Future thrills

Many nations are coming up, the others are staying put – or relatively speaking going down?

A historic change is taking place in the world, evolving not so slowly, and the US is obviously feeling the heat. It is seeking out what it thinks is the biggest contender for supremacy in the world, and making all sorts of movements and noise to make sure there is or will be a conflict stewing or brewing. The chosen contender is China – the biggest nation population-wise. The other big one India is for the moment left out.

US dominance, the well-known policeman of the world, is no longer so certain. This is not due to great incidents or situations, but China, and also many other nations like India, Brazil, some of the Eastern Europeans, even African nations are improving the lot of their populations day by day. Things are going well for them. The US is doing fairly well also – much the same as it has done for some time, but elements of crisis have been seen.

The US is 5% of the world by inhabitants, China and India are about 20% each. The force of the numbers is changing the world.

Economically the US is disproportionately big, but others are finding their place. China is probably already the biggest economy in the world. It is easy to se that one day the Chinese economy will be much bigger than the US – there is no reason to doubt that. What about twice as big in 50 years time?

A lot of focus is now put on China by the West, even if India is practically the same size. We can say that China has been chosen as the big adversary of the US on the world stage. So the West is playing along with the US in this build up, the media are fully coordinated and blasting away: arms build up, human rights weaknesses, exchange accusations, demography speculations, political unrest. Dissidents are getting a lot of attention and messrs Wei, Li, Chen and others are meticulously followed by the foreign press (where do they get all this information in a country that is so strongly censored?). Terrible stories are told, some of it is possibly true, some are possibly fabrications by journalists or other capable writers.

So be careful what you believe – check it out for yourself if you can or be soundly sceptical.

Positioning is taking place: The US is playing down NATO, playing up their contacts in Asia and near. The Eastern Strategy of the US is unfolding – and amazing stuff it is. Vietnam, Australia, the Philipines, S. Korea, Taiwan are now all dear friends, US vessels are cruising around in the South China Sea – far away from home. There are planes and surely more, including naval exercises.

It is all rather sad and primitive – it is not human culture at its very best. A game of military power is staged with the US clearly challenging China. The US military budget is huge – about US $ 700 billion with China weighing in at about US $ 60 billion (2008 figures The Economist The world in figures).

We all have to sit watching this ritual unfolding – the manysplendoured forces of the US are let loose. Let us hope there will be no incidents wrecking havoc in the world.

But maybe this is all about appearances only? What is that is so important for the US to prove? It surely is not about human wellbeing? Is it about US thoughts of empire – 5% of the worlds people dominating the other 95 %?

The US is a construction that is about 300 years old, being dominant about the last 60 years. China has been going for many thousands of years, maybe more than 5 thousands, and the US is surely not going to change that?

Living is not about competition where you either win or lose. It is much easier than that. It is about understanding yourself, understanding others, helping all find sensible ways – cooperating, sharing, having fun.

So to the US – stop your relentless maCHINAtions, have fun. Please disassemble your military machine before there is an accident – possibly on a world scale. Remember what almost happened in Cuba? And think also about how much cheaper it is to be peaceful – you can easily save a billion a day. What you want to do in the world you should do in your own backyard.

Let us hope China can be patient with the US – it is such an immature nation, so young.

The US is a young nation, it has been the leader on the world stage for about 60 years. Now how long will this last?

The future of the US nation should be considered, to prepare for what can possibly happen in that ambitious and increasingly stratified country.

The US has been under an official State of National Emergency since Sept 14, 2001 – a state that President Obama last year extended to Sept 14, 2012. The war against terrorism has been going on since then, and is expected to continue. What they have is in effect a martial law situation.

The executive order signed by Obama March 16, 2012, now authorizes widespread federal (and often military) control and manipulation of the national economy and resources “under both emergency and non-emergency conditions” as well as the right to install “government owned equipment” in private industrial facilities.

The US has for many decades now been a warring country, is leaving IRAQ, warring in Afghanistan, preparing for confrontation with Iran, having a military presence all over the world, including 6 big cruisers each with at least 5000 men, about 90 planes and lots of other arms and munitions. The costs of this is hellish, and is carried by US taxpayers.

The US is running the Guantánamo Bay camp in violation of international law. It has been there since 1903. The camp is supposed to have been closed down, but the arrangement goes on. The prisoners are held there indefinitely without charge or trial.

There is a deficit budget in the US, unemployment is high at 8.3%, the economic differences in the country are very high as referenced by the 1% and 99% debate, the military expenses are high, the costs of empire are high, there are numerous industry problems surfacing especially within resources and energy supply.

Many parts of the country are, however, doing well.

There is widespread speculation concerning conspiracy theories in the US about what is going on. Lately there has been reports of FEMA camps being built – concentration camps – in five places and already being set up to be ready.

Militia groups are said to be working in the country with the express intention of safeguarding themselves against happenings, including government action of any kind. Articles about nonviolent civilian defence groups making it difficult for the government to rule have been published.

The legal and formalistic aspects are debated, but more important is what will happen in the near future. The pessimists say the groundwork for a totalitarian state is in place.  Senator Ron Paul is very harsh in his description. The major media are very quiet about this.

Reasonable precautions and preparations should be taken for defense and emergency conditions, preparation of decentralized energy and industrial capacity.

We should ponder the implications for the economy, for democracy and liberty, for international relations like helping friendly dictators or organizing wars against countries who control “strategic materials” that the US want, for the military industrial complex, for the prospects for the nation in the near future.

The President now has widespread power that has been compared to what Hitler had in Germany. Hitler also instigated acts of terror – he burnt the Reichstag – and blamed it on the Communists . Will similar happenings and accusations be produced here? Hitler also had an enabling act allowing him to use government resources like the military according to his wishes – the general laws of the nation being overruled.

The world of Homeland Security, war on terrorism, martial law, arrest by the army, indefinite detention without charge or trial is theoretically possible now.

There is also the possibility of a big spin being played out – say the conspiracy theorists – a situation being created – just like Hitler did. And what did Hitler do after that?

EXAMPLES:
“The president has the power to require acceptance and priority performance of contracts or orders (other than contracts of employment) to promote the national defense over performance of any other contracts or orders, and to allocate materials, services, and facilities as deemed necessary or appropriate to promote the national defense…under both emergency and non-emergency conditions” (Section 201a and b)”

“The president has the power, through his cabinet secretaries, to control the general distribution of any material (including applicable services) in the civilian market.” (Section 201e)

“The Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of the Interior…are each delegated the authority of the President… to encourage the exploration, development, and mining of strategic and critical materials and other materials.” (Section 306)

“There is established in the executive branch a National Defense Executive Reserve (NDER) composed of persons of recognized expertise from various segments of the private sector and from Government (except full time Federal employees) for training for employment in executive positions in the Federal Government in the event of a national defense emergency. The head of an agency may activate an NDER unit, in whole or in part, upon the written determination of the Secretary of Homeland Security that an emergency affecting the national defense exists and that the activation of the unit is necessary to carry out the emergency program functions of the agency.”  (Section 501a&e)

This definitely does not seem good! The land of “We the people” is going where?

See Tom Atlee

There are changes afoot in world trade – the resources, the products of industry and agriculture, the services – as more and more players are realizing what the present system is about: The total domination by the western world in all matters.

The globalization debate is also in there as well as economic theory and practice. The old masters of the world are being overtaken by new entrants. The western world led by the US is not going to push more things through as other nations like the BRICS and more are starting to find their voice.

The case of the the rare earths is illustrative. China has much of the world’s resources of these 17 specialties – Rare Earth Elements – and we have had to buy them there. China now needs more and more of the stuff for themselves and have put restrictions on exports. So there is a case being mounted with the WTO – give us the stuff or we will force you. The outcome is clear – China has it and has no obligation to hand it out to others. So the solution to this little matter is to find more of the stuff elsewhere.

Many other issues are surfacing – industrial production, agriculture and jobs suffer in many Western countries. They have been trying to borrow their way out of it, and the US and EU are now trying to use quantitative easing to find their way back to health. Currency wars are looming as the rates of exchange are pegged too high or too low. There are always two sides to a currency, the reserve currencies are important references, and here there are changes coming. These processes are slow, almost imperceptible, glacierlike.

The Chinese are building an international presence not only in the South China Sea, but in Africa where they now are the biggest lender, they are upping their military presence, seeking new transport routes in northern waters – including building new icebreakers, making deals about resources all over. Very busy they are fostering the welfare of their own people.

The question of globalization may be up for a new debate as well. This is based on the mantra of free trade, comparative advantage running its course, the big players with their big finances having free access to all markets. A grand system of deals has been made over the years, domination have been allowed to become the norm, the old capitalist ideas of equal players competing under equal conditions have been allowed to lapse and become a monster. Tariffs, quotas, subsidies are part of the picture. It is all very complex, some would say incoherent.

The intended effect of making the cake bigger has been achieved in many areas, but sadly only to the benefit of some – there are still too many that are not sharing.

The old saying of being master in your own house is coming back. Too much outside influence, even downright outside economic and/or political government, is not desirable and should be avoided.

Producing everything on a large scale in faraway places make a jumble of many local economies – the jobs disappear, socially rich societies crumble, diversity disappears, cultures wither, the reason for being is lost.

The ethics is coming up too – see the problems of Nike, Apple and all the others – using factories with a substandard wages and working conditions. Large scale agriculture that is not sustainable is also part of the picture.

The economic theory must be revised – it is just a pretty picture missing out on several counts – especially on the sustainability bit, the culture, the cost to society, the management of your own destiny.

The fight over resources is increasing too, new thinking is needed, the concept of balanced trade have come up.

The beneficiaries of the present system is clearly many producers and many consumers, but the effects on the rest of the roles we have in society is not acceptable – out of jobs, being ruled by outside forces is not what people want or should have. The plethora of cheap goods is a bonus, but nothing worthwhile in the long run. The bad taste of coercion, colonialism or imperialism lingers.

The emergence of new nations is good. We must not, however, let there be new masters in place of the old – the aim must be a more broadly participative, balanced, reasonable world.

So the new thinking has to start about the practice of the new ethics of fairness, balance, sustainability, about local governance and responsibility for your own destiny.

This is heavy stuff – there are many forces against – but fairness will be the norm one day. Surely.

There is a big conspiracy industry in the world – writers, talkers, filmproducers – claiming that we are being coerced, or subjected to hidden persuasion or similar, so that the world can become one and that there will be one world government one day. There is a long term commitment to these strategies, going through many generations.

Many people worry about these possibilities, spend time thinking about possible outcomes, creating images in their minds.

The conspiracy activity is said to be a process that has been going on for hundreds of years. The origin is uncertain, but biblical, religious overtones persist, and the Elders of Sion, cabbals and related themes are all in there. Various groups like the Illuminati, masons and variations of these are all mentioned from time to time.

The imperial quest of the US is also mentioned as important and actively pursued, and many people in the US is said to have some form of connection to these movements. The US industrial-military complex is said to be actively interested global strategies. Successfully pursuing a global strategy of warring in several places is good for business.

There are several indications of American interest in globalism with international finance being spearheaded by Americans, several American groups or foundations like the Trilateral Commission,  The Bilderberg Group among others as well as the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

Americans are actively pursuing a programme called the International Visitors Programme where people come to the US to be aquainted with American thinking. The CIA also has a cultural arm with lots of activities, including spreading US business world wide – to make the world seem one: burgers, colas, shoes, clothes are the same the world over.

“IV : International Visitors are current or emerging leaders in government, politics, the media, education, the arts, business and other key fields. Over 5,000 International Visitors come to the United States from all over the world each year. Since its inception in 1940, thousands of distinguished individuals have participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program, including 330 current and former Chiefs of State and Heads of Government, thousands of cabinet-level ministers, and many other distinguished leaders from the public and private sectors.”   US Dept of State

“The Trilateral Commission: Sensing a profound discord between the nations of North America, Europe and Japan, the Trilateral Commission was founded to foster substantive political and economic dialogue across the world. To quote its founding declaration:

• “Growing interdependence is a fact of life of the contemporary world. It transcends and influences national systems…While it is important to develop greater cooperation among all the countries of the world, Japan, Western Europe, and North America, in view of their great weight in the world economy and their massive relations with one another, bear a special responsibility for developing effective cooperation, both in their own interests and in those of the rest of the world.”

• “To be effective in meeting common problems, Japan, Western Europe, and North America will have to consult and cooperate more closely, on the basis of equality, to develop and carry out coordinated policies on matters affecting their common interests…refrain from unilateral actions incompatible with their interdependence and from actions detrimental to other regions… [and] take advantage of existing international and regional organizations and further enhance their role.”

• “The Commission hopes to play a creative role as a channel of free exchange of opinions with other countries and regions. Further progress of the developing countries and greater improvement of East-West relations will be a major concern.” Wikipedia

This is indeed frightening stuff – if it were to materialize!

There are surely many more  operations going on – who knows – clandestine too.

The world of finance is becoming deregulated, borders are opened up for financiers – profit is to be had everywhere if you are clever enough, fast enough, even reckless enough, the concept of financial terrorism has been introduced. So globalisation in business is an ongoing spectacle developing fast.

The financial institutions of the world is having a profound impact on world matters as global trade and interdependence grows – the huge private banks and similar institutions,  the state banks, the corporations, the IMF, the World Bank, trade organisations, the lenders, the borrowers are all becoming one.

The BRICs are coming forward as well, and matters will change profoundly in the coming years. Americans will fight for continued dominance, others will muscle their way in – the end of the all American (brand) hegemony will come, new entrants will enter the stage.

The governments of the world are growing ever more invasive, more rules, more taxes, more spinning, more subjected to non-democratic influences.

So is there a collusion taking place – conspiracy? Probably not, the game is to open, the players are too many and too greedy. But the strong always do what they think is best for themselves with the rest of us making up the cost. Salesmen and producers make state policy so that their interests are taken care of, and again the rest of us make up the cost.

But there is no doubt that this harsh environment may hurt us – just witness the OWS movement, the question of 1% and 99%, the huge social problems mounting, the environmental damage, the concentrations of power, the loss of democracy.

So the wise thing to do is to forget conspiracy and start working actively towards ends you think deserve progress. This could be ethical reawakening, environmental bliss, fairness in all matters, higher levels of consciousness in all and everyone of us – using a wide participatory process. The work should be local too, and countries – all – should make their own destiny, have local rules, determine themselves what goes on there.

It  surely is much better than what we see developing now, and it would indeed be fine – and it would remove the last doubts about conspiracy too. A world of power controlled by the few will never be. The alternative – broad sharing and broad participation has a better intrinsic value and the logic behind it is superior – and so it will prevail.

Just start the work you believe is right – don’t worry as there is nothing to be afraid of.

In 2010 Shanghai (上海 ) held the World Expo that was given a lot of attention. People came from all over the world for business. But we must not forget the cultural side: Shanghai also hosted the Shanghai Biennale with the theme “Rehearsal”.

The idea was to make people think, to invite people into the start of processes.

Themes proposed were large and eternal and may be more important for China than for the visitor from outside: relationships between individuals, between individuals and society, and between people and nature. Strong and important artists were invited to participate, many obviously very critical of aspects of modern society.

So a large canvas was laid out.

The Chinese were obviously hoping to start processes where the Oriental city of Shanghai takes the role of a world theater, so as to be part of a common future. The worldwide challenges for society are many and often the same everywhere: using technology well, mastering the forces of massive urbanization, be environmentally friendly, give people the chance to develop well, make the urban society a wellfunctioning machine – in all its diverse aspects.

So the curators staged a fantastic display, giving the artists an opportunity to rehearse ideas for the future of cities – the culture, the buildings, the management, the technology, the living.

The Biennale was linked to the Expo via a common theme – innovation.

The exhibition was truly thought-provoking, also depressing, but humoristic and enlightening – broad and challenging – it was all there. The displays were impressive, full of quality of spirit, rich in content, well made.

The people of Shanghai came in large numbers – it was often quite full – perhaps with an intent of broadening their own horizon, to see the world forming. Most were very young – the future? – very attentive, interested, thinking.

It was all very professional – on an international level – and should bode well for the future of the Chinese and for us.

Go to China – the development is in full swing.

And the food is not half bad either – why not try some Beijing (北京) duck?

“We are all striving for glory, but far too many end up in a hole.”

The world is full of challenges, adventures, you can set your mind to any number of fantastic things. You can – in short –  live a full life, you may even be free.

The number of possibilities are huge – you can roam the world, you can let your head spin enormous thoughts, you can find amazing and wonderful places and situations, you may participate in awesome projects, you can follow through and make what you think come true. The tool that your brain is can take you along on massive journeys into the unknown, finding your own inner self, experiencing cosmos, helping people who need you, create whatever your mind can come up with.

It can all be done if you are willing to move about – if you are willing to forgo the limitations of place, of a fixed abode, of property and ownership, the limitations of geography. You must remove the strictures, the practicalities, environments, noise and thoughts that tie you down.

Most of us – nearly everybody in fact – never do this – we live basically in one place, doing one job, having one environment. This shapes you, your creativity, your activity, and in the end it ties you down and limits your creativity, and in the end your spiritual and practical life. Your thinking may be severely confined too.

It is all about living a good life – the life you want, idealistically created, what you dream about, what the tool you have in your great mind that you have can come up with.

So what do you really need to have? What do you really want to do?

The real you – your essence that you are born with – can manage with very little that you own, that you need to have. The geography or the place you are in can – if you own very little or nothing – easily be changed. You can become free.

You may realize that there is a world where you own nothing, where you are free to move wherever you want,  and that free movement may make it possible to be free, completely free – completely free of things that tie you down.

Your freedom can lead you into a world of personal growth, your thinking can become new and free, also independent and fresh, you become creative, you enjoy living, you participate fully in what your birth initially set you up to do. You can take it all back from the limitations of society and make what you want.

Living in a set community may be safe, but not always as there are many large and small threats and restrictions lurking in the shadows. Any number of them can hit you, and shape your life in unwanted ways.

Your role as a contributor to the large society we have learnt that we must be part of dissolves into thin air – you will not be a popular person with the rulemakers, the bureaucracies, but that should be no concern of yours. You choices make you a content person and may lead to better contributions to the real needs of the world.

You know that this is about you and your life – build on your essence and what you were given, follow your own thinking made by the good head that was given to you, execute and live as you yourself see fit – become a whole person.

It is about courage too – do you dare do it? Our societies are increasingly characterized by walls and fences of the practical and spiritual kind. Many need to break out – to start anew.

You can be one.