Terrorism, cause or effect?

With the attack on the airport and subway system of Brussels, Europe has once again, in a short span of time, become the target of terrorism. By all means, this is a egregious act and not acceptable in any way or form. However, I find that there is a surprising lack of awareness in the general public, and in the media coverage, regarding the REASON for these attacks.

It seems to be a weakness in the human intellect. When we are faced with trauma and difficulties, our tendency is to look at the symptom. When we get sick, we look at and attempt to suppress the immediate effect. When there is a fight or conflict, we look at the drama – and this single dimension – the consequence that is here right now – becomes the entirety of our focus. However, as with all aspects of life, there is always, ALWAYS, an underlying cause. When it comes to human beings, that cause can never be simplified to the idea that some people are ‘just evil’ – or that they ‘just belong to the wrong religion’ – or that ‘they are immigrants’. Human beings are without a doubt more complex creatures than this – and hence – to understand terrorism – we must understand the human mind.

Terrorism, as explained by Chris Hedges, is born on the outskirts of the system. It is born in places where our western media seldom go, and even more rarely, report from. The reality of terrorism is that it is a social construct, in-fact, it is a part of our current system – it is a inescapable consequence of the inequality on which all of our collective designs are built. Terrorism is a SYMPTOM – not a cause – and seen in the eyes of forgiveness and clarity – it is an obvious call for help from the undeveloped and forgotten parts of this world.

In the western world, we tend to become arrogant and look at terrorism with an air of elitism. We condemn the attacks, yet we make no effort to understand them. We look down on the extremists and their religious doctrines, yet we make no effort to prevent such people from ever becoming extremists to begin with. We believe ourselves to be better than, though fact is that we, the western civilization, is as corrupted, as violent, as brutal and indifferent as the suicide bombers of ISIS. However, we are able to hide our real nature behind a facade of prestige, intellect, money and skillful rhetoric’s – though in being honest with ourselves – we cannot deny – we are just the same.

We call our terror attacks humanitarian interventions or peace keeping missions. We say that we fight for peace and democracy when we bomb cities of foreign countries. We lie that our intentions are benevolent, while fact is that there are always ulterior motives; geopolitics, profit, desire and greed. It is impossible to create peace or stability in a country through armed intervention, and it is easy to see that the warmongers are also those that benefit from building and selling the war machines. There has never, and will never be such a thing as a war fought for good reasons. War is in its very nature despicable – a crime against all of humanity.

Hence, when we look at terrorism, we must make the effort to understand it – and the only way to understand terrorism is through letting go of our elitist mindset and instead asking ourselves; what is it that can drive someone to commit suicide with a bomb, with the intention of killing and harming as many people as possible? What must someone go through, experience, think, see, to be able to make that decision? It is such an extreme act of violence, that the precursory events that creates a suicide bomber, must in themselves be violent, destructive and harmful. How are we collectively responsible for creating suicide bombers? Would anyone take their own life if they had everything to life for?

What we must understand is that, in this world, the majority of people are suffering. The majority of people are compromised, diminished, and placed into a state of lack where they do not have access to the very basic necessities of life. They are unable to create a life for themselves, and hence have NOTHING to lose – and THAT is the conditions that proceeds a terrorist attack – conditions of deprivation and pauperism – this creates people with no hope, no fear, and no morals. We in the western world are responsible for creating such situations of scarcity – as we in various ways impact the world negatively with our continuous drive for profit and expansion.

Terrorism will not go away until we decide to take responsibility for this world, and understand, that violence begets violence, and that the only way to come to a REAL solution, is through giving all a life of dignity.

Investigate the Living Income Guaranteed – and stand up for a world where all have enough.

The Shootings In Paris, An Act of War?

Friday the 13^th 2015, the day when an apparent terrorist attack struck Paris, and more than a hundred people got killed. The French president responded with saying that the attack is an act of war. However, I would say that this is not a correct assessment of the situation, and more importantly, it is not a effective way of approaching what has happened.

If we roll back the time for a moment, 11^th September 2001, two planes flew into the World Trade Center, killing thousands. The American government blamed the Taliban’s and decided to invade Afghanistan, and later Iraq, in the so-called war against terrorism. Obviously, it was never about a war against terrorism, as rather it was a way for the corpocracy of America to feed its enormous military industrial complex. Though, for a moment, let us assume that the war on terrorism was actually a real attempt to make the world a safer place. It is time to ask, did this war actually make the world a safer place?

The simple answer is no, and it takes no rocket scientist to understand that wars, whatever reason that is used to justify them, creates even more consequences. As such – we require a new way of dealing with things, a new way of approaching conflicts, a new way of handling consequences, were we do not hit back but instead look at how the consequence came about, and more importantly how we were a part of creating that particular consequence.

When it comes to terrorist attacks, it is not difficult to understand why some individuals in this world develop an urge to fight back against the establishment with brute force. The reasons are poverty, war, lack of education, and the nonexistence of opportunities. For some, born in the wrong country, at the wrong time, there is absolutely no hope, and for those, terrorism is a way of saying: ‘Look at what you have done to me! Look at what you have done to my life!’ – and that is what we in the western world must understand – that terrorist attacks is an indication that we have to steer things in another direction. Terrorist attacks is as much a cry for help, as they are a sign we humans have not yet been able to unite as ONE group.

Though, I will admit, it is very easy for me to say that ‘we have to change’ – but how to practically do that? What can we possibly do on a individual basis to have any impact on a global level? Truth to be told, there is no single person that can actually change the world, but we can change the world together, through each of us making the decision to stand up in our own lives.

For example, one solution that we can implement is to, when conflicts emerge in our own personal worlds, someone lashing out on us (a micro terrorist attack), that we then look at how we were a part of creating that conflict, and also why that conflict came about, and what we are able to do to in the future, to prevent it and find sustainable solutions – thus living the example of PEACE, CONSIDERATION, RESPONSIBILITY and UNDERSTANDING.

When we live what is best, when we stand as an example of a better, upgraded human being, a human capable of forgiveness, that will have a impact. Maybe it will not come through on a global level, though we will be able to see it in our personal relationships, in our communication with colleagues and acquaintances. And what does this world consist of but personal relationships, family relationships being the very core bonding that holds society together. When these relationships change, it is clear that it will have an effect on other, larger, collective relationship groups as well.

So, consequences are not bad, they are opportunities for learning and self-growth. Each consequence is a sign, a signal, that there is something about ourselves that we can change. This is so equally on a personal as well as global level. Thus, instead of saying that these terrorist attacks are an act of war – let us instead recognize them for what they really are – a cry for help and a indication that we can do better to ensure that each human being on this earth lives a life of dignity.

For more solutions and ways to tackle the current state of human affairs, investigate the Living Income Guaranteed.

Student Debt – A Crime Against Human Rights

Student Debt is one of those things in society we all tend to take for granted. Most that go to college or university are required to in-debt themselves in order to pay for tuition and living expenses. Some countries, like Sweden, do not have tuition fees – though the majority of students are still required to take out loans to cover their living costs.

Young people in this world find themselves between a rock and a hard place. Either you take out hefty loans, make it through university, and potentially land a well-paid job afterwards. Or you come to terms with maybe having a low paid job and no debt. Both of these options are completely horrendous. To be forced into debt to make a life for yourself is a crime against human rights – and yet – this is what young people are required to do.

What should be happening is that young people growing up in this world are nurtured and receive all the support and assistance they require to make the best out of their lives. Because if we cripple an entire generation with debts, imposing unto them the choice of either debt serfdom, or unemployment, we are most certainly creating immense and global consequences in the future. Not only are we creating class warfare, we are also creating generational warfare – were those that are older and have had the opportunity to build a life for themselves without debt will be the target of resentment and blame of the younger generations.

However, one of the most fascinating points that this point with the student debt shows is how we as human beings really have a major issue when it comes to caring for other people. Because how many of us are not benefiting from student debt? Do you for example know what sort of assets your pension funds have invested in? Most certainly big parts of their investment portfolio are made up out of student debt bonds – and would you be willing to give up your pension to release students from their debt? And really – at the end of the day – this is the question we as Humanity face: Are we willing to care for another as we care for our children and ourselves? Are we willing to give up our self-interest to stand for a solution that will benefit all people, youngsters as well as old people, and are we willing to give up some of our luxury to achieve that outcome?

Debt is artificial, which means that its existence is a mental abstract creation. Debt exists in databases and registers made up out of numbers and names – to remove these numbers would be very easy. We could decide today as a society to not anymore accept and allow debt to be part of our lives. Instead of debt, we could decide to give our future generations the best possible conditions to create themselves a life of fulfillment, joy and happiness. We do hold that power – so the question we should ask ourselves is: Why are we not creating the world that we want to see?

And – Why not take it even further? Money is artificial, which means that its existence is a mental abstract creation. Money exists in databases and registers, called banks, that are made up out of numbers and names – to change these numbers would be very easy. Why then not change the numbers a little, so our youths do not have to go through their lives paying debts for which they got things that should have been theirs as part their HUMAN and UNCONDITIONAL RIGHTS. See, life, this world, our monetary system, our way of doing things, it is not set in stone – there are many solutions to the problems we face – though to see them – we have to let go of our small, confined and limited world view – our self-interest – and start seeing our reality from a greater, and more expansive perspective – and ask ourselves the daring question: What is Best For All?

I am one vote for world equality, and I am one vote for a Living Income Guaranteed – because I want what is best for youths as well as elders. I want, for all those that wish to experience higher education, to be able to do that, without incurring any debts – and I want all children to be certain that when they grow up – they will be embraced into a society that cares for and tends to them – and want what is best for them. We can create this world – and it all begins with us letting go of our self-interest and developing that real and genuine care for others.

Wasting Food

According to reports by United Nations Environment Programme and the World Resource institute, about one third of all food produced worldwide gets lost or wasted in food production and consumption systems. When converted to calories, it means that about 1 in 4 calories intended for consumption is never eaten. This food is wasted for several reasons. Much is lost because it does not fulfill the aesthetic requirements of shops, and hence indirectly, consumers. And of the food that is actually bought, a lot is thrown away, and some of it due to expiration dates being set too early. It is clear that food wastage is a massive problem and it reveals some interesting characteristics of the human being, and also many opportunities of self-correction, where we as humanity can change ourselves on a individual level, to as such make an impact globally.

What does food wastage show us about ourselves? It shows us that we do not value the labor and energy that has gone into creating that food – for us – food has become only a number – a cost that we buy using money. Though, fact is that food is more than a number, because to create each produce we eat, an investment of real resources had to be made. The farmer had to put in great effort to grow his crops and care for his cattle. The slaughter had to exert himself with determination and strength to slaughter and prepare the meat for consumption. And nature, the animals, and plants had to offer themselves, their lives, to nurture and support our continued existence. As such, food cannot be measured in money, food is a work of art, that has been given a attention and energy to end up in the supermarkets where we are used to seeing it.

When we take food and only eat some of it, or we buy too much, and throw away the things that we allow to go bad, what are we thus really saying? In-fact it is an act of negligence and ignorance to treat food as having no value – negligent because there is not much we need to change about ourselves to become a more considerate and effective when it comes to handling our food – and ignorant because we do not see the amount of work that has gone into the food, which we so easily make a decision to throw away.

Thus, if we wish to stop waste in this world, we must begin with ourselves, and understand that wastefulness occurs not only with food, but it is the way in which we have come to live. Our entire society is based on waste, and the false belief that there are eternal resources, eternal opportunities, and eternal energy for us to consume without consequences. Truth is that, there is no such thing as a free lunch – and for each resource we waste – there is one resource less to be used.

Though, let us take this one step further, and ask ourselves, where are we wasting ourselves? Fact is that as with all things that we create on the outside, we are also creating and living them inside of ourselves. Are we not wasteful with ourselves, and our own potential when we accept and allow ourselves to give up on our future, and what we know we can create for ourselves, because we do not feel motivated? Are we not wasteful when we decide to not do the most with ourselves, and our lives? Are we not wasteful when we decide to throw away our talents, because we do not experience ourselves as having the energy to develop them? Are we not wasteful when we throw away moments in our day to get to know ourselves, and our mind better, because we accept and allow ourselves to be afraid of self-intimacy? Are we not wasteful when we spend hours, upon hours in a emotional reaction, time that we could have instead used to LIVE and participate HERE?

There are many ways that waste come through within ourselves, in our lives, and thus, in this world. And it is important for us to investigate how we are wasting, so that we can stop this behavior, and instead live our lives within the starting point of using – and as such – being useful instead of wasteful.

How can we change ourselves to direct the waste that occurs in our daily lives into a using and usefulness? Because in answering, and living the answer to these questions, we can make a big difference for others and ourselves as well – as we stand as an example of what it means to respect the life within us and this world – where we do not accept and allow waste to exist within us.

Waste happens when we do not push ourselves to see the value in what is here, to appreciate to what is here, and be grateful for what is here. Waste happens when we take things for granted. Waste happens when we become caught in our desires, and our urge to experience things, and we miss the reality, the universe of life that is here as a part of our world. WASTE occurs when we walk through life in HASTE, thinking about only our own WAIST – and not understanding that our actions and inactions have consequences. Hence, as a first step to change the massive waste that happens daily in this world on a myriad of levels, let us change ourselves – and make sure that we are not accepting and allowing waste to take place in any form within ourselves, or our lives.

Investigate the Living Income Guaranteed.

Corruption, Poverty and Capitalism

There is a clear correlation between the amount of corruption and the level of economic welfare that exists in a country. In countries that are rich, corruption is not as frequent as in countries that are poor. This shows us some fascinating points about human nature – and it also reveals solutions for how to deal with the tendency humans have to become corrupted, dishonest, and fraudulent when placed in positions of public power.

There are a few things about human nature that are obvious: We all have an inner drive geared towards self-preservation. If we had to choose between us dying, and someone we do not know dying, most of us would have the other person die. And really, there is nothing strange about this. Self-preservation is an innate trait most forms of life on earth – each organism wants to survive and reproduce. Hence, when we are placed in a position of shortage, we will find ways to get out of it – and if it is required – do that at the expense of another.

Then, we have this human characteristic called greed. If we look deeper at the nature of greed, we can see that greed in-fact consists of a deep-seated fear. Greed is the tendency we have to take more than we need, because we fear that we might need that more in the future, and we ‘just’ want to be on the safe side if something unexpected were to happen. Hence, greed is a form of self-preservation, though a more aggressive, and irrational variety – because where greed is involved – there is not an actual need to preserve self.

Moreover, we have a thing called competition. Most people drive themselves through life in a state of competition. They want to compete against neighbors, friends, acquaintances – they want a better car, house, family, etc. Competition thrives in areas/environments where there exists a lack of resources. For example, in an environment where there is little money, the competition for the money will be greater. And when there is a aggressive competition, there will be incentives to cheat, and incentives to preserve self at the cost of another.

We thus have these three ingredients: Self-preservation, greed, and competition – all of which can be said to be ‘natural’ parts of the human experience. And with natural I mean that most people have or develop such traits from an early age – though this does not imply that such traits are impossible to change and direct. No, all of these traits can be directed – and it is possible to change self to not anymore exist within and as self-interest. Though for this blog let us continue with corruption.

We have established that there are certain characteristics in the human nature that is typically part of the human experience. Now, what is clear is that these characteristics represent the foundation, the underlying reasons that will shape and form the decision of an individual to corrupt themselves. And what is fascinating is that these characteristics will become highlighted in a state where there is poverty, and lack of resources to go around. In such a scenario the average human being will start to think only about themselves, and how to make decisions that will benefit their life, and how they can get out of the precarious situation they find themselves in.

We can read the following in an article from Forbes magazine:

“The links between corruption and poverty affect both individuals and businesses, and they run in both directions: poverty invites corruption, while corruption deepens poverty. Corruption both causes and thrives upon weaknesses in key economic, political and social institutions. It is a form of self-serving influence akin to a heavily regressive tax, benefiting the haves at the expense of the have-nots. Trust–essential to financial markets and effective governments everywhere–is difficult to build in poor and corrupt societies.

Poor people and economically strapped businesses have few economic alternatives, and where serious corruption is the norm, they are even more vulnerable to exploitation. In that sense, there is no such thing as “petty” corruption: police shakedowns in a public market, or roadblocks in the countryside where farmers must pay up in order to transport produce to the city, may yield seemingly trivial sums of money, but they help keep poor people poor.

Low-level officials themselves may have trouble earning an honest living. In poor societies, they are often underpaid, when they are paid at all, and must provide a stream of payments to patrons at higher levels. In such settings, bribery, extortion and theft become matters of survival.” (Johnston 2009)

When survival becomes difficult, corruption flourish, hence corruption is a symptom not the actual illness. The real illness is poverty, and poverty is a structural effect of our current debt based money system – also called – capitalism.

”To reduce corruption from its current high levels requires something more than, and different from, additional laws, commissions, invocations of morality, regulations and so on. It requires basic, structural economic change. Earlier reforms achieved so little success because they ignored the very idea or possibility of such change. They left untouched capitalism’s basic incentive structure and capitalists’ power to use enterprise profits for corrupt purposes. Capitalists have continued to face all the benefits and gains that corrupted officials can yield (plus the risks and costs of failing to corrupt them). Capitalists have likewise continued to amass ever-larger profits and thus the funds with which to corrupt.” (Wolff 2014)

It is easy to blame human nature for being the cause of greed, yet at the same time, when we are able to map out and understand how the human functions, would it not then be easy to create a system where these characteristics are not allowed to fester? Is it not possible, that in a system where money is abundant, where opportunities are ripe, and there are no valid reasons to fear for your own survival, that self-preservation, greed and competition would cease to exist?

Maybe we can even stretch this even further, is it maybe so, that self-preservation, greed and competition are products of this current system, characteristics that are not supposed to be part of the human nature? In any case it is obvious, that if we were to restructure our money system and distribute resources equally, this would have massive positive effects on the human population. It has been shown that equality improves, among other things, physical health, mental health and education, and lessens drug abuse and obesity (Wilkinsson, Pickett & Reich 2011).

Corruption is an illness created by inequality and a unfair distribution of resources. We can change this be implementing a new system of distribution – capitalism is not and have never been the only way to structure and organize human labor, productivity and resource distribution. I suggest that we implement a Living Income Guaranteed – a Guaranteed monthly income that is sufficient to sustain a human being so that they can tend to their basic needs.

According to article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all humans have the right to life, though it is obvious that this right cannot be realized unless we implement a system that gives all the money they require creating their lives. Hence, money is a human right and not something that should be subject to conditions and demands.

Investigate the Living Income Guaranteed.

____________________

Michael Johnston (2009). Poverty and Corruption. Forbes Magazine. http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/22/corruption-poverty-development-biz-corruption09-cx_mj_0122johnston.html [2015-10-14]

Richard D. Wolff (2014). Political Corruption and Capitalism. Truthout. http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/21559-political-corruption-and-capitalis [2015-10-15]

Richard Wilkinsson, Kate Pickett, Robert B. Reich (2011). The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. Bloomsbury publishing

The (M)Economy and The Rational Consumerism

Where does the economy come from? What is the economy? How are jobs created? How are jobs lost? Why do we buy certain things and not others?

Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions? There is a great likelihood you haven’t, because we often tend to miss that which is right in-front of us, that which is hidden in plain sight, and the so-called economy is one of those things – we use the word, yet still, we’ve not asked the questions as to what it really in-fact consists out of, and the most important one, why it isn’t working?

The first thing we can take note of is that the economy, is actually a MEconomy – because breaking down the economy looking at the details of its structure, we see that it’s the sum total of an aggregate amount of ME’s walking around making the decisions on a daily basis in regards to how they are going to spend and earn money – thus: We’re able to see that the building blocks of the economy is the individual human-being – so to understand how and why the economy functions as it does – we can take a look at our own life’s, how we deal with money, what we consider when buying new things, and when earning money.

In this blog I would like to take a look at advertisement and PR, which is one fascinating aspect of the economy, and how this point is currently influencing our purchasing decisions, and in turn altering the movement and direction of the general economy.

So, what is advertisement and PR? The nature of these points, when stripped of all niceties, comes down to manipulation – and the method of manipulation is through emotions wherein one of the primary emotions that is used is attraction, sexual arousal, and so-called ‘love’ – thus we have the suppliers of this world currently through advertisement and PR manipulating the individuals of the economy to make certain decisions, certain purchases, and these are not rational decisions, they are being driven from within and as emotion, and here we can all to easily recognize it in our own lives: Can you recall any event where you felt that you just “had to” have that thing? Or, you wanted to fit in, so you bought that thing? Or, you wanted to have the latest gadget, because the ad said it was “the best technology on the market”? – All of these experiences are examples of successful mind-manipulation through advertisement and PR.

The problem with this is that when we as consumers buy on the basis of irrational reasoning, we’re not aware of the consequences we’re creating in our own lives or in the lives of others – who for example considers the environmental effects, and slave labor conditions, that are being reinforced through yearly purchasing new wardrobe of clothes according to the rules of fashion? Who considers the conditions for animals when buying the cheapest meat at the supermarket? I mean, very few at the best – and still – its through these decision that we create the MEconomy.

So, what are we then able to do to support ourselves to not anymore fuel an economy that is based on irrational decision-making?

Here the responsibility rests with us, the consumers, and one point that I would suggest to practice is that of becoming aware of what moves inside of you when you look at advertisements, or when you feel that there is something you want to buy and you have the surge come up within, that surge saying: “I just got to have that thing!” – and here you’re able to ask yourself, is it a rational decision? Have I actually come up with this myself and does a clear reasoning support it, or is the decision emotionally driven, and has it been triggered through some form of commercial, ad or other form of advertisement?

Through this shift within ourselves, we take a step in the direction of becoming self-empowered consumers, we’re we won’t buy anything just because it makes us feel good, we will instead buy that which is practical, effective, and serves our lives – and through doing this we support a change in this world, from corporations using advertisement designed to trigger our emotions, to advertisement that is practical, and have something relevant to say about the product being sold – because obviously: the only reason as to why this form of emotional advertisement exists everywhere around us, is because we buy into it big time – if we would stop this – there wouldn’t anymore be a market for such manipulative advertisements, and corporations would change their marketing strategies.

To sum it up: When we change how we behave on a individual basis, we change one brick in the wall that is the economy, or MEconomy, and this change will ripple out into the rest of this world. This is a process we must take upon ourselves to walk, because it’s quite obvious that unless we are willing to take responsibility for how we handle our money, how can we ask from any of the corporations in this world, that they take responsibility for the way that they want us to use our money? Really, there is no one to blame for the state of our MEeconomy – because we’ve created it – now its time to take responsibility for it, and where better to begin but in our own domestic money affairs?

Join us in becoming another vote for a rational and functional economy – check out the Living Income Guaranteed.

Selling The Solution

”We Want Change! We Want Change! We Want Change!”

Do you recognize these words? They are commonplace in demonstrations, activist efforts, strikes, and various other methods that the civilian public throughout time have used in attempting to enforce political change in this system. Still today, these methods are used in order to build political opinion – though; in this blog I will reveal the ineffectiveness of this strategy – and show that the time of screaming that “We Want Change” is blasé – this is the time to reconsider our role as creators of political opinion – and the first point to look at is HOW we bring forth our message.

This particular point opened up as I was investigating the suggestions from an activist group of how to create political awareness in relation to the Basic Income proposal. The proposed ways to create that awareness was in line with the usual tactic of standing somewhere in the public, the town square for example, as a group of people, screaming that “We Want Change!” – in seeing this I realized how severely ineffective and misplaced this method is.

So, why is it then ineffective and misplaced?

Well, to scream “We Want Change” doesn’t actually show why change is necessary, and neither does it present a practical SOLUTION as to how this change can be implemented effectively. Instead it’s merely people screaming, and actually, the starting point and underlying message coming through when we just scream out our message is that “we are the victims” and “you must change!” – we won’t make the change because it’s apparently up to another to make that change, present the solution, and make it all happen. And what comes through as well is this point of blame – that it’s not “our fault” that this world is the way it is and as such we shouldn’t walk this change – YOU should – because it’s YOUR fault!

What is then the missing point?

The missing point is really in the most unlikely of places, and particularly for activists it will be shocking, because the primary point that will allow for political forcefulness to come through is the art of SELLING – yes – SELLING – the skill often regarded with despise – because it’s apparently not a “honest” trade.

But why is then that the art of selling is so important?

Realize, that when we want to inflict change in this world, what we must understand is that change comes through within and as individual human beings, because each human being is a building block in what we call ‘the system”, thus for each human being that is able to see the point you’re making, and within that change his, or her way of living, that is a point where you’ve actually created political movement.

The question is thus, what makes people change, and what makes people hear what you say? This is where SELLING comes into play, because the art of selling, is the art of convincing, it’s the art of finding the specific trigger for the human being we communicate with, what they care about, and what they feel about, and through using those trigger points, we are able to affect that persons way of looking at and understanding things.

Thus, for example, with the Living Income proposal, the focus of the activist must here be to explain to the individual human being what would change in his or her world, if a Living Income would be implemented, the activist must SELL the proposal ACTIVELY – which is a what a activist should be doing – namely – activating people in realizing and understanding that there is so MUCH MORE to life than what our current system presents as life – that there is whole universe to explore which have been suppressed by fear, and a bureaucratic system of rules and control.

Real change, and real political movement will as such be born through the process of selling, which is actually the skill of effective communication, and knowing WHO you’re talking with, and what will trigger that particular person to see what you’re saying – and make them see how what you’re saying can benefit their life.

This is why the Living Income proposal is so unique, because it speaks not only the worker class, it also speaks to the bourgeois, the middle class, and the elite, because the Living Income will fire up the economy on all avenues, allowing for the business owners to make more money, the workers to get employed, and the elite to retain their lifestyle unless it’s overly exclusive – obviously – some people that throughout the years have become excessively rich will have to let go of some of their resources.

An example of how to sell the Living Income proposal in America, would be to connect it to the American Dream, in showing that through the Living Income, the American Dream; having your own house, two cars, and having only one of the spouses working yet still retain a sufficient income to sustain the household, would be able to become a reality – this is thus SELLING the Living Income Guaranteed and showing the benefits of change – not merely screaming that “We Want Change” – which won’t create the political movement required for effective and lasting change.

Thus, it’s time to re-evaluate how we have up to this moment in time attempted to enforce change, and realize that there is a lot to learn from the system, from marketing, and from business owners, and that we’ll only be able to create a movement if we effectively show how life could change for others in implementing a Living Income Guaranteed. Let’s become the Wave of Action required to create the necessary momentum in order for real change to take place.

The Era of Enlightened Activism

Many people do see what is going in this world, they do see that the current state of our world is outright abusive, and that it can’t go on as it has – we need to change – this is clear.

The problem with the wave of action that has been spreading throughout the world in various forms, such as for example the Occupy Wall Street-movement, the Arabic Spring – is that there is no clear understanding of HOW to sort out this mess – we do see the problems – but we do not see from WHERE these problems stem – and specifically we don’t see what course of action that will bring forth a lasting and structural solution.

This problem we can be found literally everywhere in all aspects of society, and can also be found in the microcosm of our relationship with ourselves; for example – let’s take a look at my own country of Sweden and what is currently going on in the dimension of crime prevention.

Because what is happening in this arena of the Swedish society, is that it’s slowly falling apart, there is too much crime, and not enough resources to prevent the crime – the polices and attorneys are becoming frustrated because seemingly there is nothing that can be done – and even though the government is pouring more money into the fight against crime, no clear results are visible.

Though, what is it that the Swedish government is missing? Well, the simple fact that crime is not a isolated incidence – crime doesn’t just ‘occur’ – it’s instead a OUTFLOW – it’s a SYMPTOM of an underlying issue that perverts our entire world to become but a survivalist competition where only the strong are allowed to live. Thus, exactly as was the problem with for example the Occupy Wall Street-movement, wherein all attention and focus was fixed on the criminal acts of bankers – no attention and focus is given to sort out the underlying issues.

Thus, let’s take a look at what the underlying issues are – if we self-honestly investigate the nature of the various problems that exist in this world, we are able to see that the absolute majority of them are related to one specific point, one specific aspect of society – and that is – MONEY – or rather – the LACK of money. In our current world system – money is seen and regarded as a commodity that we are able to FIGHT about, and the general view is that we do not have a RIGHT to money – we have but an opportunity to get money – and apparently this opportunity is equal for everyone. But, what happens is that only a select few are able to get their hands on money, and due to the competitive nature that we’ve designed money to exist within, the consequential outflow is that but a few takes it ALL and the rest are forced to fight over the scraps.

This in turn leads a myriad of problems such as for example crime, profiteering, social inequality, blame, revolutions, rebellions, civilian disobedience, and obviously – one of the primary points – fear of SURVIVAL – which will force human-beings to take the most barbarian and ruthless of actions – because they are in their fear of survival not able to consider and expand their view to such concepts as empathy, consideration, care and equality.

Thus, we must now move ourselves into an Era of Enlightened Activism – and what must be the starting point of this new activism is that we target the underlying issues – and that we find PRACTICAL solutions to these underlying issues. And what we must understand is that no form of civil disobedience will have the desired effect – because a SOLUTION must be implemented through political means – by majority rule – it must be an actual and well thought-out proposal and not merely a rebellious act of blame towards those apparently in charge.

We must understand that We Are In Charge – We Decide – We will determine the Solution – and we will determine the Change – thus Activism in order to be effective must be coupled with responsibility – because only when we fully take responsibility for a point in realizing that unless we deliver the solution – there will be no solution; will we be able to effectively bring through change and form a world where we can all live in harmony.

Investigate the Living Income Guaranteed – and realize that there are effective solutions we’re able to implement – that will deal with the underlying issues of this current system – so that we do not anymore have to spend all of our precious time attempting and trying to suppress symptoms and effects.

The Complacency Virus

The most common delusion we have that thwarts us from being able to create any change of real significance in this world, is this belief that “everything is okay” – it is as if we have taken a blinder before our eyes that makes us see only what we want to see – and this tends to happen when we have money and a somewhat comfortable life – when we have achieved those points, what sets in is complacency and instead of giving everyone a cool life – we spend the short time we have on this earth trying to satisfy our mental desires.

It should be the other way around, that when we have money, we should understand that we have a opportunity to make a difference, we have the time to spread awareness bring forth change – but what instead happens is that we sink back into the comforts of our minds where we live each day for the sole purpose of filling ourselves with various kinds of positive experiences.

It is fascinating and I see this pattern play out on a daily basis. I have grown up and live in the country of Sweden, and this is a wealthy, industrialized nation where most have a high level of education. Sweden is a country that is in a position of being able to make a difference in this world, because most of us swedes have time on our hands, we can actually make somewhat free choices, because we have money – but what happens instead? Rather we swedes do away with our time on senseless activities, such as drinking, buying more unnecessary things – spending each minute to gain another positive experience – a behavior that is spiteful in its very nature.

Thus, even though we have all the prerequisites necessary to produce a change, we still don’t do it – and why is that? As I said in the beginning, it comes back to complacency, and our tendency to think that everything is okay, because we have the money, and our life is quite comfortable.

But let us look at this presumption that “everything is okay” – because really, can we say that it is?

I mean, fact is that we are all dependent upon money, and fact is that in this world, when we do not have money, the very foundations of our existence will shatter – thus – even though we might think we are safe, because we have money at the money, this is no guarantee – and it is absolutely no guarantee that our children will have access to money. Fact is that our current economic system is slowly crumbling before our very eyes, and even though we might feel comfortable at the moment, we will in time face the consequences – and they will not be pleasant – because what is certain is the current economic system is not sustainable and it will not last.

Thus, what we must realize is that our comfort and the complacency we experience, because everything seems to be fine, it is not real – and each day we are coming closer to the inevitable collapse, wherein also our life will be affected by the ineffectiveness of the current world system – thus – I suggest that we take action now and that we do not wait. Just because we have money, and just because our individual life work at this moment, it doesn’t mean that our collective existence is sustainable – and things will get worse until we stand up and actually bring us to care about our common future and ourselves.

Those of us lucky enough to live in countries where it is still possible to access money, we have a responsibility to spread the word, and show that there is another way to live – and that complacency is really not acceptable – because we have the time and resources, we have the responsibility to act – and we have the responsibility to make sure that all people are endowed with a life worth living – a dignified life – that is what we’d want for ourselves given that we were in the shoes of those less fortunate – so why then not give as we would like to receive?

Read up on the Living Income Guaranteed – and make use of your time, because at some point – it will be all used up – and then there will be no way to go back and change your decisions. We have only this one lifetime – thus – let’s make the best out of it, and see to it that we bring about a world economic system that benefits life and erase poverty forever more – let’s make sure that our children will have a life free from fear.

Why We Have Not Been Able To Change

One thing that we have been able do through out the years is to find problems and issues – this is one of our strengths so to speak – and we have even been able to find and point out fundamental issues; for example, there has during a long time been an awareness as to how politicians are often bought by corporations to pass laws that will support their business ventures.

Yet, one question remains, why is nothing happening? Why is no change taking place?

This is a fascinating point to explore, because really, shouldn’t there be some form of change by now? I mean, we have for several hundreds of years looked at and been able to determine societies and this world’s most infectious problems – but still – any form of fundamental change has yet to occur.

Why is this then?

Well, when we look at how we approach problems, what becomes obvious is that we firstly, tend to focus only on the problem, go into blame and then we stop at that point – we do not even proceed to the solution – we stop at blame and when we have vented our anger – we are satisfied. Secondly, we tend to focus on problems in a one-dimensional and from an amazingly limited perspective. Take for example animal activists that ferociously attack and expose any form of animal abuse in this world – these activists tend to see the problem as: “These people doing this are greedy and just bad!” – and their solution to the problem is “Just to make them stop!” – and this is obviously a severely limited way of seeing the phenomena of animal abuse.

Because animal abuse is multi-dimensional, and often those that abuse animals are poor workers that in order to make a living, require to abuse animals, for example in order to attain fur. Others abuse animals because they simply do not have any effective understanding of the animal, an example is trophy hunters, parents that hunted themselves have often raised these trophy hunters, and accordingly the children will pick up on their parents and become just like them – so here what we are dealing with is a ineffective education. I mean, it’s not that people are “just bad” – there is always a story behind things, and when we understand this story are we able to implement a solution that will produce effective results.

So, our problem has not so much been to see problems – our problem have instead been to understand them and create solutions for them. We tend to go into ENERGY and EXPERIENCE when we see something that is not acceptable, yet what we miss is that when we go into energy and experience, we are not able to see and comprehend to full picture, and we are not able to objectively discern what course of action would amend the situation.

Thus, what we require to do as humanity is to become life scientists, and with this I mean that we stop reacting to the problems existing in this world, and that we instead look at what we are able, what solutions are available, and what specifically it is that creates the problems we are facing in our world.

Fascinatingly enough, what you will find when you allow yourself to become a life scientist, is that most, if not all problems in humanity and this world comes from MONEY or rather, the lack of money. There are political solutions to sort out the credit crunch currently gripping this world – Investigate Living Income Guarantee – and remember – no energy – no experience – just look at the facts.