Economy – Page 2 – Mutual Responsibility

October 25, 2012October 24, 2012

Europe’s Nobel Wake-Up Call

The European Union Was Awarded The Nobel Peace Prize For The Work It Has Down In The Last 6o Years, While Its Present And Future Is Very Much In Balance

Ana Palacio, a former Spanish foreign minister and former Senior Vice President of the World Bank writes in her article “Europe’s Nobel Wake-Up Call:”

In a decision criticized and praised in equal measure, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded this year’s Peace Prize to the European Union in recognition of its contributions ‘to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe’ over the past six decades. But, to what extent is Europe preoccupied with ‘perpetual peace’ at the expense of its current, vastly different ailments? Is this award a swan song – confirmation of the moribund state of the European project, as the 2001 Nobel Prize was for the United Nations?”

The Full Potential Of A United Europe Has Not Blossomed Due To Self Interest And Lack Of True Vision

People should consider the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the EU as an award given to the potential of what Europe could become in case of taking on the full measure of the structure that was originally planned.

It is not true that Europeans are rejecting the European Union (as the article suggests). It is the politicians and main interest groups that have abandoned, or decided against full union due to individual or group interests. They are stopping the pursuit of a deeper integration that could have fulfilled the original potential. There are multiple examples in life proving that the simple people on the street are only interested in a secure life, predictable future, fulfilling their necessities according to their desires and following their usual customs. If they receive it from a supra-national governing body instead of a national one they would have no problem with it, as long as they perceive the system fair and democratic.

Unfortunately today, the same politicians and interest groups are swaying the public against this full integration again. In the meantime it becomes increasingly clear that partial unions have absolutely no chance of surviving. Thus, the present “united” economical structure, the single currency or the planned banking union, are just futile attempts. They are so illogical that one has to wonder if those at the top are doing it on purpose to prove that a full union is impossible, that it is better to fully abandon the project, because they themselves are not willing to go for it as it does not serve their own interest.

The Move Toward Full Integration & Mutual Cooperation

After all the past and present failures, and with the very obvious threats of national and international breakups and violent confrontations in case of a collapse, there is clearly no other solution but to move for a full integration, the creation of a single, united socio-economic system all over Europe, which later on can provide an example for humanity.

Instead of pointing fingers in all directions, politicians would become more beneficial to people if they explained, based on countless scientific examples and daily events of the crisis, that today’s globally interconnected and interdependent reality demands an equally connected and cooperative human network in order to survive and build a sustainable future.

This would be the united Europe that should be worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize.

Image: “Occupy Frankfurt” by Wolfgang Sterneck from Flickr

October 24, 2012October 24, 2012

Living As Cancer Does Not Lead To Happiness

As Humanity In General Feels More Depressed, Emptier And More Afraid Of The Future Than Ever, The Search For The Right Definition Of ‘Happiness’ Is On

Robert Skidelsky, Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at Warwick University and a fellow of the British Academy in history and economics writes in his article “Happiness Is Equality“:

…The king of Bhutan wants to make us all happier. Governments, he says, should aim to maximize their people’s Gross National Happiness rather than their Gross National Product. Does this new emphasis on happiness represent a shift or just a passing fad?

It is easy to see why governments should de-emphasize economic growth when it is proving so elusive. The eurozone is not expected to grow at all this year. The British economy is contracting. Greece’s economy has been shrinking for years. Even China is expected to slow down. Why not give up growth and enjoy what we have?

No doubt this mood will pass when growth revives, as it is bound to. Nevertheless, a deeper shift in attitude toward growth has occurred, which is likely to make it a less important lodestar in the future – especially in rich countries…

…More equality would not only produce the contentment that flows from more security and better health, but also the satisfaction that flows from having more leisure, more time with family and friends, more respect from one’s fellows, and more lifestyle choices. Great inequality makes us hungrier for goods than we would otherwise be, by constantly reminding us that we have less than the next person. We live in a pushy society with turbo-charged fathers and “tiger” mothers, constantly goading themselves and their children to “get ahead.”…”

The Greatest Mistake People Make When Assessing Themselves Is Separating Themselves From The Surrounding Natural System, As If Humans Were Above, Separate of The Natural Environment

The situation is more simple than people think.

People tend to forget who they are. Humans are not some special aliens, disconnected from the rest of living creatures or the natural system they live in, but they are part of it.

Humans still belong to the group of mammals, the biological human body does not differ from other sophisticated mammals apart from small differences, the whole body and even the psyche is working based on the same laws and principles.

And what is called “happiness” in biological terms is an overall balance, homeostasis within the actual ecosystem, and in this case this ecosystem exists within a single human being, within human society and between human society and the rest of the vast surrounding natural system.

Happiness, the feeling of balance, the ease people can settle in life depends on how optimally they take part in the system with harmony.

Problems Humanity Experiences Today Stems From The Fact That The Present Human Socio-Economic System Is In Direct Opposition To Nature’s Law Of Balance

The constant quantitative growth lifestyle stubbornly pressed on despite it obviously collapsing is unnatural, it is going completely against the natural laws in the surrounding environment.

At the moment humans behave like cancer within the natural system. With the present system humans harm themselves, we have the human induced disease statistics – depression, divorce, substance abuse statistics and the collapse of basically – all human institutions as proof. Besides humans harm the general human society witnessed through social inequalities, growing national and international tensions, future-less and jobless youth, and humans harm the environment where again the proof is obvious from global warming to countless species extinction, ocean and air pollution, and so on.

Growth In A Closed And Finite, Interconnected System Has To Be Qualitative, Optimizing, Refining The Interconnections Aimed At The Well-Being Of The Whole System

The article claims that “growth is bound to return” but the return of quantitative growth is impossible. The laws surrounding humanity are unbreakable and if the human species is planning to survive with the evolutionary process, humanity has to adapt to the natural system instead of trying to bend it to match its selfish and greedy desires. The growth that is possible from now on is qualitative, like the maturing biological body after growth has finished.

As the whole global human network has evolved into the interconnected and interdependent state, from now on the processes should concentrate on changing our attitudes and relationships according to this interdependence. In other words, how to use interconnections in the most optimal way for the benefit of the whole organism, how to refine the whole system primed for overall harmony and balance.

We do not stand a chance, as the awesome natural forces during natural catastrophes show us we are no match for them: nature around us will not change, only we can.

Equality Within Human Society Has To Be Coupled With An Attitude And Approach That Is Based On The Unbreakable Laws Of The Natural, Living Ecosystem

Returning to the main theme of the quoted article, equality in itself does not lead to happiness. If we are equal in our tendency to exploit everything and everyone for our own favor, that would just lead to further destruction. This attitude led to the global crisis humanity is sinking in at the moment.

Thus social equality has to be coupled with the right attitude, an inclination towards a mutually benevolent relationships among people on a global scale.

Humanity has to climb down from the high pedestal and start researching and understanding the surrounding natural system from a new viewpoint. Not from the point of exploitation – how people can use nature for their own “misunderstood well-being” – but how they can learn nature’s laws so humanity can become a partner in the system, helping in the maintenance of the general balance and homoeostasis, and enjoying unprecedented quality of life through this approach.

Image: “55. cancer-information” by Tips Times from Flickr

October 21, 2012October 21, 2012

What Would A Mutually Responsible Economy Look Like?

i love you and i care for you brother ^_^

I have now reached the point where I may indicate briefly what to me constitutes the essence of the crisis in our time. It concerns the relationship of the individual to society.

The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence.

Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate.

All human beings, whatever their position in society, are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naive, simple and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society.”

– Albert Einstein, 1949

A Mutually Responsible Economy?

In essence, we already know what a mutually responsible economy looks like. It is the economy that exists within the family. In the family, each person operates according to need and merit. There is the mother, father, children, and the extended family. Each operates according to a particular role: The baby, the mother, the father, grandparent, etc.

These roles then are further broken down. The baby is, “helpless,” “precious,” “in need of protection.” The father is perhaps the “bread winner,” the mother, “the caregiver,” etc. To contemplate what form an economy based on mutually responsibility would look like, where each seeks to provide for others, it is probably best to start with something we know.

Obviously, all families don’t act in a mutually responsible way. And an economy based on mutual responsibility doesn’t mean, “Shangri-La.” After all, a family can provide each other with what they need and still have disagreements. But a family that operates cohesively is a family that operates with mutual responsibility, where each contributes to the family and is supported by the family.

According To Need And Merit

The family operates according to need and merit. For instance, everyone in the family needs shelter, food, and socialization. But if the son, 15, goes to the father and says, “Dad, I’m about to turn 16. Will you buy me a car when I get my driver’s license?” then the father has a calculation to make: “Is buying my son a car according to need?” After all, the family has a car, possibly multiple cars. Does the son really need a car?

But then there is merit. The father could see that a car is a status symbol, a rite of passage, etc. and then place a condition: “I will give you a car if you do X and Y.” So the family operates according to need but also according to merit in order to provide each other what is needed.

But how can this example of the family apply towards the creation of an economy that exists in relation to everyone, and not just the family which is naturally tied together, where each member from birth or through desire wants to be together?

The Need For A Mutually Responsible Economy

As the above quote from Einstein says, each person in society is tied to all the others. However, although we are tied to one another, each needing all the others in order to receive his or her needs; we do not view these ties as beneficial. Therefore, our economy is structured around the pursuit of the individual and not the pursuit of society as a whole.

But if each did perform their role, their self-calculating role, where each provided for others only in order to acquire one’s needs—and this worked—who would complain? The problem is that this path no longer produces gain. Today economic hardships are increasing. The economic system we have built, according to personal benefit, no longer operates in a way where each generation can build upon the accomplishments of the last, where equality grows, and inequality fades.

Applying Need And Merit To The Economy

When it comes to need and merit in relation to the general economy (i.e., everyone), it should be becoming increasingly more apparent why such a system should hold great possibility. It has been reported, for instance, that nearly 1/3 of all food produced today is thrown away. In correlation, nearly 600 million die a year due to malnutrition and hunger.

If an economy operated like a family, according to need and merit, then no one would go hungry. After all, each person has the need for food, for shelter, for healthcare, etc. so excess food would be given to those who have the need for it. But then what would happen to such things like competition? Wouldn’t competition shrink to nonexistence if such a system were to be put into place? With mutual responsibility, what is to become of those who are stronger, smarter, perhaps more privileged; are they to simply now receive everything the same as those who are perhaps weaker, lazier, not as smart, etc.?

This is where merit can be applied. However, before merit can be accurately applied, first the need for an integral view, to view the economy, the global economy, as a system, as parts in a chain or cogs in a wheel, is first needed.

The Need For New Education

If everyone in society were taught about their natural reliance upon others, that labor is divided so that goods and services can be made available more easily, that society works best when work is done for the benefit of society, then the idea of mutual responsibility would seem like a natural necessary conclusion. Moreover, the need to develop a mutually responsible global economy would also be apparent given the reliance that each nation has upon all the others or their daily survival.

In regards to equality, need, and merit, a mutually responsible society would treat all members of society equally. For instance, given that each role in society is needed, from janitors to politicians; each role would be treated equally because each role would be seen as pivotal for society’s continued operation.

Equality then could be achieved through merit being applied in a new way. For example, instead of paying certain members of society more for doing more skilled work, social merits could be given instead. After all, the one who does more skilled work than one who does less skilled work still has the same needs and the extra merit that this more detailed work demands could easily come through societal honors, thereby creating economic equality while still providing merit for such work.

Also, in regards to competition, in a mutually responsible economy it would still exist. The form would only change: Instead of competing to profit for oneself, a person would compete in order to best benefit society. Equality then could be achieved rapidly and competition would be a driving force for it and the creation of a continually more cohesive and sustainable society.

Image: “i love you and i care for you brother ^_^” by ๑۩۞۩๑~OTH~๑۩۞۩๑ on Flickr.

October 21, 2012October 21, 2012

Time To Act: Continued Constant Economic Growth Will Lead To Collapse

The earth is full. It’s full of us, full of our stuff, full of our waste, full of our demands; yes, we are a brilliant and creative species, but we’ve created a little too much stuff—so much that our economy is now bigger than it’s host, our planet…”

– Paul Gilding, independent writer and adviser on sustainability.

The above and following quotes are from Gilding’s TED talk on sustainability.

A Familiar Message With Little Regard Given To It

It is nothing new that advocates and scientists are warning that consumption is out of control on our planet. However, little is done to educate us, the various populaces of the planet, that our current levels of consumption are detrimental to the future survival of our species, other species, and the planet as a whole.

As Gilding says,

We’re burning through our capital, or, stealing from the future… what this means is our economy is unsustainable … when things aren’t sustainable they stop.”

In Love With A Crazy Idea

When we think about economic growth stopping we go, ‘that’s not possible,’ because economic growth is so essential to our society that it is really questioned… it is based on a crazy idea, the crazy idea being that we can have infinite growth on a finite planet… I’m here to tell you the Emperor has no clothes, that the crazy idea is just that: It is crazy.”

Gilding states a counter argument:

But we need growth. We need it to solve poverty. We need it to develop technology. We need it to keep social stability.”

His reply:

I find this argument fascinating, as though, we can kind of bend the rules of physics to suit our needs… the earth doesn’t care what we need. Mother nature doesn’t negotiate. She just sets rules and describes consequences and these are not esoteric limits. This is about food and water, soil and climate, the basic practical and economic foundations of our lives.”

The Specifics Of The Growth Crisis

Many of you will be thinking: ‘But surely we can still stop this. If it’s that bad, we’ll react.’ Let’s just think through that idea.

We’ve had 50 years of warnings.

We’ve had science proving the urgency of change.

We’ve had economic analysis pointing out that not only can we afford it, it’s cheaper to act early.

And yet the reality is we’ve done pretty much nothing to change course. We’re not even slowing down.”

We’re not acting. We’re not close to acting. And we’re not going to act until this crisis hits the economy and that’s why the end of growth is the central issue and the event that we need to get ready for.”

Here is Gilding’s full TED talk [17 min.]:

The Lack Of An Integral Perspective

So, when does this transition begin, when does this breakdown begin? In my view it is well underway. I know most people don’t see it that way. We tend to look at the world, not as the integral system that it is, but as a serious of individual issues.

We see mistakenly each of these issues as individual problems to be solved. In fact, it’s a system in the painful process of breaking down.”

Change Takes Everyone Working Together

We are more than capable of getting through everything that’s coming… when we feel fear and we feel loss; we are capable of quite extraordinary things… There’s certainly no economic or technical barrier in the way… the only thing we need to change is how we think and how we feel and this is where you come in… we can be more. We can be much more.

… We can choose this moment of crisis to ask and answer the big questions of society’s evolution. Like, what do we want to be when we grow up when we move past this bumbling adolescence when we think there are no limits and suffer illusions of immortality?

… We can do what we need to do but it will take… every one of us. This could be our finest hour.”

Image: “Built for collapse” by Danny Birchall on Flickr.

October 20, 2012October 19, 2012

Can Africa Continue Booming In A ‘Global Crisis Economy’?

Africa As Other ‘Emerging Markets’ Is Still In An Upward Swing, Especially Compared To The Stagnating Western Economies

An article, “Africa’s Big Boom” on the pages of Project Syndicate discusses the recent positive developments on the “forgotten continent.”

Africa is undergoing a period of unprecedented economic growth. According to The Economist, six of the ten fastest-growing countries in 2011 were in Africa. Average external debt on the continent has fallen from 63% of GDP in 2000 to 22.2% this year, while average inflation now stands at 8%, down from 15% in 2000. This positive trend is likely to persist, given that it is based on structural geographic and demographic factors, such as rising exports, improved trade conditions, and steadily increasing domestic consumption.”

Is Local Development, Continuing Growth & Progress Possible In An Otherwise Struggling Global System?

One of the biggest problems and reasons that no solution has been found for the global economic crisis is that isolated outlooks on all kinds of situations, including the economy of single nations or continents, still prevail. In other words, outlooks that do not take the full, global picture into account.

Thus, there is a lot of talk about “emerging markets,” China and India, and now also Africa, regions and continents that were either suppressed, or were dormant up until recently and that have now started to catch up to the more developed part of the world.

This, however, does not mean that the system being used, which copies the Western model, is a fruitful one. It simply means that they now have a lot of growth potential in relation to where they were before.

Looking at the global picture, however, these regions or continents have no chance of avoiding the problems the Western part of the world is already facing, since the economic paradigm, viewed from a global perspective, is based on a faulty and unsustainable foundation.

So on paper, China is still growing using its previous momentum, India is already slower, and the same goes for South America, and of course from a level at almost zero, Africa too can produce spectacular results until they hit the same wall everybody else is hitting.

The Present Socio-Economic Model Is Unnatural & Unsustainable, Regardless Of Region, Nation, Culture Or Governance Structure

Constant quantitative growth is simply impossible to maintain. It is unsustainable because it does not suit the system humanity exists in today.

Today’s world has reached a certain maturity. It is like a child who completes its “child” stage of development and moves on to becoming an adult. Now, instead of more quantitative development, a different, more mature, more qualitative kind of development has to start.

When a human being completes its growth, it happens gradually, some body parts and limbs still grow for a while, but the body in general stops growing and has to transform to a different kind of function.

This is what is happening to humanity today, it has reached a new stage of growth which requires a different kind of functioning than what the past models offer. Until people start understanding this concept, and in the meantime, continue stubbornly trying to push for further quantitative growth, they appear as if they are promoting cancer. In other words, by isolated parts of the “body of humanity” only focusing on growing themselves and not taking the benefit of the whole of humanity into account, by that they exhibit cancerous qualities that end up endangering other parts of humanity, and ultimately also themselves, as a result.

A Global, Interdependent Network Can Only Function Based On Global And Mutually Responsible Cooperation

At the end of the article, regional integration is suggested as being necessary for the further improvement of the economic situation in Africa:

African governments should pursue intra-regional trade liberalization, institutional integration, and infrastructure development with greater determination than ever. Their commercial enterprises need to progress in these areas in order to develop further and improve living standards for all.”

This regional integration is a positive step, but it is not enough. For development that would truly improve the living standards of all, such integration would need to extend worldwide, crossing all national and continental borders, using the already existing multi-level interconnections in a positive way.

As humanity shifts into a new globally interdependent era, new kinds of leaders and experts are needed, people who take into account the whole integrated system, who understand its laws and principles, and who can provide its citizens with the knowledge and tools to experience this global interdependence in a positive way. While isolated outlooks still prevail over global ones, the only “growth” taking place is the growth of multiple cancers, trying to take in as much as they can for themselves at the expense of the whole body, not understanding that by doing so they cause harm to other nations and ultimately, this harm also returns to themselves.

Image: “Africa in hearts” by futureatlas.com from Flickr

October 19, 2012October 18, 2012

How To Deal With Tax Evasions

Singapore, A Tax Haven, A Refuge For Tax Evaders, Started Taking Steps In Tightening Regulations

The article “Singapore: Full disclosure” in The Economist describes how Singapore is introducing tougher measures trying to combat tax evasion in line with the worsening financial crisis in the Western world.

From July 2013 financial institutions will be legally obliged to alert authorities to any overseas customer who they suspect of bringing in funds to evade taxes at home, just as they are expected to report on other offences. Equally, the authorities have been sending out stern circulars to all the banks warning them to monitor their customers better, follow the existing guidelines more closely and generally get their houses in order.

The flurry of activity is partially a consequence of the debt crisis in Europe and America. Cash-strapped governments have been ramping up tax-collection efforts. Inevitably, attention has therefore turned towards those countries perceived to be offshore havens. Just as Switzerland has become a target for European tax authorities, so has Singapore.”

People Need Either A Negative Or Positive Motivation For Change

The key to solving these problems is motivation.

As long as the solution is forceful, there will always be people who will find another way, tax evasion, offshore accounts, one trick to the next, and there will always be people, organizations and nations helping them since it is in their best interest.

Firstly, today’s global society will have to find a way of educating its citizens, aiming to lead them to the understanding that by cheating, by harming the system, they actually harm themselves.

Today there is enough actual field data and scientific knowledge showing clearly that humanity has become a single, interwoven network, and when someone “bites the network,” causes harm, the same person actually bites into his own flesh.

However, the majority today still only focus on short term self-centered benefits, not understanding that in the view of today’s big picture, the prosperity and health of the individual is fully and directly dependent on the prosperity and health of the whole system.

The Process May Start With Negative Motivations & Restrictions, But For Long Term Sustainable Results, Only Positive Motivation Built On Understanding Can Work

The steps Singapore is making is already a positive example in how a changing environment can lead others to change their practices, since otherwise they could be facing sanctions and exclusions, with the other obvious example being the embargo against Iran. But these are still restrictive, negative motivational tactics. The optimal way would be when the same “rogue” states or individuals change their practices to ones where they understand that it is their best interest to fall in line with others, mutually cooperating with everyone.

Image “Fishing nets” by Jack Newton from Flickr

October 18, 2012October 19, 2012

2 Roads To A Different World

People Are Running Out Of Options How To Save, Maintain The Integrity Of The Eurozone

Ashoka Mody, a visiting Professor of International Economic Affairs at Princeton University writes about the narrowing options for the Eurozone in his article, “The Eurozone’s Narrowing Window.”

Thus, the eurozone faces three choices: even more austerity for the heavily-indebted countries, socialization of the debt across Europe, or a creative re-profiling of debt, with investors forced to accept losses sooner or later.

Austerity alone cannot do it. Some countries face the growing risk of near-perpetual belt-tightening, which would further dampen growth and thus keep debt ratios high…

…More ambitious pan-European efforts are embodied in various Eurobond proposals. These schemes imply socialization of debt – taxpayers elsewhere in Europe would share a country’s debt burden. These proposals, once in great vogue, have receded. Not surprisingly, the political opposition to such debt mutualization was intense.

Given that perpetual austerity is untenable and others in Europe can only do so much, without robust growth the options will narrow quickly. As a result, much now hangs on the ECB’s actions – and how long they will be sufficient to maintain a truce with financial markets…”

It Seems, As It Happened So Far In Human History, Humanity Will Only Make The Necessary Next Step In Development When The Present System Collapses, When The Present State Becomes Intolerable

While based on the article’s argument that the window is narrowing, and that European countries as well as the whole global economy are gradually running out of options, this narrowing and eventually closing window still leads to solution, to the next stage of development.

It seems that all the windows have to close, people have to try and fail in everything they presently know and want to use, before a fundamental change in understanding emerges: that the whole system needs to change at its foundations.

As long as people still seemingly have other options and other solutions, which they think they haven’t tried yet, yet another bailout, yet another kind of austerity, some more “easing” or “injection” they will continue their futile attempts until they become so desperate, falling on their knees, that there will be no other option but to change the only thing that can change: the human being, one’s attitude toward the world, one’s lifestyle, one’s grabbing of everything for oneself, expansively growing where it is impossible to grow, exploiting everything like a cancer until the whole human system and the environment is on the brink of “death.”

This is the story of human evolution, history so far, where for every next step, a leap was made when the present actual state became intolerable. Then came a revolution, a war or some other violent change, pushing humanity to the next level.

So as things stand today people have to wait until the whole system collapses after the futile “stimulus vs. austerity” attempts dry everything out, countries break away from each other or break apart themselves … leading to unpredictable and scary scenarios in a long, crisis filled transitional period. And then a new, better, sustainable system would be built on the ruins of this one.

The Other, More Pleasant Option Would Be The Understanding Of The Root Causes Leading To The Present Crisis, And The Subsequent Adaptation To The New Evolutionary Conditions Around

Of course, there could be another way, if humanity finally started understanding through the daily examples of the crisis and the countless scientific publications coming out each day that humanity evolved into an unprecedented new state, in a global, totally interconnected network with each other, within the closed, finite natural environment, where only a completely new, mutual and equal human socio-economic system, based on necessity and available resources could prosper.

With each day there is less time to choose the better option.

Image: “desperation” by Eleni Papaioannou from Flickr

October 18, 2012October 18, 2012

Trying To Push A Cube Through A Circular Hole

Politicians Are Desperately Helpless In Tackling The Issues Of The Deepening Crisis

Hugo Dixon, the founder and editor of Reuters Breaking Views writes in his article, “Spanish circle getting hard to square“:

The art of politics is about squaring circles. In the euro crisis, this means pushing ahead with painful but necessary reforms while hanging onto power.

In Spain, where I spent part of last week, these circles are getting harder to square. Mariano Rajoy isn’t at any immediate risk of losing power. His 10-month old government has also taken important steps to reform the economy – cleaning up banks, liberalizing the labor market and reining in government spending.

But the recession is deepening, the prime minister is a poor communicator and his political capital has plummeted. Madrid will also find it harder than thought to access help from its euro zone partners…”

Humanity Is Trying To Push On With A Fragmented Worldview In A Rounded World

The example of squaring circles is a fitting one, and it is even more fitting turned around.

The problem with Spain, Europe and in fact with the whole global economy and political leadership is that everybody tries to push a square through circle, or more precisely try to push on, force a polarized, fragmented and isolationist mindset and behavior in a world that has become round, global, that has evolved into a totally interwoven and interdependent network.

All the present tools and even Nobel Prize winning ideas are based on the “old” square reality, and they do not work in the new round, circular reality. Not only are they useless; they are self destructive.

On top of that the main engine, the constant quantitative growth economic model has also become obsolete, exhausted and unsustainable, the fact of which is proven each day by the daily vents of the crisis, and more and more scientific studies.

Fundamentally New Tools & Methods Adapted To The New, Global Interconnected Reality Can Serve As Basis For The Crisis’ Solution

There is a need for fundamentally new political and economic theories and practice, basically there is a need for a total operating software reinstallation, a new socio-economic system adapted to the new “hardware,” the closed and finite and at the same time global, integrated reality humanity today exists in.

Image: “Day 279. Cube on circle” by Alf Storm on Flickr

October 12, 2012October 13, 2012

Globalize Yourself

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp4znWHvsjU

This era of globalization is not characterized by countries globalizing, it is not spearheaded by companies globalizing. Now what is really new, really unique, really exciting and really terrifying, is that this era of globalization is built around individuals. What is new, unique, terrifying and exciting about this era of globalization is the degree to which it empowers and enjoins, the degree to which it enables and requires individuals to globalize themselves and to think of themselves as potential connectors, collaborators and competitors with other individuals anywhere in the world.”

–Thomas Friedman, in the above video, The 3 Eras of Globalization

October 10, 2012October 9, 2012

Understanding Crisis And Today’s Need To Shift To A Global, Interconnected And Integral World

John Dupré, Professor of Philosophy of Science and Director, at the ESRC Center for Genomics in Society, University of Exeter writes the following in Project Syndicate:

…The creationists are right about one thing: contrary to the impression given by much popular writing on the subject, the theory of evolution is in crisis. But this is a positive development, because it reflects the non-linear progress of scientific knowledge, characterized by what Thomas Kuhn described in his influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions as ‘paradigm shifts.’…”

…Beyond undermining the gene-centered theories of evolution that have dominated public consciousness for several decades, these developments call for new philosophical frameworks. Traditional reductionist views of science, with their focus on “bottom-up” mechanisms, do not suffice in the quest to understand top-down and circular causality and a world of nested processes…”

…Evolutionary theory’s current contretemps – and our inability to predict where the field will be in 50 years – are a cause for celebration…”

Crisis = Turning Point, Point Of Decision, Rebirth

Indeed the word “crisis” in its original meaning describes a “turning point”, “point of decision”, or even “rebirth,” thus it does not necessarily mean a negative event as the word is mostly used nowadays.

As the above mentioned article suggests, a crisis opens up new possibilities, clears previous dogmas and prepares paradigm shifts.

Today, humanity is in a global crisis. It is not only evolutionary theory that has reached a turning point, but basically all of the human institutions that looked well grounded, even 10 years ago, are facing crisis situations.

Moreover the developments in quantum physics started challenging even the perception of reality humanity was used to for several thousands of years.

The common feature of all these crisis points and scenarios is that from a previously flat, linear, polarized paradigm, the whole human experience shifts to a round, totally intermingled, matrix-like, integral experience.

What Does It Mean To Live In A Global, Interconnected & Integral World?

Although the expressions “global” and “interconnected” became much more popularized in the media and in scientific and even political publications, the full meaning of these terms is still only superficially grasped by most people.

In an integral system the importance and potential of the individual or even small or larger group of individuals is lost, since an integral system means total interconnections, where each element influences every other element.

From this viewpoint we can examine how those methods and tools that seemed to work in human society and institutions up to this point, developing humanity for centuries through its progress, suddenly turned useless and harmful.

The methods and tools did not change, but the system they are used in and should operate on has changed from linear/angular, fragmented and polarized to spherical/round and interconnected.

Thus, as the above article also suggests, humanity stands not only ahead of new evolutionary theories, but in front of a new stage of evolution due to the changing system and surrounding conditions.

In order to understand life in a global, integral and interdependent reality, humanity itself has to become global and integral and use its interdependence in a positive reinforcing way, balancing out negative traits and tendencies and amplifying the positives.

The developmental tendency in evolution is the birth of more and more complex structures, lifeforms in order to more efficiently cope with environmental influence and increase the chances of survival. Humanity is standing in front of this option now to use the already existing global interconnections and become a mutually cooperating, planning and acting “super-organism,” suitable to build a sustainable future.

Dealing With The Global Conditions: Combining Individual Experiences Into A Single Picture

By combining the individual perception, experience of all human beings into a single picture, puzzle can humanity put together the “true reality” and finally step out of the uncertainty, this “Russian roulette” that has been played for thousands of years.

The original quoted article states: “In fact, disagreement – and the deeper insights that result from it – enables new approaches to scientific understanding. For science, unlike for dogmatic belief systems, disagreement is to be encouraged…” Indeed the individual opinion, unique viewpoint is not lost in the new human system but it is combined into a multi colored mosaic, where if applied to a common goal, common point of agreement, it can give the right, true solution for any problem. It is like a round table discussion in between very different people with opposing opinions, but if they find a common point in between them “in the center” through a skillful moderator, through that common point they can channel their individual opinions contributing to a much more intensive and proper solution.

The advantage and superiority of humans above other lifeforms is the capability to make this evolutionary jump in a conscious, freely chosen and executed manner, and not by the negative pressure and subsequent suffering from the surrounding natural environment demanding this change based on unbreakable natural laws.