making space

From Being in Awareness on crystallotus.com:

The change that we are experiencing now is different from what has happened before. We are shifting into another dimension, from a Matrix of duality and polarity to one of expansion and oneness. We are moving from a reality based on fear and scarcity to a reality based on love and abundance. The New Energy is not simply an improvement of the Old Energy. We can’t just take the old systems and tweak them. Instead, the old paradigm and the institutions that are based on that have to be dissolved. Then we have space to create the new paradigm based on love.

the problem with capitalism

I have just been listening to a very good talk by Peter Schiff where he concludes by saying that the dollar will soon collapse in value, and then it will be the Chinese who are buying cars, and the Americans who are riding bicycles!

I have been guilty before of blaming the current financial and economic meltdowns on the actions and excesses of capitalism, but really this is not an accurate picture. True free-market capitalism would not have created the current mess - it is the result, not of free markets, but of interference in those markets. The housing bubble was created by artificial lowering of interest rates in the wake of the dot com bubble burst, and was also encouraged by tax policies that favor buying against renting. In the US, things were made far worse by the government guaranteeing mortgages, first implicitly, and now explicitly, through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And the results of the bursting housing bubble are now being expanded and exacerbated enormously by giant government bailouts. Such market manipulations are entirely against the spirit of free market capitalism. Unfettered free market capitalism would have allowed the bankrupt institutions to fail, driving the bad debts out of the system. Those who had made bad decisions would have suffered the consequences of their own actions. In fact, if interest rates had been set by free market forces, there would not have been such a giant asset bubble in the first place.

However, capitalism is old paradigm, being based on competition, power, and rigid hierarchical structures of command. In a capitalist system the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The vices of greed, selfishness, and lust for material possessions, produce an advantage in capitalism - in general terms, the more voracious you are, then the more rich and powerful you will become. The greedy take control of everything, and most people become pawns in their power games.

What we are witnessing now with the US is the end game of capitalism - the decadent phase, whereby the US (and the west in general) have become like very spoilt children, accustomed to indulging every perverse whim, and growing fat and inert and inept on the backs of Chinese and Indian workers. The developing world toils and sweats, and the developed world consumes the spoils. We are now too fat and lazy to do anything much ourselves, other than play increasingly twisted tricks on our eastern worker slaves, as we persuade them to lend us all their money so we can keep buying their goods. We have no means to pay back these loans, and finally the Chinese are starting to realise this - in future they will sell their goods to their own people, and in so doing they will progress from being our slaves to enjoying the fruits of capitalism for themselves. In theory. In practice, there is unlikely to be a functional capitalist system remaining after it hits the concrete wall of global financial collapse, and even if there is, it will then run immediately aground in the sand trap of scarce resources.

The end result of world-wide capitalism, if it were allowed to reign unfettered by governments, would still be the raping of planet earth - the destruction of the forests, the killing of the soil, the poisoning of the oceans, the depletion of mineral resources, the cheapening of culture, and the subjugation of spirituality by material values.

The problem with capitalism is not the freedom or otherwise of the markets, but rather it is a problem equally inherent in communism and socialism - the lack of virtue in humanity itself. It is corruption, now more endemic than ever in the human race, that dooms us to suffering and self imposed misery. If we all looked out for each other, instead of looking out for ourselves, and if we all understood that, as spiritual beings, we are all one, then we would all understand the value of virtue. If I hurt my fellow man in order to help myself, then in fact I hurt myself also. If we, as a race, are not honest and caring and loving and giving, then we suffer, and we destroy, ultimately, everything we touch. This is the big lesson for us in the current destruction of our old "civilization". We have brought it on ourselves through false values. We have been like a plague of locusts, intent only on feeding ourselves right now, at the expense of having any food left for tomorrow.

I have said before that capitalism has eaten itself. And I will say it again in future, I am sure. But it is not actually capitalism that has done the eating. We did the eating ourselves, and it is our lack of humanity which has led us to embrace such a system. We lost sight of what we are - divine beings incarnated in human bodies, playing games in paradise, at one with the loving embrace of mother nature - and instead we have come to define ourselves in terms of physical appearances and material possessions, driven by fear and selfishness, greed and lust, and desperate to "get ahead" of our neighbors.

We should not blame capitalism, and we should not blame our governments, and we should not blame our neighbors, or our fellow citizens in other countries. Instead, we should take full responsibility ourselves, each and every one of us, for the hell that we have created from the paradise that we were given. We have destroyed our garden, and we must rebuild it according to a better methodology, or else we perish.

seeing through the dust

As the incompetent and corrupt governments of the US and the UK (and the many other nations who follow their appalling example), systematically destroy our economies and political systems by tipping shed-loads of new and unserviceable debt into the cratered wreckage of the biggest bad debt bubble in history, we beleaguered citizens can only watch on in disbelief and dismay.

We are just at the beginning of the housing collapse, and already we are entering full scale economic depression. Commercial property will collapse in similar spectacular style, as credit card debts turn rotten on an unprecedented scale. The stockmarkets are already heading downhill like racing toboggans. Credit crunch? We ain't seen nothin' yet. Already we are hearing estimates that our apparent economic wealth has almost halved in this debacle so for.. and we are only at the beginning of this destruction of imaginary wealth!

The banking system is already beyond rescue, as zombie banks hide behind the imaginary asset valuations on their balance sheets, and grasp wildly at whatever welfare bailouts they can scare and scam from the zombie politicians.

So, we have financial systems dominated by zombie banks, and political systems dominated by zombie politicians, and their corrupt puppeteers. Our economic systems have advanced and terminal debt cancer. Our culture is rotten to the core, to the extent that vices have long been considered virtues, and virtues are derided as only fit for "suckers". Nobody can trust anyone else, and the last remnants of confidence are rapidly dispersing in the smog.

But hang on folks, there is a consensus that we will pull out of this "downturn" next year, and even sooner if the doom mongers are properly muzzled - it is only negative thinking and irrational fear that has gotten us into this mess.. right? Wrong, of course. The statistics and mathematics say clearly and emphatically that this paradigm is now plummeting headlong into an abyss. Psychics say likewise - those of us who listen to our intuition know that the old ways are finished, and we no longer even have to trust our intuition, as the physical evidence of terminal collapse abounds for anyone who is willing to see it.

Even if it were possible financially and economically to resume our old way of life, the oil would still run out, and climate change would still drown or starve most of us. The land and the oceans that we continually rape and poison would still poison us back through the food chain. And the people would continue to become ever more miserable and disconnected from nature, as they fiddle with their smart phones and pop their anti-depressants.

We are encouraged by our leaders and our TV pundits, to remain in a state of denial, and most people do cling on stubbornly to this - reality is too scary, compared to the sugary valium world of role model celebrities, where we take our advice from the advertisers. But no matter how firmly or persistently the heads of the multitude remain stuck in the sand, the days of the old ways are numbered, and the numbers are rapidly approaching zero. It really does look like the old paradigm is going to go out with a bang and not just with a whimper.

For those of us brave enough to look beyond the impending carnage, what do we see, through the dust of the wreckage? The new paradigm is not about growth, it is about sustainability. It is not about large scale formal systems of government, economy, and control of the people, but about local community and the willing collaboration of liberated individuals. The new paradigm is holistic - it is not about separation, selfishness, or conflict. It is about communion not competition. It is about living in harmony with nature, and not about abusing our fellow creatures and life forms: it is about a symbiotic relationship with Mother Earth, and not a parasitical one. It is about love and not fear. It is about intuition and not rationality. It is about achieving balance between the material and the spiritual, balance between earth and heaven: it is about becoming our true selves. The new paradigm is a higher level of existence for humanity.

The many that remain unable to see or understand this new paradigm will perish with the old paradigm. This may seem harsh but it is nature's way. Whenever a species expands to the point of suffocating its environment, nature will engineer a cull of the weak. To survive into the new world we must become open to our intuition, able to listen to our inner selves, and we will then be guided to safety, and ultimately to a new prosperity where wealth means contentment rather than possession.

The crossover from the old to the new - the confluence that we are now in - is a scary place of rapid and immense change. When the going gets tough the tough get going. In the new paradigm, non-attachment is the new toughness. This is no place for fear. We must fill ourselves with inner light and the strength that comes from understanding our true nature: we are immortal spiritual beings who simply play out dramatic roles in these crude bodies of skin and bone. We must be compassionate to those who will perish, without allowing ourselves to be pulled into their world view. We must have strong wills, and with focused determination must set about creating a new way of living with and on planet Earth that is fit for our children and their children. And we must do this even as the old ways die a horrible death in front of our eyes.

It will be tough, but it will also be wonderous.

time for a reboot

I have just read an excellent article by John Schettler at article by John Schettler called "Blue Screen of Death" in which he describes the unfolding of our current economic woes, with bankers getting fatter and fatter as they bleed us all dry. He proposes only one solution: "a complete shutdown and reboot of the system."

My favorite quote was president Wilson's lament on his creation of the Federal Reserve:

I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. No longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.

There we have in a nutshell, the essence of the old paradigm system: a small and secretive elite sitting at the top of a pyramid of power and controlling everything beneath them. Our governments are at the mercy of secretive and unelected power mongers, so we should not be surprised when these same governments repeatedly perform acts which make no sense to us. They are just following orders, and they are sworn to secrecy.

Yes - it is time to reboot this system. If we don't do it, then it is crashing quickly under its own momentum towards a shutdown that could be terminal. We need a reboot now, before any more damage is done: the sooner the misery of this old system is over, the better for all of humanity. The elite of power mongers have already hoovered up almost all of the wealth, leaving nothing much for the rest of us but debt and a planet that has been raped bare. The monster system they created is now consuming itself. We should now be celebrating the spectacular demise of the old paradigm, and looking forward with optimism to a fresh new start.

on gold, guns, and gardens

There are many people out there now investing their savings in gold, and buying guns and ammunition, and stockpiling food, in preparation for the coming breakdown of "civilization" as we know it.. Somebody commented recently on another blog (sorry - I failed to bookmark it and can't find it now) that out of investing in gold, guns, and gardens, only the gardens make sense. I agree with this.

Greed breeds greed, and violence breeds violence. The breakdown of the economic and political systems will free us from political and economic servitude, and will give us a chance to reinvent our way of life in a higher mold. This means becoming re-attuned to nature, and to the spirituality inherent in each and every one of us: the being - the spark of life - inside the human body.

This is the new paradigm - the universal tide is rising towards enlightenment, and it wants to take us with it - either we go with willing determination, or we drown.

Those who cling to old paradigm ways - the selfish pursuit of money or wealth or power, greed, corruption, violence, a fear-based approach to life - they will drown in a hell of their own making.

Those who focus on virtue and love and benevolence, the qualities of divinity - those who find their inner strength and proceed to use it for the benefit of all - they will rise with the tide, and will find themselves cast onto new shores, where many things will become possible. The meek shall inherit the earth.

Either we stay in the darkness, or we move towards the light. Gold and guns are part of the dark old paradigm ways of existence. Yes, if I create a garden that grows food for my family, then others who are hungry and angry may take it by force and steal all the food. I can either live in fear of that, and get a gun to defend my garden, or I can trust in karmic law, and peacefully tend my garden while sharing its' produce with my neighbors. I choose the latter defense - the defense of "do unto others as you wish others to do unto you". Fear attracts the very actions we fear - darkness attracts darkness - while peaceful inner strength creates a canopy of protection - light attracts light. Darkness flees from light. This new paradigm approach recognizes that at the spiritual level - the level of "being" - we are all one. If I hurt you then I hurt myself. If I share with you, and embrace you, and love you, then I will be loved in return, and will receive the embraces and gifts of others.

There is nothing the dark old paradigm forces can do when faced with light. The old paradigm is based on fear and manipulation. Where there is fearlessness and determined independence, the old ways break down - the destructive forces destroy only themselves.

So, violence committed against us, or threatened against us, does not justify the use of violence, or the threat of violence, by us. We should never resort to violence, and we should always stand up to it, fearlessly. Gandhi understood this, and lived his life by principles of non-violence: "There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for."

It is, of course, not likely that the average man in the street will suddenly understand and adopt such principles - many people will react in a more primal way, and out of fear and desperation will create an ugly, bloody, mess. In the short term. The final death throes of the old paradigm will not be pretty.

But we should not succumb to that fear ourselves, or we will be consumed by it too.

Those of us who have higher principles must live by them, and trust in our karma, fate, God, or whatever we believe in. The worst that can happen is we die in the carnage, at which point it is worth asking if life is worthwhile in a deteriorating "mad Max" environment. I believe in reincarnation, which makes death easy to face, and I believe in karmic law, which makes principles very important indeed. We can escape our bodies, but we cannot escape the consequences of our actions.

Our gardens will feed us, and nourish our souls. The hoards of gold and guns, on the other hand, will attract greed and violence and misery. You cannot eat your gold or your gun, and once you have shot the gardener, you will soon starve. Even if the gardener dies, he or she will die happy and fulfilled. The miser and the gunman will live and die in fear and misery.

We are entering times that will test our beliefs and our inner strength to the utmost. I believe that those of us who clearly see the writing on the wall for this "civilization", still have time to find ourselves a good environment to sit out the impending systemic breakdown, and time to prepare ourselves psychologically and spiritually for what we are about to face. But time is running out. We must reach out to each other and prepare for a better way of life.

full steam ahead

People who are paying attention are seeing our governments deliberately wrecking our "civilization" through rewarding greed, corruption, deceit, and ineptitude, while penalizing those citizens who have been responsible and prudent. We are watching our "leaders" print shed-loads of money and hand it all to their rich and incompetent banker and business cronies, so they can continue to eat caviar and drink champagne aboard their yachts. Many are asking "How long are we going to let the government play this game?".



Well, I don't think there is anything we can do. We are on board the Titanic. It is heading straight for the iceberg, The captain is holding his course, and setting full steam ahead. His crew are organized to prevent us storming the bridge. They are handing out some lifeboats, but only the rich are allowed on board. The rest of us should focus on getting ready to leave our bodies and prepare for the next life, which, our karma should ensure, will be better.

This is a metaphor - I am not saying we are all going to die imminently, but our way of life is about to end, and we should focus on that.

Getting involved in our local communities still makes sense - we can change things at the local level - indeed we have to - but at the national and global levels, forget it - the whole rotten carcass is beyond repair. Let it rot.

less is more

Here is a quote from Dr. Leonid Sharashkin, taken from a post on the cluborlov blog about Russian local food growing:

In 2003, 34.8 million families (66% of all households in the country) owned gardening plots (subsidiary plot, allotment, garden, or dacha) and were involved in growing crops for subsistence. By 2005, 53% (by value) of the country’s total agricultural output was coming from household plots (which in 2006 occupied only 2.9% of agricultural land), while the remaining 47% came from the agricultural enterprises and individual farmers, requiring 97.1% of agricultural lands.

So, Russian agri-business uses 97% of the land, to produce 47% of the food, while individuals squeeze out 53% of the food from 3% of the land! Even allowing for the known gross inefficiencies and failures of Russian agri-business, this is a staggering and encouraging statistic, indicating the potential on our doorsteps, currently in the shape of pointless and largely unused ornamental garden space. The Russians are showing us how "little people" can do an incomparably better job than the "professionals".

Why has this happened in Russia? Because they have already suffered and survived political and economic meltdown, and without growing their own food most people would have starved to death.

In the west the writing is very clear on the wall: financial meltdown and impending economic and political meltdown. Very simply, if we don't start growing our own food, we too will starve. The Russians had decades of early warning as their economy slowly failed - they had time to adapt and organize themselves into a high degree of self-sufficiency, before the complete meltdown came. Here, now, in the west, the meltdown is bigger, nastier, and coming much more quickly.

So we had better get those gardening gloves on, and get planting.