In the News (from The Guardian): “We like to think we’re free in the free market; that we’re beyond the forces of advertising and social manipulation by market forces. But there is a new social trend – the rise of ‘the single person’ as model consumer – that presents us with a paradox. What we once thought of as radical – staying single – may now be reactionary.

“The long-term relationship, like the job-for-life, is fast being deregulated into short term, temporary arrangements with no promise of commitment, as sociologist Zygmunt Bauman has been warning us for over a decade. It’s hard for two people to be self-employed, with no promise of a stable future, together. Capitalism now wants us to be single.

“Being single, has since the 60s been seen as a radical choice, a form of rebellion against bourgeois capitalist conformism. As sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann says, the shift away from family life to solo lifestyles in the 20th century was part of the ‘irresistible momentum of individualism.’ But this ‘freedom’ looks a lot less glamorous when viewed through the perspective of planned changes in consumerism.

“It now makes economic sense to convince the populace to live alone. Singles consume 38% more produce, 42% more packaging, 55% more electricity and 61% more gas per capita than four-person households, according to a study by Jianguo Liu of Michigan State University. In the US, never-married single people in the 25-to-34 age bracket, now outnumber married people by 46%, according to the Population Reference Bureau. And divorce is a growth market: one broken family means that two households have to buy two cars, two washing machines, two TVs. The days of the nuclear family as ideal consumption unit are over. …

“Consumerism now wants you to be single, so it sells this as sexy. The irony is that it’s now more radical to attempt to be in a long-term relationship and a long-term job, to plan for the future, maybe even to attempt to have children, than it is to be single. Coupledom, and long-term connections with others in a community, now seem the only radical alternative to the forces that will reduce us to isolated, alienated nomads, seeking ever more temporary ‘quick fix’ connections with bodies who carry within them their own built-in perceived obsolescence. “

My Comment: That’s how capitalism looks on society, only as a consumer of its products. It is this attitude of egoism toward humankind and nature that led us to a confrontation with nature, to the crisis, and now we can see the uselessness of egoism for our existence. To get out of the crisis, we need to begin to correct our egoistic nature.

The desire to enslave everyone and the whole world is the natural desire of egoism in us. But nature has a plan: to bring all of us to balance, to equality, and unity. If we don’t recognize this necessity, then through crisis this plan will still be implemented. It is truly a pity for victims.
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In the News (from The Christian Science Monitor): “Atheism is on the rise in the United States and elsewhere while religiosity is declining, according to a new worldwide poll. “The Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism,” conducted by WIN-Gallup International headquartered in Switzerland, found that the number of Americans who say they are “religious” dropped from 73 percent in 2005 – when the poll was last conducted – to 60 percent. Those who said they were ‘convinced’ atheists rose from 1 to 5 percent. And 33 percent of the people polled said that they don’t consider themselves as a ‘religious person.’ …

“America remains way down the list of countries for self-reported atheism. China tops that list with 47 percent “convinced atheists,” followed by Japan (31 percent), the Czech Republic (30 percent), France (29 percent), and South Korea (15 percent).

“According to the poll, the following are the top ten religious countries: Ghana (96 percent of the participants that they are religious), Nigeria (93 percent), Armenia (92 percent), Fiji (92 percent), Macedonia (90 percent), Romania (89 percent), Iraq (88 percent), Kenya (88 percent), Peru (86 percent), and Brazil (85 percent).”

My Comment: This is a stage of the transition from mysticism to the true religion, Kabbalah, as Baal Sulam writes in his article “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose” that brings a person to the revelation of the Creator, the single highest force of nature.
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In the News (from MIT News): “Even temporary rises in local temperatures significantly damage long-term economic growth in the world’s developing nations, according to a new study co-authored by an MIT economist.

“Looking at weather data over the last half-century, the study finds that every 1-degree-Celsius increase in a poor country, over the course of a given year, reduces its economic growth by about 1.3 percentage points. However, this only applies to the world’s developing nations; wealthier countries do not appear to be affected by the variations in temperature.

“‘Higher temperatures lead to substantially lower economic growth in poor countries,’ says Ben Olken, a professor of economics at MIT, who helped conduct the research. And while it’s relatively straightforward to see how droughts and hot weather might hurt agriculture, the study indicates that hot spells have much wider economic effects.

“‘What we’re suggesting is that it’s much broader than [agriculture],” Olken adds. “It affects investment, political stability and industrial output.’”

My Comment: Nature (the upper force, which is the same thing) is a single system, and therefore manifests itself in its impact on humanity in many ways, sometimes contradictory, and which to us seem, at least, unrelated.
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In the News (from Bloomberg): “The mathematical insight that turned Google Inc. into a multibillion-dollar company has the potential to help the world avert the next financial crisis. If only banks made public the data required to do the job.

“Sixteen years ago, the founders of Google — computer scientists Larry Page and Sergey Brin — introduced an algorithm to measure the “importance” of Web pages relative to any set of keywords.

“Known as PageRank, it works on the notion that Web pages effectively vote for other pages by linking to them. The most important ones, Page and Brin reasoned, should be those drawing links from many other pages, especially from other really important ones.

“If this definition sounds circular, it is. It also captures an authentic reality, which is why respecting it gives far superior results. …

“What could this have to do with finance? Quite a lot. The systemic risk that turned the U.S. subprime-lending crisis into a global disaster is circular, too. We can’t identify it simply by looking for the banks with the most assets or the biggest portfolios of risky loans. What matters is how many links a bank has to other institutions, how strong those links are and how risky those other banks are, not least because they too have links to other risky banks.

Something like PageRank might be just the right thing to cut through it. That’s the argument, at least, made by a team of European physicists and economists in a new study. Their algorithm, DebtRank, seeks to measure the total economic value that would be destroyed if a bank became distressed or went into default. It does so by moving outward from the bank through the web of links in the financial system to estimate all the various consequences likely to accrue from one failure. Banks connected to more banks with high DebtRank scores would, naturally, have higher DebtRank scores themselves.

“As a demonstration, the researchers calculated DebtRank on the basis of the known network of equity investments linking institutions — pretty much the best they can do with publicly available data. If Bank A owns stock in Bank B, the two are linked. This network, of course, reflects only a subset of the many links created by derivatives and other instruments, so the calculation is a little like working out the best driving route from New York to Los Angeles while ignoring two-thirds of all the roads. Nevertheless, it’s useful for demonstrating what might be possible with more complete data. …

“An algorithm alone can’t save the world, and this isn’t the final word on the best way to measure systemic risk. Yet the apparent superiority of the DebtRank approach underscores how our ability to monitor the financial system depends wholly on the availability of data. Currently, most of the information that would be needed to calculate DebtRank or any other similar measure is simply not public. …

“Imagine a world in which banks and other financial institutions were legally required to disclose absolutely all of their assets and liabilities to central banks, which would in turn make that information public on a website. Regulators — indeed, anyone — would then be able to see the whole network and assess a bank’s situation in full clarity. Anyone so inclined could calculate measures such as DebtRank and assess how much any particular bank is contributing to potential financial instability.”

My Comment: This will show only the sequence of bankruptcies, but it will not eliminate their inevitability because it will not restructure the financial credit system. Until society comes to a complete inner balance equal to the level of existence, the pressure towards correction will not stop.
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In the News (from BBC News): “Professor Sugata Mitra, from Newcastle University, wanted to know what happens when the adults stand back and allow children to use a PC unsupervised.

“This year, Professor Mitra is conducting a series of experiments in locations around the world including Brazil and India, in which children are given access to computers without a teacher to guide them.

“One location is a ‘suitcase school’ classroom, in Kiddapore in Calcutta, India. The school which is run by an ngo to give young people from disadvantaged backgrounds more access to education.

“In Kiddapore, Professor Mitra asked teachers are asked to stand back and let the mouse teach. Teachers observed impact on behaviour.

“In particular, a pupil who had misbehaved was helping younger children use the PC, and acting as their teacher.

“This is not the first time that Professor Mitra has asked academics and educators to think twice about a teachers role.

“In 1999, he launched a set of experiments known as ‘Hole in the wall’ in a slum wall in Delhi, India.

“Given access to computers, Mitra observed that children started to learn English and naturally fell into organised learning groups.”

My Comment: This is the ancient tradition of studying the Torah and Kabbalah: Students must first hear the teacher and then discuss the studied material together. The Talmud is studied by several students in a group discussing it without a teacher.

Our workshops (sadna) is arranged in the same way: The teacher or moderator sets a theme or question, which is then discussed by the group of two to ten students. If there are more than ten students, another group is created.
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Opinion (Geoffrey Roberts, British historian): “The political and economic crisis of the EU might help a new European Hitler to emerge, warns professor Geoffrey Roberts. He believes the current rise of ultra-nationalism in Europe resembles that one of 1930s as history tends to repeat itself. …

“’If the eurozone collapses, if the EU collapses, the most likely scenario it would be replaced by different fronts of nationalists. Good question is what forms of nationalism, how extreme and dangerous they are going to be.’
“’That is the historical lesson, what happened before WWII, particularly the 1930s when there was a crisis similar to the one we’re going through now. The result of that was the rise of extreme nationalism, the emergence of a number of authoritarian and Nazi-type regimes in Europe.’”
From Baal HaSulam’s book The Last Generation: It turns out that the world erroneously considers Nazism a particular upshot of Germany. In truth, it is the upshot of a democracy and socialism that were left without manners, religion and justice. Thus, all nations are equal in that; there is no hope at all that Nazism will perish with the victory of the allies. Tomorrow, the British will adopt Nazism, since they too live in a world of democracy and Nazism.

Remember, that democrats too must renounce religion, manners, and justice like the Marxists, because all these are loyal servants of the assertive in the public only. They always place obstacles before the democrats, or the better part of the public.

It is true that thinkers among the democrats keep a watchful eye that religion and manners are not destroyed at once, for they know that the world will be ruined. However, to that extent they also interfere with the government of the majority. Once the majority grows smart and understands them, it will certainly elect other leaders, such as Hitler, since he is a genuine representative of the majority of the public, be it German, British or Polish.
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In the News (from ScienceDaily): “Vaginal birth triggers the expression of a protein in the brains of newborns that improves brain development and function in adulthood, according to a new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers, who also found that this protein expression is impaired in the brains of offspring delivered by caesarean section (C-sections).

“The team studied the effect of natural and surgical deliveries on mitochondrial uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) in mice. UCP2 is important for the proper development of hippocampal neurons and circuits. This area of the brain is responsible for short- and long-term memory. UCP2 is involved in cellular metabolism of fat, which is a key component of breast milk, suggesting that induction of UCP2 by natural birth may aid the transition to breast feeding.

“The researchers found that natural birth triggered UCP2 expression in the neurons located in the hippocampal region of the brain. This was diminished in the brains of mice born via C-section. Knocking out the UCP2 gene or chemically inhibiting UCP2 function interfered with the differentiation of hippocampal neurons and circuits, and impaired adult behaviors related to hippocampal functions.

“’These results reveal a potentially critical role of UCP2 in the proper development of brain circuits and related behaviors,’ said Tamas Horvath. ‘The increasing prevalence of C-sections driven by convenience rather than medical necessity may have a previously unsuspected lasting effect on brain development and function in humans as well.’”

My Comment: The whole problem of humanity is that our egoism puts us above the world, as its conquerors, rather than partners. This leads to the destruction of nature, creation of genetically mutilated food, creation of unnatural social relations and so forth. The crisis will set us free from the egoistic attitude and lead to harmony with the environment through suffering or awareness. Just by following the natural rules, we will never make a mistake!
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In the News (from LiveScience): “The new research, published in Nature Geoscience July 29, suggests the western evergreen forests, which cover an area from southern Canada to northern Mexico, took up a lot less carbon from the atmosphere during the drought that lasted from 2000-2004. That’s normal, and expected. The question is what happens after that.

“Christopher Schwalm and his colleagues at Northern Arizona University’s School of Earth Science and Environmental Sustainability think that there is a good chance the drought could be the new normal. If that happens, a big carbon sink will be lost. …

“There’s a lot of uncertainty in those measurements, but even assuming the smallest loss and the highest carbon uptake — which is unlikely — it still means a non-trivial dent in the amount of CO2 removed from the atmosphere.

“A lengthy drought will cause a big dieback of the evergreen forests that are familiar to hikers and skiers, bringing in vegetation that will likely more resemble a desert scrubland. Those kinds of plants take up carbon, but not as well as forests do. …

“If people don’t cut back emissions or mitigate the die-off somehow, the result will probably be an increase in the rate of carbon-dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere, leading to greater warming, Schwalm told LiveScience. …

“The study also looked at the severe the turn-of-the-century drought using the ‘Palmer Drought Severity Index,’ which measures precipitation, runoff and other factors. Taking a five-year average, and using indicators such as tree-ring data, Schwalm found that this most recent drought of 2000-2004 was as bad as any since about the year 1200.

“That doesn’t bode well; there is a real possibility given current trends that this drought could be one of those that lasts decades, or even a century, he said.”

My Comment: The strongest influence on an imbalance of the planet is caused not by emissions of gases, but by our wrong behavior. We have to consume only what is needed for normal life (the economy of reasonable consumption), work as much as it requires (a couple of hours a day) and dedicate the rest of the time to communication/unity and leisure.

Thus, on the animal level (our bodies) we consume like animals, in balance with nature, and at the level of human in us, we unite and become filled with the power of connection, which aims at fulfilling all our desires fully. The balance with nature will lead the whole system of “still-vegetable-animal-human” in balance, as organs of one body.
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In the News (from the Daily Mail): “Having close relationships with friends and family as a child makes people happier in later life, a new study has found.

“New research has shown how positive social relationships in childhood and adolescence are key to adult well-being, while academic achievement has little effect.

“Scientists do not know much about how aspects of childhood and adolescent development – such as academic and social-emotional function – affect adult well-being.

“They define well-being as a mixture of sense of coherence, positive coping strategies, social engagement and self-perceived strengths.

“Researchers analysed data for 804 people, followed up for 32 years, who participated in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (DMHDS) in New Zealand.

“They measured the relationship between levels of family disadvantage in childhood, social connectedness in childhood, language development in childhood, social connectedness in adolescence, academic achievement in adolescence and well-being in adulthood. …

“Results showed there is a strong pathway from child and teen social connectedness to adult well-being – showing the significance of positive social relationships over the lifespan to adulthood.

“Also, the Journal of Happiness Studies research revealed the pathway from early language development – through adolescent academic achievement – to adult happiness was weak.”

Tip: Lead by example and teach a child how to build relationships with others.
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In the News (from Finmarket.ru): “There is unanimous agreement among US bank chiefs that their biggest threat is the fallout from the eurozone financial crisis because the European governments begin to save together with European consumers.

“This is easily explained: unemployment in Europe hit record after record, as the recession continues to deepen. As a result, EU citizens have to change consumer habits – it can have a lasting impact on the economy and corporate profits. Changes in consumer habits have affected the income of European corporations.

My Comment: We are facing the bankruptcy of corporations, the disappearance of the middle class, the emergence of hundreds of millions of unemployed, food riots, etc. if mutual responsibility and mutual concern and bestowal are not achieved through unity. Integral education should teach us how to create, step-by-step, a single administration, for both the EU and the whole world.
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