In the News (From BBC): “Prime Minister David Cameron has said the UK must ‘build a better economy’ that is ‘fair and worthwhile.’

“He said ‘popular capitalism’ should allow ‘everyone to share in the success of the market’ and criticised an ‘out of control’ bonus culture in the City.

“A Co-operatives Bill will be introduced to help employees take a greater stake in their companies, he said.

“Labour leader Ed Miliband said in a speech earlier the PM would be judged on ‘his deeds and not his words.’

“In a wide-ranging speech in London on the economy, Mr Cameron said he wanted to encourage firms to show ‘social responsibility’ and said that the chancellor was considering new tax rules to prevent abuse.

“He used his speech to discuss his vision for a transformed capitalism, based on two principles ‘which have been at the centre of Conservative thinking for centuries.’

“‘The first is a vision of social responsibility, which recognizes that people are not just atomized individuals, and that companies have obligations too. And the second is a genuinely popular capitalism, which allows everyone to share in the success of the market.’

“The prime minister said that ‘where they work properly, open markets and free enterprise can actually promote morality’ by creating ‘a direct link between contribution and reward; between effort and outcome.’

“‘So we should use this crisis of capitalism to improve markets, not undermine them, because I believe that out of this current adversity we can build a better economy, one that is truly fair and worthwhile.’”

My Comment: It reminds of a heartfelt eulogy (of an English lord, with a bowler hat in the hands and a rose in the buttonhole, at the funeral, over the fresh grave, before the aristocratic audience) about how great and wonderful the deceased was.
[68757]

Related Material:
A Recipe For Saving Capitalism
Has Western Capitalism Failed? Part 1
About Capitalism Today

Filed under: Crisis, Economy - No Comments →

Opinion (L. Kotelnikova, The Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences): “Modern education is part of the process of creating a new global community, of creating a humane and just world. Achieving this goal requires a review of the educational process, giving everyone an opportunity to understand each other and the world in its chaotic motion towards a certain unity.

“Education should become a process of a person’s continuous development; it must provide an understanding of oneself, one’s environment, and life in society. The main task to be addressed by education in the near future is to learn to live together.”

My Comment: Many educators in the world understand the tasks of modern education and upbringing. We need to include them in the discussions as we create and improve our methods of education.
[68465]

Related Material:
A Knowledge Kit For The Society Of The Future
The Need For A Contemporary Understanding Of The World
Evil Robed In Goodness

Filed under: Crisis, Education - No Comments →

Opinion (from Kommersant): “Valentina Matviyenko, Speaker of the Russian Federation Council: ‘Xenophobia, incitement to hatred on ethnic, religious, and social grounds, is creeping around the planet; the popularity of associations and parties whose members often hold Nazi views is on the rise.’

“Ralf-Rene Weingärtner, Director for Human Rights and Anti-discrimination, Council of Europe: ‘We are seeing right-wing extremism on the rise of the EU and Russia. These groups are linked through the Internet, so the threat of international racism is real.

“Nikolai Kabanov, The 11th Saeima member, Latvia: ‘Saeima of Latvia is considering a bill that will allow those who fought the Red Army… to receive benefits and higher pensions. The Lithuanian authorities were criticized for sanctioning the neo-Nazis marches.’

“Oleg Tsarev, people’s Deputy of Ukraine from the Party of regions: ‘The situation in Ukraine is not less alarming: The ultra-nationalist party ‘Freedom’ is in the parliament.’

“Tatiana Zhdanok, a Latvian member of the European Parliament: ‘In Europe, there is already at least one neo-Fascist regime: Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban has limited the freedom of the press, made a change of judges, and abolished the independence of the Central Bank and ombudsmen. Now the Hungarian Jews live in an atmosphere of fear. Some countries would like to equate communism with fascism.’”

My Comment: It is natural, and Kabbalah predicted this. If we do not move towards correction, we head towards the third world war.
[68780]

Filed under: Crisis, Society, World - No Comments →

Question: People who recently found out about Kabbalah have doubts about whether or not it should be studied methodically. What is the use of regular, systematic study of the science of Kabbalah?

Answer: Throughout history the only people who came to Kabbalah were those who felt a burning worry, a burning desire. A person could not hold himself back. It was important to him to find out what the essence, source, or meaning of life is. And according to this desire, he “ended up” with the science of Kabbalah. And that’s because everything we see in the world is a spiritual force field in which we move. If the spiritual desire awakens in a person, being an aspiration to the Light, to bestowal, to the Creator as the source of Light, then he finds Kabbalah by moving to it naturally, similar to a charge in an electromagnetic field.

This happened in every generation. However, today is a special time when not only individuals, but masses are discovering that our world is empty. They feel this from the suffering and inner emptiness, and then they also ask the question about the meaning of life. However, their question is aimed not so much at the source of life as at the cause of what is happening: Why do they feel bad and where could goodness come from?

This desire is vested into the garments of our world. It does not yearn for ascent or the search for the source of life, its force, its Governor. A person just wants to know how to arrange his life to avoid losing everything. His family is falling apart, his children are strangers to him, he has no job, everything is vanishing into thin air, and who knows what will happen next? This is driving millions and even billions of people to the same Source, although on a lower level of desire.

Therefore, today we accept everyone to the study of Kabbalah. If a person wants to study and find out some things, then let him come and study. At first we present the science of Kabbalah to him in an easy, friendly form and talk about “rights” rather than “responsibilities.” But later a person sees that just like in any other area, here he also has to exert efforts, and he has to do it more and more. In order to acquire something important, one has to work a lot. This is not a secret, but a person first has to see that there is something to gain here.
[68770]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/5/12 on Kabbalah Learning

Related Material:
A Course For The Development Of The Soul
Know The Secret Of Life
So You’ve Come Out To Protest? You Have Mail!

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Kabbalah Study, Q&A, Suffering - No Comments →

Opinion: (Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of RIMCO, a global investment management firm): “The year 2012 is Europe’s moment of truth. If their dithering continues, European politicians will soon lose control of the continent’s economic and financial future. After all the excitement of 2011, it is also a make-or-break year for some Middle Eastern countries in the midst of tricky political transitions. Even the United States is being shaken out of its social slumber as concerns mount about income inequality and, more generally, the fairness of the ‘system.’

“In an attempt to shed light on the key issues in play, what follows is an attempt to identify four factors that could wreck the global economy in the next few years, and four factors that could propel it to greater stability and prosperity. Let’s hope our leaders choose wisely.

“European economic and financial fragmentation: As of today, the biggest risk for the global economy this year is the disorderly collapse of the eurozone. It would bring economic and financial activity to a standstill across the continent, cause widespread corporate bankruptcies and bank runs, and destroy millions of jobs. …A complete eurozone collapse would be both chaotic and an unmitigated disaster.

“Disruptions in the Middle East: The greater the instability in these two countries [Iran and Syria], the higher the risk of regional contamination and, accordingly, worrisome global repercussions. This could include surging oil prices, leading to an ugly global stagflation.

“Central bank exhaustion: Unconventional measures by central banks have, up to now, played a critical role in avoiding debt deflation and economic recessions in advanced economies. In the process, the banks have ballooned their balance sheets to previously unthinkable levels (from 20 percent of GDP for Britain and the United States to 30 percent for the European Central Bank).

“Social unrest: Enabled by social media technologies that facilitate broad-based coordination, the world has witnessed an astonishing outburst of grassroots social movements that are pressing for greater social justice… Having come together on the basis of legitimate grievances, these movements now face the challenge of pivoting from complaints about the past to helping to build a better future. The longer it takes the pivot, the higher the probability of frustration and of the protests turning violent — and governments reacting inappropriately.”

My Comment: Everything is correct except for the reason for the crisis and its only possible resolution that stems from its cause.
[68675]

Related Material:
Bleak Prospects For 2012
The Crisis Calls For Leadership Changes
The Development Of The Global Crisis

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

Complete Transcript of the Introductory Lecture: “The Arvut – Mutual Guarantee”

We are going through some very rough times in the life of our country. The problem is that today people around the world, not just people in our country, do not know how to solve the problems that have risen. But the solution suddenly comes in the form of the people; this happens in different countries, and now we can observe this in Israel.

We do not yet know whether this is an epidemic of some sort or on the contrary, a certain good wave, which will bring the world to order. But people, living in different places around the globe, feel the urge to go outside and express their wishes and hopes.

This happens because for a very long time now, almost sixty years, there has been a tendency around the world, which points to the supposed end of our entire history: The world is becoming submerged in crises, which manifests in every area of people’s lives.

People are no longer able to create a normal family; this leads to the multitude of divorces, children not able to live with their parents, leave their parents’ homes early, and use drugs and alcohol. But the crisis does not only manifest in the family unit, it encompasses society, industry, economy, the education system, culture, and even science. Scientists themselves are stating that science has come to a dead end and cannot develop further. We really seem to have hit a wall.

Over the course of thousands of years, we developed from one generation to another with the assumption that our children will have a better life. We suffered, as it were, for our children in hope they would be happy. Our love for them forced us to develop and work hard sacrificing ourselves. But now none of this exists; today we are no longer convinced that they will have a better life than we did. This is why people no longer want to have and raise children: Who needs it and why? What will this unfortunate child be born for, to see this complicated and meaningless life?

And the understanding of the fact that there is no meaning or purpose to it literally penetrates our brain. We do not see a solution; we cannot find an answer. It is as if mankind were suffocating in their inability to somehow move. And the entire world feels this.

But the main thing is the financial and economic crisis because the common crisis manifests in it. After all, economy connects the entire world into a single net. Industrial, commercial, and interbank relations: These are the imprints of our desires and aspirations. In other words, our relationships are essentially measured with money. What can you do? Such is the world. This is why a crisis in economy is a special sign.

At the same time we reveal that our world has become small. Literally within 24 hours, a person can find himself in the most remote place without feeling much of a difference besides for the mentality of the people, which he can gradually become accustomed to. Things are approximately the same everywhere, everyone is connected with one another; people seem to lose their individuality. Besides the fact that the world has become small, all of its parts ended up being tightly connected with one another. And that led to special results: We saw that we depend on one another. For example, when something happens somewhere in Japan, the entire world suffers. And the same is true of the US, Europe, and any other place.

Everyone mutually affects one another. We cannot even imagine what would happen if the US were to declare fiscal default. And in general, can we even wrap our minds around it? The Common Market could fall apart in Europe, and this would naturally affect the entire world. Briefly speaking, we live in an unpredictable world, and on one hand, this causes pressure in society, but on the other hand, people are becoming indifferent towards whatever is happening, since they are not able to change anything anyway.

This indifference comes from the same connection that exists between all of us, because we all depend a lot on one another. But we did not build these connections; simply, the world has suddenly closed in on us. It was separated into a multitude of pieces, and suddenly it became closed in, suddenly we have become like a unified mankind on the globe, one family, and we depend on one another. This is a very big problem.

Today scientists, who study human nature, political and social scientists, already clearly see that we really exist in mutual total dependence to such an extent that no one can escape it. Scientists already started coming to these conclusions in their studies 50-60 years ago. But only recently every one of us started to actually experience it.

[Read more →]

Filed under: Crisis, Education, Israel, Mutual Guarantee, Mutual Guarantee Movement, Q&A, World - No Comments →

Opinion (Stanley Fischer, Governor of the Bank of Israel): [Dr. Laitman’s comments are in bold.]

“The International Monetary Fund predicts 3.3% growth in the global economy this year, and when I was at the IMF ten years ago we considered 3.5% growth in the global economy as the borderline between normal growth and recession. We are on the brink of a global recession.”

My Comment: We have been talking about the crisis for years; there is nothing new. It speaks only of shortsightedness.

“The big question is whether there will be a recession in Europe or whether we are facing a financial crisis. If there is a financial crisis in Europe, then so many things could happen such as Greece going bankrupt, or actually leaving the euro bloc with other countries following after. It’s hard to know.”

My Comment: The crisis will be financial; so be prepared for the worst because today none of the “decision makers” thinks about the transition towards an integral economy.

“The good part of the story is that they realize that they too don’t know what will happen to them if they keep the current framework. I was certain when I returned from the IMF Annual Meeting that the situation was difficult and bad, and they that didn’t understand what was happening there. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank has taken creative steps to deal with the liquidity and debt problem. There’s an improvement, but there is still uncertainty.”

My Comment: They will do nothing and will be able to do nothing, as has been the case in recent years due to lack of understanding of the trend of human development.

“Yossi Bachar [Israel Discount Bank Chairman] wants to send me messages, and finds it more convenient to use this stage. That’s fine. He wants to tell me that the capital adequacy ratio must not be raised. So I say to him: The Bank of Israel must not avoid raising it. There is the question of the rate of increase; we are aware of the problem, and I’m not fond of the expression ‘choking credit’, because that creates an unpleasant feeling, as though I’m strangling something, and I find that distasteful. We are aware of the problem.”

My Comment: This might be possible for a different small country, but not for Israel because it has the method of correction of the world, and without its interference the world will continue to slide down towards a Nazi regime and a world war.

“I respect Judaism, but this must change, the situation in which the Haredim [ultra-orthodox Jews], the fastest growing section of the population, does not participate in the workforce. Fewer than 40% of them work. This cannot continue, and it must be stopped. If it continues in the long term, it will be very hard for the economy to provide what people expect: life at a respectable standard.”

My Comment: If they enter the market now, you will get another half a million unemployed people, which will cost much more than today. We need to restrict various “political” subsidies instead of inviting them to the labor market.
[68463]

Related Material:
Stanley Fisher: Economic Theories Do Not Help
Joseph Stigliz: The World At The Brink Of A New Chaos
Warning

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Israel, News, World - No Comments →

Question: Many people in Israel support our message, so why doesn’t the whole country hear us?

Answer: The message cannot be heard in a vacuum. There must be “air,” the attention of the hearts, through which the sound waves are transmitted. Otherwise, you’re just silently opening your mouth and no sound comes out. The desire that can pick up your words and carry them to a distance isn’t ready yet. This is the whole problem.

So what can we do so that this desire will appear? We can distribute our materials in the streets and at the events we hold, which is what we do, but this is not enough. It isn’t by chance that Kabbalists kept quiet until our time, until the egoistic desire started taking on the form of the general crisis. It wasn’t even a prohibition, but simply an inability to communicate something to the people.

Even if the wisdom of Kabbalah were opened before them, they wouldn’t have seen anything. Using the example of current events, we have been talking about the problem of unemployment for a long time, but only now it is beginning to emerge. Everything is delayed; we are always ahead of things.

We can only make efforts to do our best in dissemination, making sure that it doesn’t turn into “unripe fruit.” Everything must happen all in its time, so that people will understand our ideas correctly. Otherwise they will have the impression that it is just empty talk.

Therefore we should wait a while. We don’t want them to suffer, of course, but still the serious problems must reach the headlines, so that we can come out with our ideas. People need to hear from us what they are ready to hear.
[68316]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/1/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

Related Material:
Be Relevant
Talk When You Have Something To Say
Just Start

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Israel, Kabbalah Dissemination, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: When we start talking about current global problems during the lesson, many of our friends take it negatively feeling that we are “missing” part of the lesson. I feel that this attitude should be changed. Without current affairs we have no right to exist. If we are not relevant people won’t hear us out.

Answer: This is also true. Baal HaSulam wrote about the Jerusalem Kabbalists who studied Kabbalah like mathematics and didn’t realize that it’s about the connection among us, about how to correct the broken vessel. Today we discover the shattering of the common soul of Adam HaRishon (First Man), and so the wisdom of Kabbalah is revealed to us in order to correct the shattering.

If we don’t examine the current events from this perspective, then why should we study the wisdom of Kabbalah? Clearly we study only for this reason. Missing the lesson means that I come out of the lesson and throughout the whole day I have nothing to hang on to so that my life won’t go by aimlessly. If my wisdom isn’t connected to real “substance,” it disappears. Even if I feel important, that I have acquired something, and that I understand something, it’s only an egoistic filling, nothing more.

Therefore, if someone thinks that we are talking about current problems just to pass the time, then he shouldn’t come here. After all, he is here thanks to the relevance of these current affairs. Only because of this was each of us brought here so that he would contribute to the correction of the world. But if a person sets himself another goal, he can leave. We don’t need him.
[68313]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/1/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

Related Material:
Our Amazing Generation
All In Good Time
The Daily Lesson For The Whole Day

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Kabbalah Study, Q&A, Society - 1 Comment →

In the News: “European Union (EU) leaders have finalized a new fiscal treaty for tighter budgetary discipline and pledged to boost economic growth and youth employment in the eurozone’s latest efforts to combat debt crisis.” (Source: English.xinhuanet.com)

“Without economic growth, the problem of 23 million unemployed in the EU cannot be solved. Therefore, European leaders propose to rely on job creation, especially in the advanced science-intensive industries, energy, digital technology, and e-commerce.” (Source: rosbalt.ru)

My Comment: It is impossible to create more jobs, develop the market, and establish artificial workplaces where they will have to be reduced even more. The new EU program is designed to delay the time.
[68344]

Related Material:
Where Is The Solution To The Unemployment Problem?
How Can We Fix The EU?
Tackling Youth Unemployment?

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