In the News (from The Guardian): “Although the world was hoping for a good US harvest to replenish dangerously low grain stocks, this is no longer on the cards. World carryover stocks of grain will fall further at the end of this crop year, making the food situation even more precarious. Food prices, already elevated, will follow the price of corn upward, quite possibly to record highs.

“Not only is the current food situation deteriorating, but so is the global food system itself. We saw early signs of the unraveling in 2008 following an abrupt doubling of world grain prices. As world food prices climbed, exporting countries began restricting grain exports to keep their domestic food prices down. In response, governments of importing countries panicked. Some of them turned to buying or leasing land in other countries on which to produce food for themselves.

“Welcome to the new geopolitics of food scarcity. As food supplies tighten, we are moving into a new food era, one in which it is every country for itself.

“The world is in serious trouble on the food front. But there is little evidence that political leaders have yet grasped the magnitude of what is happening. The progress in reducing hunger in recent decades has been reversed. Unless we move quickly to adopt new population, energy, and water policies, the goal of eradicating hunger will remain just that.

“Time is running out. The world may be much closer to an unmanageable food shortage – replete with soaring food prices, spreading food unrest, and ultimately political instability– than most people realise.”

My Comment: I have repeatedly written that according to the program of nature, revealed by Kabbalah, we face a general crisis. Nature must lead us to a change—the correction of ourselves from individualists-egoists to altruists who strive to unite everyone like in one family—because this is the entire system of nature, and we have developed to the state when we must match it consciously. That is why the blows of nature on society and individuals will not stop, but on the contrary, they will increase to the extent of our resistance, not wanting to understand and accept a different path of development, the path of mutual bestowal and love instead of individual receiving and hatred.

There is no doubt that a person has to overcome his egoism, but it is possible to acquire new properties easy and quickly under the influence of the correct environment (a group, society). Otherwise, nature will force us to do this by immense suffering. See Baal HaSulam’s article “The Freedom,” chapter “A Path of Torah and a Path of Pain.”
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Opinion (Ana Tajadura-Jiménez, Stephanie Grehl, Manos Tsakiris, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, United Kingdom): “Psychologists at Royal Holloway, University of London, have discovered that sharing a synchronised experience with another person may change the perception we have of ourselves and make strangers appear more familiar and similar to ourselves. …

“Dr Ana Tajadura-Jiménez, one of the researchers: ‘… synchronized events between individuals might act as a form of social glue that makes people feel closer and more similar to each other.’

“The researchers point out that several of our everyday social interactions involve synchronised events, including walking alongside people where we tend to synchronise our steps and the power of dance, sports and rituals seems to rely, at least in part, in synchronised sensory experiences. ‘Our participants shared a simple sensory experience with another unfamiliar person, and yet we show how this experience changed their representation of how they look, and made this other person appear more similar to themselves. This finding shows how the sense of who we are, our sense of identity, is given to us by our interactions with others, and is, eventually, reflected back to others,’ says lead researcher Dr Manos Tsakiris.”

My Comment: The source of this is that we are all connected by one inner network of connections in which our complete internal communication occurs. We are one whole, filled with the upper Light. But this state is hidden from us by our egoism, and that is why even in external similarity to our egoism we find pleasure: the illumination of the upper Light.
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In the News (from USA Today): “The ranks of America’s poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net. …

“Poverty is spreading at record levels across many groups, from underemployed workers and suburban families to the poorest poor. More discouraged workers are giving up on the job market, leaving them vulnerable as unemployment aid begins to run out. …

“Demographers also say: Poverty will remain above the pre-recession level of 12.5 percent for many more years. Several predicted that peak poverty levels — 15 percent to 16 percent — will last at least until 2014, due to expiring unemployment benefits.”

My Comment: Unfortunately, in the world there is an excess of everything but the correct connection between people, and that is why we throw away more food than is needed to feed everyone. The same goes for other essentials. The reason is in human nature, and only by correcting it, will we be able to make our society human.
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Opinion (Mark Sandomirsky, psychotherapist): “The younger ones often know more than the senior ones. Technological progress is very rapid, and the difference in the perception of the world for children and adults is enormous.

“The so-called pre-figurative society has been formed, which in principle is easily explained: children process the information field differently, assimilate the data more quickly, and for adults it is more difficult to keep up with advances in technology. That is why a five-year-old can easily turn on any electrical device and tell his grandmother how to use it.

“And one could only be glad that a new generation is advancing if it were not for the problems arising from this distance between adults and children.

“The first one is that the younger generation develops the illusion of access to knowledge: you can ‘google’ any information and find it on the Internet. The second one is that their sense of superiority destroys the authority of adults. Both of these problems are concentrated precisely in school, but it is simply impossible to solve them in the present school organization. …

“Two things are still needed for the effective learning of children. Firstly, they must come together to compete with each other, including assessment, as competition is the best stimulus for learning. Secondly, they just need an adult who would be the moral authority for them and coordinator of information flow. ”

My Comment: We need to get together, not to develop competitive skills, but to develop mutual support and understanding that in today’s integral society it is precisely cooperation that gives rise to success.
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Opinion (From Slon.ru): “Report ‘On the required proportion of altruists in society: a model study’ (the Institute of Management Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow).

“The prosperity of the economy is based on the correct proportions of altruists and egoists. If a society consists only of egoists, it will be ruined: Altruists are needed not only for moral or philosophical, but also for purely financial reasons. In an unfavorable environment, a society of egoists is unsustainable. However, the number of altruists greater than 10% among egoists is also harmful to society. …

“The researchers then altered the conditions of simulation: They made several participants ‘altruists;’ they always voted for the ‘suggestions’ that increased the ‘capital’ of society as a whole. While there were few ‘altruists,’ they acted to the detriment of themselves: Their ‘capital’ decreased, even if the ‘capital of society’ grew as a whole. The more ‘altruists,’ the better the society as a whole. The maximum benefit of society is when all are ‘altruists.’ …

“The researchers then complicated the model and introduced a different type of altruism – targeted support for the poorest in society, where members can go broke. Result: The total number of bankruptcy was reached when there is a minimum of 10% ‘altruists-philanthropists.’ A further increase in the share of ‘altruists’ leads to the state when they need to be protected, and the growth of this demand outstrips the growth of ‘protection,’ which they can provide. If society is too focused on ‘protecting the poor,’ it generally becomes poorer.”

My Comment: That is why up to 10% of altruists (See Baal HaSulam “The Last Generation”) is needed in the world for the egoistic society to prosper until it finds, as today, its final state and turns to the method of integral correction in order to reach a society that consists of altruists.
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Opinion (Dennis Meadows, American scientist and Emeritus Professor of Systems Management, co-author of The Limits to Growth): “It is difficult to break the dependence of ‘personal dreams’ from GDP growth. So much attention in the world is focused on GDP growth and personal wellbeing because business needs to profit in the short term. Companies do not make a profit when you study, communicate with friends, read, or love. They profit when you buy something. That’s why friendship is not advertised, but a lot of products are advertised. That’s why the majority create a personal vision in terms of consumption. …

“But in the long term, catastrophe cannot be avoided. Catastrophe is not a particular year, but a process, which can last for centuries. …

“I think that it is possible to prepare for this period and mitigate the consequences. In this case, both efficiency and changing ‘personal dreams’ can help. …

“The main problems today are not in science, but in society. In science, I would single out a few basic points that need to be addressed. The first one is accumulation of energy. …

“The second one is finding new alternative sources of energy. …

“The third one is inventing the ways of producing, delivering, and storing food, which will be resistant to a shortage of fossil fuels, as the existing agriculture intensively uses hydrocarbons. Also, new ways must be resistant to climate change, especially changes in precipitation and an increase in temperature extremes. …

“In the 21^st century, the circumstances will be formed so that science will have to develop and implement the concept of ‘stability and flexibility,’ but not in terms of ‘sustainable development,’ but in terms of ‘system resilience.’ Moreover, this resistance should be not only technological, but also social. We face many challenges; science will not only have to open new horizons, but to solve problems. …

“The monetary system should be changed: …the existing concept of money is based on the concept of continuous growth. If there is no growth, there will be no basis for the existence of the current monetary system. …

“Education today is a preparation for life in the next 50 years. The current historical period is based on cheap fossil resources and will end in the coming decades. What will those people who studied to be an economist, financier, banker or lawyer do?

“In the USA in 2008, we saw the situation when a huge number of lawyers and investment bankers, who had performed the same and not the most necessary work, suddenly became redundant and found themselves on the street. …I believe that if you choose science and have a good education in science or engineering, then you know how and why nature, technology, and something works…When circumstances change, you will be in great demand!”

My Comment: The author does not suggest a solution. He believes that we will hold in this limbo for a long time and survive by conserving energy and food. The limit of the growth of egoism has been reached; it no longer develops, and that is why it does not require “fuel” for itself. It has become closed, global, and integral and thus requires correction, to be brought to the form in which it will be able to exist, that is, not withdrawing into itself, but becoming included in others. It forces itself to be corrected, like the Pharaoh who drove people out of Egypt through oppression.
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Opinion (Nikita N. Moiseyev, prominent Soviet and Russian mathematician, full member of the Soviet and Russian Academies of Sciences): “Setting the task: We need to explain that people are also part of Nature, and we follow its laws, its logic. And a violation of this logic is destructive to society. Already at the first lecture, we should explain that a person has free will that may open the future for him, and at the same time, it can be deadly for him. And we need to learn to just talk about this duality, this contradiction, which is the essence of the science about man and his behavior in nature, the ambiguity of its reactions, the essence of intelligence.

“There should be different views: The difference between people, their living conditions, produces a difference of interpretation. And these differences should not be feared. They help to see the subject from different angles.

“The human being belongs to the system: The Universe is a system, that is, a collection of interconnected elements. The solar system, Earth, and the Human Being are part of this system. This human being, belonging to the system, can study its properties only from the inside, just what is available around him.

“That’s why people are able to comprehend only some of the properties of the Universe. And it will always be so: No matter how science advances, only the smallest facts about it will be available to us. We will always know only a fraction of what the Universe means, only the finite part of an infinite set.

“Periods of calm replace inevitable catastrophes: To understand the present, let alone look beyond the horizon, is possible only by knowing the process of formation of human species, as a biological type, its culture and civilization in general. We need to know the origins and characteristics of self-organization processes of the biosphere, which have created a man. And we already know a lot. We know, for example, that the periods of calm replaced inevitable disasters that direct development to new channels.

“Mowgli would not become a man: The phenomenon of the spiritual world is the effect of evolutionary development, not biological, but social. I would specifically analyze an example like Mowgli and explain why he could never become a man. Did Freud understand this?

“The multiplicity of society: It is important to explain the phenomenon of multiculturalism as a guarantee of the stability of society, as an analogue of biological diversity. For this purpose, it is convenient to use the example of Rousseau’s argument and show where he was right and where he was wrong.”
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Opinion (from the Association for Psychological Science): “According to lead researcher Benjamin Converse, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Psychology at the University of Virginia, the research was inspired by the kinds of deals many of us seem to make in which we promise ourselves that, if we can just make it through some trying situation, we’ll be better citizens in the future. …

“The researchers hypothesized that waiting for an important, uncontrollable outcome may lead people to do good deeds with the implicit expectation that the universe will return the favor, a phenomenon they refer to as ‘investing in karma.’”

My Comment: This attitude towards the upper force is called bestowal in order to receive and represents a more refined egoism, such as with religions in which, besides it, there are also upbringing, habit, and the support of community. No earthly methods can help us come out of egoistic intentions.

True altruism, that is, actions not for oneself, is possible only under the influence of the upper Light that can be attracted only by the correct study of authentic Kabbalah. Obviously, selling amulets, red strings, and holy water are doubly egoistic methods both from the seller’s side as well as from the buyer’s side.
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Opinion (Paul Krugman, the recipient of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, Professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University): “In an exclusive interview, Paul Krugman – who just published a new book titled End This Depression Now! – tells us how the Euro crisis will end.

“He basically sees two possible outcomes, both of which are ‘impossible.’

“One possibility is that the ECB aggressively buys peripheral debt and caps the borrowing costs of Spain and Italy, while simultaneously making it clear that they’re going to promote ‘expansionary monetary policies’ that boost inflation in Germany and help restore competitiveness between Germany and the periphery.

“’That can work… it’s still going to be extremely painful,’ he says.

“’Any solution is going to come out of Berlin and Frankfurt… Frankfurt will do the actual lifting, but has to have Berlin’s permission.’

“But would Berlin actually sign off on an ECB-based debt monetization, pro-inflation scheme? That’s very un-German.

“That gets to Krugman’s other possibility … Basically, eventually the ECB stops propping up all the banks (as they are now), and you get bank runs, bank holidays, and currency redenominations. That would mean the end of the euro system, which would then bring ‘cataclysmic’ effects, both economic and legal.

“You look at that scenario, says Krugman, and it seems impossible that the Germans would let the entire project disintegrate like this.

“So what happens?

“’I say it’s 50/50 … Either the Germans have to accept something they consider unacceptable, or they have to accept something, the breakup of the euro, that they consider something unacceptable.”

My Comment: The future has never seemed so threatening, but as economists’ think, the path to recovery lies only through the aggravation of disease. But the issue is, that the recovery will not follow because the disease is an indicator of disorder not in the economy, but in people, and what should be treated is the relationship between people rather than the economic system, which is its consequence.
[83210]

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In the News (from Mother Nature Network): ““A growing body of psychology research shows that incompetence deprives people of the ability to recognize their own incompetence. To put it bluntly, dumb people are too dumb to know it. Similarly, unfunny people don’t have a good enough sense of humor to tell.

“With more than a decade’s worth of research, David Dunning, a psychologist at Cornell University, has demonstrated that humans find it ‘intrinsically difficult to get a sense of what we don’t know.’ Whether an individual lacks competence in logical reasoning, emotional intelligence, humor or even chess abilities, the person still tends to rate his or her skills in that area as being above average.

“Dunning and his colleague, Justin Kruger, formerly of Cornell and now at New York University, ‘have done a number of studies where we will give people a test of some area of knowledge like logical reasoning, knowledge about STDs and how to avoid them, emotional intelligence, etcetera. Then we determine their scores, and basically just ask them how well they think they’ve done,’ Dunning said. ‘We ask, “what percentile will your performance fall in?”’

“The results are uniform across all the knowledge domains: People who actually did well on the test tend to feel more confident about their performance than people who didn’t do well, but only slightly. Almost everyone thinks they did better than average. ‘For people at the bottom who are really doing badly — those in the bottom 10th or 15th percentile — they think their work falls in the 60th or 55th percentile, so, above average,’ Dunning told Life’s Little Mysteries. The same pattern emerges in tests of people’s ability to rate the funniness of jokes, the correctness of grammar, or even their own performance in a game of chess. ‘People at the bottom still think they’re outperforming other people.’ …

“If only we knew ourselves better. Dunning believes people’s inability to assess their own knowledge is the cause of many of society’s ills, including climate change denialism. ‘Many people don’t have training in science, and so they may very well misunderstand the science. But because they don’t have the knowledge to evaluate it, they don’t realize how off their evaluations might be,’ he said.

“Along the same lines, people who aren’t talented in a given area tend not to be able to recognize the talents or good ideas of others, from co-workers to politicians. This may impede the democratic process, which relies on citizens having the capacity to identify and support the best candidate or policy.

“The ultimate takeaway of the research is the reminder that you really may not be as great as you think you are.”

My Comment: Kabbalah explains in details how much our egoism blinds us and does not allow us to see the truth. It takes a lot of effort in the group, being against the friends to begin in one’s perception of them to “see” oneself. And by developing the objective perception above egoism, one can “see” the Creator.
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