Archive for August, 2011

A change or a catastrophe is gonna come

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Unceasing growth must end as it will lead us all into misery. The economic theories of today are based upon various forms of growth, all exponential. The dogma is that it is necessary to have growth, unstoppable  perpetual growth. We have obviously stopped thinking about what this is and what it means. It is also important to note that the political-economic system is in trouble with more or less continous crises.

Our economic system is based upon globally roaming investors putting money into mostly large scale industries and agriculture for profit. If profit falls in one place move your money to another place. Leave everything behind when you leave, just find new ventures.

There are many theories of growth, all based on dynamic, innovative thinking, new technology and about how to increase rates of return. The real need for what is produced is only of minor interest. We have all become used to this model – this is how we run the world.

Many growth theories have been put forward. Arab, classical, neo-classical, endogenous, unified, even the Big Push. Mathematical models have also been tried with no great results.

Economic growth is usually measured in terms of a percentage change of GDP or GNP. It is also adjusted for price levels and inflation. Complexity is made enourmous by economists, and economic growth is a powerful factor that can change economies in all sorts of ways.

The real intention of production  - having enough of what you need – is not good enough, so we must expand into luxuries, put money aside for power games like war, projects.

This kind of exponential growth in ever expanding economies leads to trouble and new thinking is needed.

In a good future world population growth can not be exponential, and production systems for a stable population need not be exponential either. It should be sustainable and permanently so. Facing this challenge seems to lie far into the future, but it should not be so. This is not a global question, it is about how we run our economies where we are – it is about shared responsibility. We need to start facing this challenge now. This is a challenge we do not seem to understand at the moment.

It is about a fair world: how to produce sustainably, and permanently so, in order to provide enough for everybody in the world. The obvious solution has to do with a return to small scale production, removal of the greedy profit motive, distributed ownership, higher numbers of people being involved, reduction of investor influence, local solutions with local control in all economic matters.

Must we go through a catastrophe to change things or can we sensibly and reasonably develop a good future way for all? So far development factors have been profit, power, concentration and exclusion of others, globalism and exponential growth which clearly is not sustainable and unfair too.

The way ahead may mean less of many things for the few, and many more things for all. The powers for fair change must grow or the system is going to break down. It is easy to see which way we are heading now – it is not going to be pretty. There will be pain and anger if we do not change our ways. It is perhaps not possible to change a development direction that has been under way for hundreds of years?

Being capable of such grand thinking – a good world for all – that is the challenge.

Evolution goes on

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Darwin did not conclude, he merely pointed the way. The science of evolution is progressing nicely and genes and epigenes, memes and other factors are weighing in.

So what are the ordinary language we can use to explain it all, how can we make ordinary people understand the action.

We now see a development of our thinking, the evolution of what is knowledge. Scepticism is the start, then we have forward thinking, development of ideas and building of knowledge. We need critical thinking as part of our culture so that the world can move forward.

The book The selfish gene was published in 1976 and still stands. Organisms are the recipients of memes that control the development of organisms, that may modify the the DNA, the genes. Some genes are used, others are not, and genes are subtle. We need more of this kind of writing. Sadly scientists are no longer popularisers?

The central dogma is that genes, the DNA, are the main driver of development. We are servants of controlling mechanisms known as the genes.

The rise of epigenetics have made this picture more complete. Development is about the meeting of hereditary factors and environmental factors, and what happens when these meet.

Genes will respond to what happens, what we do, think, eat, learning and so on. They are activated in a process called methylation.

The term epigenetics is used to describe what happens when cells differentiate from their initial state in embryo. Epigenetics is about factors other than DNA that influence how an organism develops. This has led to a debate about what factors really matter in the development of man. Genes seem to be turned on and off, we are in a new field of thought.

We do not know what happens all the time, you may be surprised. Genes are somewhat flexible, they adapt to the environment.

Now we need to know better what this is all about.

The concept of the meme was introduced as a cultural parallell to the genes, it is widely criticized and not fully accepted. The idea is that a meme is a cultural concept that spreads to many people and may influence their genes and consequently their development. The memes may become replicas and are standardized. This is thought to happen to many things we say, do, think, eat. So do these memes, like religion, become part of our genes or decide what genes are activated. We may therefore be a product of our genes as well as the memes that are found in the environment. The memes become hardwired like our genes. Roll out the new fables, please! Let nobody stop you!

The debate is sometimes very funny as people insist they can see these developments taking place – evolution right under your nose? Instant evolution? The people coming after us will see the truth – our present thinking will surely be renewed and improved upon.

See, we are not there yet, but knowledge increases, we know more all the time. Darvin was not right, but he pointed us in the right direction. So we move ahead, and new thinking is coming up. Make sure we facilitate that.

We must save ourselves from an economic system that will destroy us

Saturday, August 20th, 2011

Recession is looming – say the media. Where do they get their information and how can they be so sure, or is it just  guesswork or preconceived notions…..

Companies are reporting fair results, even very good, as the quarters roll by. Their cash piles are growing bigger and bigger. At the same time the rate of unemployment in many countries is alarmingly high.

The economies of a number of countries are in crisis as the ability to handle debt is no longer there, budgets are severely unbalanced.

The central bankers are using their tools which are interest rate setting, keeping rates near zero, buying bad bonds. This is clearly not enough.

The budget deficits will not go away by themselves, and action is required. The politicians are scared stiff of what they must do, as reelections become unsure.

And the stockmarket is jumping about, going here or there for many reasons, all of which are founded on uncertainty and fear. Bondmarket yields are going down.

So companies are not doing so bad, but finance and money are going bust as there is too much debt, too little liquidity. Where have all the money gone ? Surely they are somewhere? We now see a system gone awry.

So we must have more investment, central banks must buy bonds with freshly printed money.

But the money are not staying where they are most needed, they move in search of profit, across borders, speculation is rife, weaknesses are there to be made money from. Capital movements are not controlled by politicians, the investors have the money and their search for profit is unceasing. The capital movements of investors may be bigger  than what politicians can find for their purposes.

So a huge agenda is coming up in order to solve this as we need taxes up or down, sufficient social benefits, budget balancing, voters attention, investor happiness, new financial and monetary mechanisms and all of this must be coordinated.

It is simple really. Just establish programs to stabilize debt and make state finances robust, then keep economic activity up and going by investing in the private sector, and establish mechanisms/loans to reduce short term insecurity and imbalances. Easy, is it not?

This agenda is obviously too big as the solution is supposed to be provided by a few nations or perhaps many nations fixing other people´s problems. A single nation can no longer fix its own problem as all is intertwined.

So the good solution will not be found, and we lumber on.

The only real solution is to let the defaults begin, we must have the crashes so that strict and proper practices can be developed. Those who have done wrong must suffer now, and leave the rest out of it. The lending without risk must stop, the borrowing without limits must stop. We must build accountability, responsibility regimes in all places so that trouble can be pinpointed and solved where it is found.

We are uncomfortably close to a one world economic system, a global system where all is connected and which surely is too dangerous to have. A global solution should never come because that will fry us all in the end. The investors can save us as they have the money but the strings attached are heavy, so we must not let them do it. What country wants be the first colony of a new world government? Let us all think and act like the Icelanders!

A good future requires that we start all over  and that is a mighty task.

The future of ownership – and our future

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

We are moving in the wrong direction, and it is serious – we will all soon be disowned, maybe own a few small things, but nothing substantial.

Everything is increasingly being owned by others, the select few – we have maybe a situation where 10% of the people own 90% of all values, and we are approaching a 1% and 99% situation.

You are not scared, you do not feel the heat? Maybe not, but your children will, and it will not make them happy.

The states, the big companies, the big banks, the financiers will soon own all there is – the property, money, resources. Several banks have looked into this – the numbers are not fully precise – but it seems that at present 1-2% of the people own 80-90% of everything.

This means that 98-99% of us have to make do with 10-20 % of everything. The owners will also decide how things are going to be done – large scale, efficient, dehumanized, no room for the little and independent ones, you will be kept out. You will have a nice place to live, a cottage maybe, cars, boats, many small things, enough money to do many things and that will be all. Your economic power will be near zero, politics will be an illusion. You must work all the time, to get by and earn a state pension for your old age.

How has this come about? What have we and our politicians done or not done to let this happen? Are the continuous financial crises we are having part of  this process? When we lose somebody stands to gain?

The effect of this fantastic concentration of wealth is that soon we are all wage earners or living off the state owning precious little, with no economic clout, no choices, no alternatives. We become vulnerable and wholly dependent upon others. The owners of everything will rule us.

The changes that must come are obvious – we must take back what is ours or democracy will just be a past notion.

The forces unknown, the knowledge lacking

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

The US has been downgraded – President Obama has been hurt. The economics of the world is in turmoil. And the hedge funds are making money out of this? Have we gone soft in our heads and lost our determination?

The information we get through the media about what is going on is severely lacking in both principles and practicalities. The news about the downgrading were stalled for many hours because there were processes going on. A publishing prohibition was put out. Now who can do that, and why should the media obey?

There is no longer any analysis to be found anywhere. The public, the voters have not a clue about what happens or why it happens. There are obviously forces at work that not able or willing to tell the story – so we are left helpless. The processes of international politics are in bad shape.

From stories in the press – they also seem to be guesswork only and from hidden places – we can ask many questions.

  • Why must everybody be dependent upon everybody else? Are there no firewalls, no safe sections? When it goes, everything will go? This is truly irresponsible economic management!
  • Is there really only one economic/financial system and that is controlled by crisis makers, gamblers, speculators?
  • Have the politicians – including the president of the US – and regulators of the world been sidelined?
  • Do we understand what rule IFRS9 about mark-to-market accounting of sovereign debt in European banks’ balance sheets means? It is about reserves, short term thinking versus long term thinking. Who does the thinking and practising here? It seems the people in charge do not understand the technicalities fully?
  • Bank stress tests that have been published show exposure of individual banks and that makes it possible for speculators to start runs. Are the hedge funds doing this, making money and damaging the rest of us? When politicians and regulators make a mistake somebody should profit from it – massively – and the rest of us are left to suffer?
  • How big are these hedge funds and other speculators – massive? Can they damage nations, currencies? Is Soros a saint or a crook?
  • Who is in charge of the regulators requiring extreme changes in the quality of bank reserves in the middle of a crisis?
  • Is raiding by speculators an acceptable practice in our economic system? High frequency raiding – maybe daily raiding? What and who will be attacked today?
  • How can the US be downgraded by S&P? The US is not a company, it will not default, it can increase taxes, it can print money. What game is being played here.
  • Who is Deven Sharma, S&P and of Bilderberg fame? Is he acting upon somebody’s orders? (Now the scams and hoaxes industry will gear up – is the big agenda behind it all showing itself?)

The picture now is one of confusion – the wise people are not able to make themselves heard. The regulators are seemingly not cooperating internationally, the politicians are in deep waters, their inability is obvious, the way we run things must be considered afresh.

The outcome of this is uncertain – long term stability is wanting. But the wild and greedy forces have to be tamed – ASAP.

Hypnosis – you can do it yourself

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Through hypnosis you can induce hypnotic trance in your mind, and we can all do it ourselves. We then have self-hypnosis which is a personal tool whereby you can enter into and come back from hypnotic trance. You can use it as it suits you, and mostly people use it for self-development and stress-control.

Self-hypnosis makes it possible to re-program or change the unconscious. This way you can better control your life – make yourself independent and have better control over where your mind takes you.

Your unconscious mind supports your beliefs and functions:

  • remembrance
  • control of your non-willed functions like breath, blood circulation, the metabolism, removal of unwanted substances…
  • controls your creativity, fantasies
  • is the source of our feelings
  • controls your habits of thinking, activity
  • energizes us, drives us towards our goals – if we have them

Personality says how you behave, who you are, your traits, behaviour , thoughts, feelings. You can improve mastery of your world by accepting who you are, know and control your feelings, defend yourself against adverse reactions -inner and outer.

Through better personal insight you can

  • increase your own worth
  • gain insight into what you really master
  • use the self-hypnosis tool to lead you towards your goals
  • be a winner in your own eyes

Changes need visions, development is a process – know what you have done, what have you not achieved.

The trance induced by self-hypnosis varies, and you are often just relaxed, you can control it completely yourself. You use a procedure taking you into and out of trance. During trance your mind see no restrictions, you can think , dream, remember, create as you unconscious wants to.

So the procedure is:

  • sit or lie comfortably
  • decide when to wake up
  • decide on the themes for self suggestion
  • enter the trance, use the self-hypnosis method of your choice
  • the awakening

If you achieve only a superficial trance you can use depth enhancing methods.

For many people this is a mystic rite. The way to go is to read up on it, test it and see for yourself. Meditation and self-hypnosis are methods that many people should try.

When we are many who have practised self-hypnosis we will know more. And you will have a better life, and the world will perhaps be a better place.

Painters making impressions

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Two great painters are dead – Lucian Freud and  Cy Twombly.

Lucian Freud was 88 years old, drawing a lot of attention in his lifetime. Many people objected to his style that was stark, direct, some say twisted, he insisted that he painted what he saw. He obviously accented points of his preference. Many call his paintings grotesque. He presented mostly humans, but also animals and landscapes.

He was active for most of the 20th. century, he was a grandchild of Sigmund Freud. He got very close to depicting humans near their essence, near their soul. A Lucian Freud painting is recognisable in its form and style, choice of colors. He is said to have 40 children. His  life and paintings came very close to each other, he came close to life itself.

Cy Twombly is dead, 83 years old, also world renowned, but completely different. He was mostly abstract, often colorful, sparse, creative, there were often words in there as well. He scribbled, he turned to myths and classical stories.

His paintings were creative and raw, sculptures in the classical form, intentions of landscapes. Edwin Parker became Cy and was hugely influential – and highly prized.

Go have a look at their paintings – you will be well rewarded – art at the breaking edge – important artists both. They both touched our inner mind.

There is nothing to do here?

Monday, August 8th, 2011

The message about the industrialised future is crystal clear: there will be fewer and fewer jobs.

Industrialised production including industrialised agriculture is taking over everywhere – the growth, the yields are going ever higher, profits are doing well. We will not need more workers – the answer is less. Go home or to a city as we do not need you.

Much focus has been on jobs in agriculture, retail, the media, but it is the same everywhere – people are becoming a drag. Now the banks are cutting – relieving 10% of their employees.

Are we really thinking about what is going on here: large scale industrialised production being the norm everywhere? The consequences? What is more important – output or people? Who is going to buy the superoutput? Why do we make it? Can we fix the lack of jobs by being more entrepreneurial and more innovative – increase the speed of development? Do we need more output? Move capital from weakening economies – p.t. the West – to areas of higher growth – p.t. Asia, after that move on again?

We must rethink society and our economic system: People being left out in a world of ever growing production capacity is not the way forward.

There is also crisis after crisis, system breakdowns, and at the same time there is great technical progress everywhere.

The costs of this system are becoming increasingly visible: Large scale industrial and agricultural activity is not sustainable, it leads to enormous efficiencies of the wrong kind, huge concentrations of power and reduction of humans to mere operators with a grim future.

So we must change our ways: our methods are wrong, our calculations are wrong, the resulting concentrations and degradations are not what we want.

The farming must change, industry must change, what we use technology for must change, decentralisation must come, ecological principles must become the norm, ownership must be broadened and become common, production must primarily be suited to local communities –  i.e. small scale -, global transportation must be reduced to a minimum, the financial and banking systems should be totally changed.

The focus of what we do should be changed from ever increasing materialism to balanced deep ecology: The aim is small scale, local, human, fair, for all to take part – we are not the servants of some large scale operation – we have values, we are creative, we will not serve others, equality is the norm.

Economics is the sum of what we all do, it is not an abstraction for the politicians filled with incomprehensible numbers and unsure relationships. The economics should make sure that all people have a proper living standard, that nobody is left out. Every local society should be independent, organic, decentralised, empowered to solve it own matters. The degree of self-governance should be increased substantially.

The industrialized society must be built down, the huge inhuman large scale systems of finance, industry, agriculture, distribution must be done away with. Globalisation where big companies can rule the world must be ended. Globalisation should be known as the common heritage of principles of ecology and our common knowledge in all areas that is made available for all.

The world must be made manageable, megasystems are not.

The future is a renaissance of organics, small scale industry, conscious urbanisation, new small scale investments to support diverse small scale production, decentralised control, new small scale technology, individual creativity and production, humanising and democratising society.

Humans have a future after all – we are part of a grand system that will serve us well if we are sensible.

Hypnosis – why not more of that?

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Hypnosis is a Greek word meaning sleep. The history of hypnosis is a long one. We have used it in the form we know for several hundred years, and similar techniques have been used for thousands of years, by the Greeks, the Mongols, Indians. We have almost forgotten it.

It has been used in medicine, as a pain killer instead of drugs – this is still done – to heal, to find resources in the person herself,  to concentrate people’s mind and to relax, to remove outside influences, to focus on unwanted thoughts or activities, to get rid of neuroses, bad habits.

Unconscious resources may cause illness, symptoms, functional disturbances. Hypnosis  aims to activate the persons own resources to achieve healing. You defocus on the harmfull effects, and focus on the positives.

The tool is inducements into a hypnotic state through repetition, monotony, rhytm, going down suggestions. We must enter into a yes state of acceptance and lead on from there. Hypnosis is when you have an unconscious reaction to a suggestion. You stop using your will, and your critical and logical senses. Your ability to be hypnotised vary, and about 10% are easily hypnotised, 80% are medium and 10% will not be hypnotised.

There are risks as hypnotism can lead to hallucination, strong feeling domination, repetition of ideas, wild imaginary conditions. The risk must be evaluated.

There is also a show side to it as hypnotised persons can do funny things on the stage.

It has become part of the alternative medicine as scientific thinkers shrug and deny – in spite of concrete evidence that it works.

Hypnosis is a state of concentrated attention, it is a natural condition, you get there by being induced by others or yourself – selfhypnosis – and the work is done through suggestions about what to do. The hypnotised person is awake or at sleep .

In the medical world there is a big lack of knowledge, it seems we are trying to forget what is there.

Through hypnosis we try to access our unconscious resources, find how to activate them , they are part of our psyche, wellness, mental condition. The aim is a possible cure or prevention of certain conditions of the psyche.

Among unconscious resources we have breathing, heartbeat, metabolism, blood pressure, movement or working of internal organs, healing of wounds, feelings, others we know little about. We can learn to use these resources if we accept they are there / this is not just talk, rich evidence exists.

Hypnosis and trance are the same – see it as an enlarged consciousness, a fading of reality orientation, relaxation, sleepiness, or it can be an active-awake trance or somnambulism.

We do not fully understand this so why not work towards a better fuller understanding?

We can maybe find a solution inside ourselves / to be well and stay well. And what about being more selfdetermined?

The inclusion of everybody – upholding the wider consensus

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

There are many places in the world where there now is substantial unrest. There are good reasons it is so: the economy is not good, democracy is not practiced, there are too many immigrants, religion is a threat, changes are too big, the jobs are not there, grievances are popping up – and staying there. Some problems are huge for the people involved – e.g. the Arab world and democratic rights, the Palestine – Israel situation, the European and US economies, others are smaller, but all are now persistent.

Some conflicts are purely local, or national, but a few are global – the media of today make many things seem global and interconnected, while they most often are not. The sum of it all can lead to attacks, terrorism,  violent demonstrations, war. The bombing and shooting in Oslo, Norway is a terrible tale of a person going wrong because his imagination carried him away, his ethics broke down, there were no social checking mechanisms during the 9 years he thought and planned. This is hardly an isloated event, others have done similar things. Through history violence has been a common means to clear up problems – from brawls to war, and this will undoubtedly continue. But we are clearly more civilised now – we try to solve matters through dialogue.

Who is to decide what a “correct” opinion is, what can be tolerated, what can not? When must we take action – how do we classify opinions, how do we rule, how should laws be?

Do we now have a situation that needs to be repaired, are there deeper forces involved, is there somebody who thinks this is all right, just let it escalate, fuel the flames? The big question of losing consensus in a good society is coming up – why are so many unhappy in so many places? In places of suppression the answer is obvious – the ruler must go, often by violent means, many people will take part in these activities.

When persons singlehandedly take action, we often have an unacceptable happening – easily to be condemned, based on screwed ideas, but it is not always so.

So digging into this matter shows a very complex picture evolving – it will be impossible make everybody agree on what we shall do, and also to refrain from violence if the matter becomes too prominent in your mind, or your physical conditions become intolerable.

It seems the main issue is about openness, inclusion of all, participation by all in society – everybody must have an equal chance to play a part, everybody must be seen and valued and cared for. The “rulers” in all their activity must moderate themselves – reduce the use of power, reduce greed, let others get in too.

We should all reflect on the causes of the situation, the unrest and the level of unrest – and see what we really do about these matters, or if we do anything at all. We all have role to play – especially in our own near environments.

The modern world is full of mechanisms that shuts out views and opinions that are not mainstream, contrary to good taste, does not follow the party programme, are not comme-il-faut, are not scientific, are not “true”.

The scientific world is full of these strictures, the political world likewise. Often the media are shutting out unwanted views, we have propaganda, dirt packages, spins. Even your neighbours or friends may make you shut up.

So let us behave decently, and even if we are testing extreme views in our minds we must not make it a reality. In a normal situation, in a so called stable society we must let others live, we should constantly talk to each other, remember that ideologies often are the rulers of our minds – political as well as  religious. Remember that your own thinking is excellent – while other people are capable of low quality thinking only – this is arrogance and of course not true.

We must remember that the main ideas of our time are changing all the time, the political alliances, the big events all play a part in what we occupy ourselves with, what we think must be done or changed. Old ideas die, new ones arise in a never ending flow. A historic perspective is obviously a good tool for understanding our own times.

This reasoning can go on forever and turn into deep philosophy – the complexity of our world is incomprehensible, we must focus on what is near us, and behave decently whatever comes.

The only way is conscious equality for all, wide acceptance and sharing, being inclusive and allowing all people their say, even if it hurts. Talking and getting rid of it, hearing it and enter into dialogue and conversation. Working on your inner self is also a part of the work we all must do – try to see who you are, what you do – observe yourself and calm yourself.

The world has never been a fully placid place, but we are moving ahead, and we can do better eventually. Is extended co-intelligence through dialogue the the right name for what we want?