bunker rooms’ and told to use financial or economic tools – currency, debt, stocks, gold – to bring their enemies to their knees. Everything was conducted via computer, and they could be as devious and ruthless as they liked.

“When the game was halted, the result left the military men quiet and sobered. Why did the bankers scare the soldiers? The answer lies in the way the world is now interconnected as never before.

“Over the past few years, China has been buying up US government debt and is now its biggest holder. If China were to dump this debt, it would totally screw with the economy.

“The markets are now global, the holdings in each other’s finances deep, and the technical ability to manipulate them instantaneous. In the 1970s the West feared that its enemies had their fingers on a nuclear button. The modern equivalent may be China’s ability to press the button on US Treasury bills.

“‘China is, Professor Bracken says, ‘the huge threat,’ but Russia, with its oil and gas, has shown no compunction in waging economic war on its neighbours, and could do so on a larger scale.

“Another possibility is that major oil-producing countries could destabilize America by switching to euros instead of dollars as the currency in which oil is priced – so-called ‘petro-dollar warfare.’ Or a terrorist organization might trigger a financial crash via some kind of shady hedge fund or computer attack.

“At the end of that Pentagon session, the 80-odd players returned from their bunkers and assessed the damage.

“China won, without so much as reaching for a gun. And the soldiers looked at each other and wondered if it was still only a game.”

My Comment: There is nothing surprising in the results of the economic war played out by their rules. But the experts were wrong: Namely due to total interconnection, there are no winners or losers in this war. Everyone will lose, and the only way out is to sequentially bring everyone to a single global community with reasonable consumption.
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Opinion: (Jeffrey D. Sachs, Professor of Economics and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Special Adviser to United Nations Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals): “The past half-century has been the age of electronic mass media. Television has reshaped society in every corner of the world. Now an explosion of new media devices is joining the TV set: DVDs, computers, game boxes, smart phones, and more. A growing body of evidence suggests that this media proliferation has countless ill effects.

“The best evidence suggests that Americans watch more than five hours per day of television on average – a staggering amount, given that several hours more are spent in front of other video-streaming devices.

“Time that used to be spent together in the community is now spent alone in front of the screen. Robert Putnam, the leading scholar of America’s declining sense of community, has found that TV viewing is the central explanation of the decline of ‘social capital,’ the trust that binds communities together.

“Certainly, heavy TV viewing is bad for one’s physical and mental health. Americans lead the world in obesity, with roughly two-thirds of the US population now overweight. Again, many factors underlie this, including a diet of cheap, unhealthy fried foods, but the sedentary time spent in front of the TV is an important influence as well.

“America’s TV ownership is almost entirely in private hands, and owners make much of their money through relentless advertising. Effective advertising campaigns, appealing to unconscious urges – typically related to food, sex, and status – create cravings for products and purchases that have little real value for consumers or society.

“American politicians are now brand names, packaged like breakfast cereal. Anybody – and any idea – can be sold with a bright ribbon and a catchy jingle.

“All roads to power in America lead through TV, and all access to TV depends on big money. This simple logic has put American politics in the hands of the rich as never before.

“The American Academy of Pediatrics recently warned that TV viewing by young children is dangerous for their brain development, and called on parents to keep children under two away from the TV and similar media.”

My Comment: We will be able to change TV from being commercial and egoistic to socially useful only by realizing the need for positive social influence on everyone, which will inspire us to unite and to become similar to the global interconnection developing between us.

TV will become the source of integral education and training and will help us create a new society that will be similar to unified nature. As a result, the crisis will turn into well-being.
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Opinion: (Mikhail Gorbachev, the former first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, from ledevoir.com): “The 2008 crisis ‘is not just a financial crisis; it is the crisis of a development model based on market fundamentalism, making excessive profits, consumerism, and social and environmental irresponsibility’ said Mikhail Gorbachev, who sees the occupation of the public parks of western cities as ‘a legitimate protest conducted in accordance with democratic rules.’

“According to Mikhail Gorbachev, the world is not much safer today than before the end of the Cold War because diplomacy does not work. The former Soviet leader lamented the proliferation ‘of conflicts and crises, not only in Third World countries, but also in Europe…’

“Instead of a new world order, there has been a growing unrest and confusion in the world because of a lack of leadership at the international level, said Mr Gorbachev. The G8 is not representative enough, and the G20 has not yet become an effective tool to solve problems.”
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Opinion: (Nouriel Roubini, chairman and co-founder of Roubini Global Economics LLC): “‘I’m very concerned of things getting out of control,’ Roubini said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Dubai office yesterday. ‘You need a huge bazooka of at least 2 trillion euros, but you can’t wait three months. You have to do it in the next few weeks.’

“‘The problem isn’t that Greece is insolvent, but that the fact of having two big elephants in the room – Italy and Spain,’ Roubini said. ‘They’re too big to fail but also too big to save. Even if they are illiquid, but solvent given austerity reform, they’ve already lost market credibility.’

“‘The steps that need to be taken to avoid a dissolvent situation are massive,’ said Roubini….

“‘What is the likelihood of all of these things occurring in a coherent, consistent and realistic way to avoid the mess?’ he asked. ‘I think it’s a low probability because of the political constraints.'” (Source: Bloomberg.com)

“‘I thought a few months ago that the perfect storm would be 2013…. But now, the economic weakness in the US, euro zone and the UK is front loaded. So we’re going to double dip earlier. The climax of it could be 2013, or it could be already earlier.'” (Source: Bloomberg.com)

My Comment: To solve the problem, it is necessary to see the future and what it has in store for us in each of the following scenarios:

• Delay until the phenomenon itself manifests clearly;
• Failure to render help;
• Help.

Even if the future is not clear and there are various opinions, the trend of our advancement has to be understood: Human development leads to its full integration. And although this development towards unity takes place contrary to our personal, state, and national egoism, we must accept this natural evolution as an obligation, as a fact, and make decisions in accordance with it.

Europe united partially as it feared the recurrence of war, rather than desired integration. But today, not only the EU, but the whole world should ponder over the necessity of integration, according to the evolution of human society. We are facing the fact that integration is the next form of humanity and we cannot ignore it.

With each passing day, we are becoming closer, and we must rebuild our relationships at all levels accordingly. Otherwise, the whole humanity will collapse, in all its relationships and institutions. And Europe should set us an example.
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Opinion: (Jürgen Ligi, Estonian Minister of Finance, from rus.err.ee): “Rigidity is one of the main problems of the European job market, thinks the Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi.

“‘In general, labor laws are the greatest hindrance to European competitiveness…’

“‘But rigidity is observed in something else as well (apart from legislation). For example, very destructive unions can provoke a way harsher situation than the laws themselves.’

“According to Ligi, Europe must implement a number of reforms, including in labor-management relations and refrain from printing money, the strategy chosen by the US.

“‘Inflation should not be used to come out of the debt crisis.'”
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In the News (from the UN Radio): “Growing unemployment, resulting from the 2008 global economic crisis, is threatening to cause social unrest in a number of countries around the world.

“That’s the warning issued by the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Monday.

“In a new report, the ILO says that globally over 200 million people are without jobs as the slowdown in economic recovery continues.

“If the current trends continue, it adds, it will take at least five years to return employment in advanced economies to the pre-crisis levels.

“Raymond Torres is the Director of the ILO International Institute for Labour Studies: ‘The slowdown is happening in a very fragile social context. We estimate that 40 per cent of the countries for which we have information are facing the risk of increased social unrest.’

“The ILO’s ‘World of Work 2011’ report has been issued on the eve of a summit of the world’s major economies, known as the G20 to be held in Cannes, France later this week.”

My Comment: The world unemployment rate is expected to rise constantly. Nature will force us to come to a society of reasonable consumption, when we produce and consume only what is reasonably necessary.

We will discover that with existing and emerging technology, it is enough for each grown up resident of the Earth to work 1-3 hours a day, and the rest of the time the entire population of the Earth, regardless of age, should constantly study how to live in a new integral society. For this work and studies a person will receive everything necessary for existence. Moreover, studying is mandatory for everyone.
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Opinion: (Yury Rubinsky, Director, Centre for French Studies, the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, from beta.tvc.ru): “The Occupy Wall Street movement is not the beginning of the world proletarian revolution, which Marx dreamed of. On the other hand, they are not bums, riffraff, or anti-social elements. They are not homeless or the proletariat. They are the younger generation of the middle-class.

“As a result of the global economic crisis, in real terms young people earn less than their peers did after the World War II. Many of them are denied their basic benefits package and severance pay. In the United States, the unemployment rate for young people under 25 is 17%, in France – 20%, while in Spain – 46%.

“This is a time bomb. Realizing this, the authorities began to flirt with the ‘occupants’ movement.  …Obama and Soros express their sympathy, but there is no solution!”

My Comment: The government needs to get ready for the waves of layoffs and decide what to do with people who have no work, and for a long term. Until we all learn to live in a new integrally connected world, it will not become better. On the contrary, it will be constantly deteriorating to force us to change, as it happens according to the regular law of evolution.
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When we unite and feel the general force, desire, plan, and the general intelligence that governs us and that we have to comply with, and when we are in unison, harmony, and conscious movement with it, then we will feel the mind of the Universe or “noosphere” that Vernadsky spoke of. In other words, we will feel the upper force of the universe, the thought of nature, its highest plan, its beginning, and its goal. We will rise to the level of man, who will become the peak of nature, will be equal to it, and will understand the Thought of Creation.

We are required to become aware of this state, to understand it, to grasp this mind, this desire, this plan. How can we discover it? When we begin to move in unison, in harmony, like a school of fish, perceiving the movement of the surrounding field, and do so by our own desire, not instinctively like birds and fish, then we will begin to recognize this field, this great thought of nature.

The whole problem is how to find this field, begin to connect to it, and to find a common rhythm in our movements. To do this, we must change ourselves.

A person can change only under the influence of the environment, as we see it in ourselves and in our children. Otherwise, nature will change us harshly, forcing us by blows, putting us under the “steamroller of development.”

To avoid this, we need to be active and to create, in advance, the surrounding environment for ourselves that would bring us to a greater similarity to this single force of nature. Thereby, we will change. We have to surround ourselves with a simulator that would raise us all the time, unite, and move us closer to the force of nature, which today compels us to be integrally connected.
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From a TV Program “The Integral World” 10/16/2011

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We live in an egoistic world, and every person sees it based on how much fulfillment and pleasure they can receive from it, how much they can benefit: personally and in comparison to others. A person constantly measures himself in relation to others: Sometimes it is better to receive less but somewhat more than others, than to receive a lot when others receive even more. We have become accustomed to acting this way in our world, and we always developed this way.

But now a completely different world is standing before us. It forces us to act in a different manner, for example, like ants that always work together as a single organism, or like birds that feel one another when they fly. When birds travel, the entire flock turns at the same time, like a single whole: It is not the first bird that turns with all the other birds following it, but all the birds turn together.

A school of fish also moves simultaneously, and so on. There is a precise connection between them, one common field that controls them. Everyone absolutely feels everyone else, regardless of whether they are the first or the last in the school, and this is why they all turn simultaneously. In a state of community, instead of perceiving oneself, every individual perceives the common whole and executes the common will, the common plan.

Nature obligates us to act together the same way, but instead of acting instinctively like ants, fish, and birds, we need to act consciously. This state is absolutely confusing to us. How can I perceive the entire world like one enormous flock and turn and interact together with it like one common whole with one head and one heart? However, now we are entering this state against our will and regardless of our desire. We already exist in it like one enormous flock of birds, school of  fish, or colony of ants, but we do not understand it yet.

However, we are gradually beginning to realize it. We see that we can no longer control ourselves and influence things like we did before because now a completely different mutual work plan is being revealed where you must feel everyone else, and all people together have to feel the common movement, turn, and move in one direction.

We have to distribute everything between us according to this: to consume and to manage seemingly private matters that suddenly become public. A person does not have anything private. Anything he does is part of the collective. At the end, his little work must include the general plan. He must feel like he is an element of the flock, which is operated by the general thought, the general mind, the general plan.
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From a TV Program “The Integral World” 10/16/2011

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Opinion: (John Kornblum, Senior Counselor, Noerr Stiefenhofer Lutz, Berlin and Former US Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany): “For the fathers of the euro, the end of the Cold War in 1990 was a time for worry as well as celebration. As they looked to the future, they were also obsessed with the continent’s bloody past. Would a new Europe, and especially a reunified Germany, reawaken old nationalist sentiments and lead again to the danger of war?

“Germany’s Helmut Kohl and France’s Francois Mitterrand—and just about every European leader since—saw a common currency as essentially a political project, meant to cement European unity and remove that danger. For them, a world without the euro would have been a world increasingly threatened by conflict and perhaps even war.

“Because of these fears, the euro project was rushed through without key agreement on the common political institutions that would have turned Europe into a truly unified economic zone. As a result, each country follows its own economic policy; Greece spends, while Germany saves. And markets have been quick to focus on the weakest links, threatening the entire euro by nearly driving countries such as Greece and Portugal to bankruptcy.

“Instead of acting decisively, … European governments feel limited by their commitment to ‘Europe’ to taking small steps that will not endanger the balance within the E.U. This overwhelming fear of internal conflict is the real legacy of World War II, one that has burdened the European Union since its birth in 1957. European politicians may not be experts on finance, but they do know their voters. Doing nothing is better than risking hard-won stability.

“Because in the end, such decisions are still about the war.”

My Comment: In any case, until people become aware of their total mutual dependence, the fear of war will not disappear from their consciousness. Only mutual guarantee will save the world from the fear of war and raise us to the sensation of eternity.
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