Opinion (Olga Lukina, psychotherapist and psychoanalyst, Director of the Institute for Integrative Psychotherapy and Coaching, Moscow): “In today’s society, the key life values are devalued: the value of work, the value of deep professional knowledge, honesty with oneself, self-esteem, willingness to do good, and responsibility.

“Instead, there are important values of a neurotic society: status, money, superiority in competition, aggressive force.

“Young people are particularly vulnerable. They swallow these ‘values’ without censorship; they have no immunity to them. Striving to meet the expectations of this society, they lose touch with their authentic selves. Only those who have healthy orientations and strong support of the family can withstand.”

My Comment: No doubt, without integral education, the young generation will lose itself completely.
[137159]

Related Material:
“Recent Generations Focus More on Fame, Money Than Giving Back”
What Needs To Be Done To Ensure The Survival Of Human Civilization?
The Global Crisis And Reassessment Of Liberal Ideology

Filed under: Children, Crisis, Globalization - No Comments →

In the News (from Vedomosti): “Young people from 11 to 20 year olds can be considered as Generation Z. They are characterized by the fact that they are familiar with digital technology from childhood, were born with an iPad in hand, adhere to the principle of ‘live in the present,’ preferring to spend time in pleasure and trying not to worry about anything.

“The main goal of their lives is to ‘be happy,’ which is associated with the physical and psychological comfort, personal freedom, the possibility of seeing the world. They do not want to work, but talk about the desire to fill their lives with meaning, not to live to work, but to work to live.

“This generation is a generation of consumers, whose lives are filled with advertisements. The generation that has not experienced mass unemployment and easily parts with money. They love to go to restaurants, buy gadgets.”

My Comment: Tough new global conditions will force them to think about the cause of what is happening to humanity. We are required to reveal the plan of nature to them and our participation in its realization by the good path, not through suffering.
[136440]

Related Material:
The Generation Of Playboys And Hedonists
Saying Goodbye To Childhood
The Crisis Has Changed The Attitudes Of The Youth

Filed under: Globalization, News - No Comments →

Opinion (Marina R. Bityanova, Ph.D., Professor of Moscow Open University, Director of the Center of psychological support in education, author of four books): “When people work together for a long time, they have to make joint decisions – not to come to a compromise, but namely to develop a common view of the problem. Compromise is an averaged solution, and hence no one’s. A group decision is general, and therefore is accepted by everyone.

“In practical terms, this is a very important property of the decisions that are accepted jointly: at the same time, they are everyone’s personal decision, therefore, everyone will perform them. Thus, a group should be encouraged to take vital decisions together, in collective discussion.

“But is a group decision effective? Maybe it is better if a decision is made by one person – the head, the leader, and then he convinces the group in his reason?

“People have long realized that taking a complex and responsible decision is better in discussion (a council of wise men, gathering of the elders, focus group), in general agreement – consensus. A group action is qualitatively and quantitatively superior to the action of the ‘average’ person, but sometimes is not as effective as the actions of an outstanding personality.

“Group decisions are more risky than individual; having united, people decide to take the risk, because a group discussion makes people feel that they share responsibility, personal irresponsibility that facilitates the adoption of extreme decisions, view risk as treasure: readiness to take risks increases status; during the panel discussion, group members aim at showing that they possess such readiness.

“Another important feature of group decisions: during discussion, opinions are not averaged, but polarized.

The thinking style of a group with a high level of internal unity and autonomy has the following features:

– An illusion of invulnerability;

– The desire to give a rational explanation for one’s decision as the only possible and correct;

– Stereotypical view of opponents;

– Open pressure on the minority;

– An illusion of unanimity;

– The emergence of self-appointed guardians of the group spirit, etc.

“Studies show that groups of this type increases internal cohesion and self-satisfaction of the members, but it reduces the quality of group decisions; members’ individual decisions are of a higher quality than those of the group.

“This phenomenon often occurs in groups working in crisis, stressful situations, forcing group members to unite around group goals, to fence off from the outside world.”

My Comment: When a group wants to unite so that its unity benefits the whole world, no negative qualities can occur in it.
[136939]

Related Material:
The Collective Is Always Smarter
The Potential Of Collective Consciousness
“The Best Way To Solve A Problem…”

Filed under: Crisis, Globalization - No Comments →

Opinion (Martin van Creveld, Ph.D., Professor of military history at Hebrew University, Jerusalem, author of seventeen books on military history and strategy): “[Martin van Creveld] argues that the state, since 1648 has become a creature different to any previous form of civil government. Before that time, government was identified with some person or group of persons. After 1648, the state lost that personal identification and became a juridical person, a corporation. ‘As a corporation, it has an independent persona.’ All previous governments failed to make this crucial distinction between the person ruling and the ruling organisation. Louis XIV could say with much truth, ‘I am the state.’ Louis Napoleon could not. 

“He defines the state by three characteristics.

“Sovereignty, by which claim the state ‘refuses to share any of [these] functions [waging war, making peace enacting laws, dispensing justice, raising revenue, determining the currency, and providing internal security] with others but concentrates all of them in its own hands.’

“Territoriality,  it exercises such powers over all the people who live within its borders and over them only.

“Abstractness, most importantly, it is an abstract organisation. Unlike any of its predecessors at any other time and place, it is not identical with either rulers nor ruled; it is neither a man nor a community, but an invisible being known as a corporation.

“In the main, the threat to the state does not come either from individuals or from groups of the kind which exercised the functions of government in various communities at various times and places before 1648. Instead it comes from other corporations: in other words, from such ‘artificial men’ as share its own nature but differ from it both in respect to their control over territory and in regard to the exercise of sovereignty. A few of the corporations in question are of a territorial nature, but the majority are not. Some are regional and larger than states, others smaller and merely local. Some are intergovernmental, others nongovernmental. Some are primarily political by nature, others dedicated to different ends such as making money, protecting the environment, spreading some religious message, or propagating some special cause which may range from reducing pollution to animal rights. [Though] all have in common that they are more attuned to modern technology, communication and transportation in particular, than the state. As a result, some of them are able to grow much richer than most states; or take over some of the latter’s functions; or evade its control by establishing colonies and moving their resources outside its borders; or influence the opinions of its citizens more than governments can; or (as in the case of numerous guerrilla and terrorist organisations) successfully resist it weapon in hand; or, not seldom, some combination of all these things.”

My Comment: All of human development leads to the extinction of the state and the establishment of a unified, global social system.
[136642]

Related Material:
The Dismantling Of Capitalism
One Super-Corporation Runs The World
“The End Of The Nation-State?”

Filed under: Crisis, Globalization, Politics, World - No Comments →

In the News (from ATkearney): “The Global Cities Index provides a comprehensive ranking of the leading global cities from around the world and includes the companion Emerging Cities Outlook (ECO), which measures the potential of cities located in middle- and high-income countries to become even more global.

“New York and London lead this year’s ranking in the A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index (GCI), followed by Paris, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. Among the top 20 cities, seven are in the Asia Pacific region (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore, Seoul, Sydney, and Shanghai), seven are in Europe (London, Paris, Brussels, Madrid, Vienna, Moscow, and Berlin), and six are in the Americas (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, Toronto, and Buenos Aires). Cairo is the leading city in Africa, remaining in the top 50 despite Egypt’s political and economic turbulence.

“The companion Emerging Cities Outlook (ECO) builds on the GCI’s insights to measure the potential of cities located in middle- and high-income countries to become even more global. According to the ECO, the 10 cities that are most favorably positioned to advance over the next 10 to 20 years are Jakarta, Manila, Addis Ababa, São Paulo, New Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, Bogotá, Mumbai, Nairobi, and Kuala Lumpur.”

My Comment: It speaks of great globalization and dependence in the world.
[136437]

Related Material:
Globalization
About Globalization
Globalization In Family Circumstances

Filed under: Economy, Globalization, World - No Comments →

Opinion (Sergei A. Karaganov, Dean of the School of World Economics and International Affairs at Russia’s National Research University Higher School of Economics): “It is quite obvious that the economic consequences of the current crisis will be much more profound than they now seem – even for Europeans. But what is happening now, it’s not just the collapse of the geopolitical system but much deeper.

“Disabling Visa services, banking instruments, is actually an undermining of the whole economic system that was created by the West, but enjoyed by the whole world, which is now economically greater than the West. Apparently, we’ll have huge tectonic shifts for decades.”

My Comment: The collapse of this system occurs at all levels, otherwise it can not be replaced by the next system. And the next system is integral, fully interconnected, and completely opposite to the existing system. Thus, the collapse of the existing system is gradual, but global.

We will be able to replace the old egoistic system with the new altruistic system only by re-educating humanity. Kabbalah is revealed in our time just for this operation.
[134565] 

Related Material:
Euromaidan: America Vs. Europe – To Wreak Havoc In The State
The Global Financial Market Is Dead And Is Not Going To Rise
The Three Experts: Be Prepared For A Crash

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Globalization, World - No Comments →

Question: How do we explain to people that an imbalance with nature causes disease?

Answer: Rationalism has existed in the world since the days of ancient Greece. The prevailing view is that a human is found above all of nature and we shouldn’t wait for mercy from heaven; rather, it is up to us to take everything into our hands. This broke us, for a materialistic philosophy developed claiming that a person is not a part of nature. In fact, he is the greatest egoist.

Nature includes the levels of the still, vegetative, and animate within which man is found. And man thinks he is outside of all of this; this is our problem.

This contradiction is particularly prominent now; I think that I am found above nature and it shows me that I am found within nature, under its control.

The difference between my world view, my desire to be above nature, and what is in fact discovered, awakens a global crisis that includes all areas of human activity. This is because I think that I control nature and I suddenly discover that nature is integral. Now we are gradually discovering that we are inside a computer, within a program that manages us, so we cannot do anything. All of our plans are destroyed and there is no way that we can succeed in activating them. We try to do something with our lives, with the children, with the nation, but everything is in vain. Why? It is because we have developed to a state where we feel ourselves above nature, but discover that it is above us and in sum we are activated by it, whether we like it or not. This lack of accommodation between our state and what happens in reality leads to all the problems.

And in the meantime, the global network of management is being discovered as more and more linked. It doesn’t make a difference what we do; in response we feel a blow, a severe reaction. Nothing will succeed, the world is falling apart, the family is breaking apart, children go away in all directions, and everything escapes from our hands. These many problems must bring us to one conclusion, we are within a cosmic, globally inclusive system, within a program that is called the purpose of creation, and we are only a small part of it.

The crisis helps us discover that we are a part of that program, and we have a free choice here that makes it possible for us to recognize the program and to carry it out from our choice. Only then can we be called “man.”

And if we don’t want to carry out the program by our free choice, then we will have to do it against our will, because we will not succeed in doing anything! More and more problems have arisen in the world precisely to show that humanity depends upon nature and its program. This is because nature is the Creator, the higher power, and if we are within it, so its program is found beyond our powers. This is the point of the crisis in the world view and integration within it.

So when we go out to the general population, it is up to us to explain to them that for all of their problems in the family, at work, in health, with children, and so forth, for all of this there is only one cause and one solution, and this is the right connection between us.
[132254]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/28/14, Question and Answers with Dr. Laitman

Related Material:
Check For Balance
Learn To Live In Balance With Nature
If You Don’t Know How, Don’t Touch

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Globalization, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

In the News (from Svobodanya Pressa): “The analysis of the options for resolving contradictions shows that today a new world order can only be built on one of the two models: the concept of the “golden billion” or civilizational harmony.

1. “The concept of the ‘golden billion’ is the world of civilizational hierarchies – the chosen ones who have defined themselves as the intellectual core of humanity, preserve and enhance the achieved consumption level by brutal exploitation of the rest of humanity, the number of which is artificially reduced to a minimum. Historical experience shows that the elite of egoistic civilization does not hesitate before sacrificing lives, if there is a guarantee of its own preservation in the bunkers.

2.  “Civilizational harmony (mutual support) – the goal of globalization is to develop all existing civilizations, conserving and expanding the ‘area of development’ for every nation and civilization, which is the basis of development of each of them and all of them together.

“A war will be fought for spiritual foundations on which a new world order would be built. It will be built either on individualism, egoism, suppression of one subject by the other, the principle of survival at the expense of others, or on community, the dominance of common interests of mutual survival and development, the principle of mutual survival through mutual support.”

My Comment: The choice of which way the development of humanity will advance to the revelation of the next level depends on the dissemination of the methods of the wisdom of connection, which brings the highest power of unity into our world and qualitatively surpasses all the egoistic forces of our material world. Although to the whole world, we look as an almost non-existent power, we are qualitatively higher than all the other forces acting in this world. Only striving to correction will avert the evil path of development.
[133341]

Related Material:
Concerns Of The “Golden Billion”
Can The War Save The World?
“Eurozone Biggest Threat To Global Outlook, OECD Says”

Filed under: Crisis, Globalization, Mutual Guarantee, World - No Comments →

Opinion (Stanislav V. Borzykh, Ph.D., assistant professor of philosophy at Tomsk State Architectural University, member of the Russian Philosophical Society): “Globalization is based on the principles of freedom, openness, availability, changes and equality. This, in turn, implies the existence of a certain universal platform that would satisfy all these conditions. Such a platform, or more precisely – reciprocity, is globalization itself.

“Consequently, globalization is the global process of establishing a regime of reciprocity. Globalization is the platform, on which a new world, unknown to us, will grow in the future. We can only solve one question: What will be the choice of humankind – to engage in an era of globalization or not?”

My Comment: Actually, the question is not whether to engage or not to engage because this development of civilization is programmed by nature. The question is: Should we enter this compulsory development voluntarily—by the method of integral education and upbringing, the wisdom of connection, keeping pace with the negative forces of nature that cause this development, and in this case, turning them into a positive—or by being stubborn and allowing the compelling (negative) forces of our development to direct “with the stick towards happiness?”
[132698]

Related Material:
About Globalization
Globalization
Globalization In Family Circumstances

Filed under: Crisis, Globalization - No Comments →

Opinion (Natalia N. Dumnaya , Ph.D. (Econ.), Head of the Department of Microeconomics, Finance Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation): “We break the foundations of our own existence, undermine the basis – locus standum, on which we stand, literally. Nature, as a self-organizing system, has its purpose – states that the system achieves by means of self-organization.

“In terms of nature, the human being has to serve its purpose. However, he has his own goals and positions as a part that evolved from nature. Man’s first goal is to save his life, and hence to satisfy his basic needs for food, warmth, clothing, procreation, etc.

“Man’s second goal is to search for new, more secure ways to meet his needs. Fulfilling his own goals, the human being also performs the objectives of nature. He accelerates natural evolution.

“However, as the complexity of human society is increasing, the relationship with nature becomes increasingly more apparent; there are contradictions. Now, the question is that the human relationship with nature must develop on the basis of searching for the area of overlapping interests.

“Since nature is a self-organizing system, then it follows that the productive forces created by the human being not only must not violate the natural dynamic balance of nature, but the second nature created by his hands, or industrial civilization, should be a continuation of the first. Human civilization must go from technocenosis to coevolution with nature.

“The egoistic industrial-urban development path that leads to material and moral losses constitutes a threat to humanity itself. It is no longer enough to have purely economic efficiency criterion to select options for the development of the economy. People should take into account not only their immediate interests, but also the interests of nature.”

My Comment: There is no doubt that a person should study the laws of nature and follow them. Otherwise he causes their negative reaction.

In many cases, the reaction is not immediate and this calms a person down. Often, there is no clear connection between the action and reaction of nature to him. But it is precisely for this reason that we are given the mind to study the causal relationships of nature so that we reveal the next level of our being, beyond matter.
[131776]

Related Material:
Major Rules Of Equivalence With Nature
Revealing The Unity Of Nature
Schools Should Teach Children How To Become Human Beings

Filed under: Crisis, Globalization - No Comments →