The Rat Race
An economic system based on a simple linear equation in two variables (something an intelligent 8th-grader can understand when it is explained to them) can have overwhelmingly complex and powerful effects. This is similar to a fractal, where a very simple equation, when iterated many many times, can create astonishingly complex and beautiful images.
I have talked about this before but I want to go into it in a little more depth. Once you understand how the system works you can see it in operation on a global scale and in your own life. The equation is simple: Principal + Interest > Principal. This equation produces the “rat race”: the struggle to “keep up.” And it also breeds enormous and destructive competition between the participants in any economic system based on this equation.
When you go to the bank for a loan – or when you borrow money on your credit card, the money/credit you need for the purchase is created literally out of thin air. It’s the same as a loan. And that’s not a bad thing, because a well-regulated economy balances the amount of goods and services with the amount of money and credit in circulation. More money needs to be created as needed in order to balance supply and demand. An economy that has a 1-to-1 balance of goods and services and money/credit will have zero inflation and a sound currency. When the amount of money and credit is too low, deflation occurs. When it is too high, inflation occurs.
When you have an idea for a new business and need capital, you need money to get started. The problem arises when interest is charged: the money for the principal is created immediately and goes into circulation, but the money to pay off the interest does not. And never does! In this system, it is guaranteed that the amount of money/credit in existence is always less than the amount needed to pay off debt created by the interest payment. This sets up a situation that I call the “deck chairs on the Titanic.” There are always more people chasing chairs than there are chairs available. Moreover,this system must expand in order to pay off the interest, like an addict who constantly needs his fix.
In other words, Jill Doakes gets a loan for $10,000 at 5% interest and must pay back $500 more than she was issued. But that extra $500 doesn’t exist in the economy because it has not been created. Oh, Jill can get it by working extra, because there are billions of people in the economy who have money to spend. But when you multiply that by billions of economic activities every day, you can see that in order to pay off the interest generated by all of the loans and credit in the system (global now), more money and credit is necessary than exists in the system – the demand for which itself generates more interest, which requires more money and credit.... This system will expand until it simply collapses on itself, which is precisely where the world economy is right now.
Of course banks PAY interest on certificates of deposit and savings accounts, which then puts more money into the economy. However, banks always pay less interest than they charge on loans and credit. Therefore P + I > P holds and the system continues, like a growing cancer, to expand.
The rat race is getting harder and harder to survive in. The population is getting more stressed and harried. One might suppose that this is being done on purpose; but regardless, it is creating havoc with the human race. A more balanced system is necessary, one based not on competition, greed, and profit.
But where do greed, profit, and competition originate? In scarcity. If there’s plenty to go around no one worries about getting what they need. Unfortunately, P + I > P is a scarcity generator, so we can safely abandon it. But what should replace it? Well, we can simply eliminate the I, or the interest. “But you are messing with the American Dream you communist!” people might say. No, I am messing with the profit motive. “But what incentive will people have if they can’t make money on their labor or their idea?” You can still make money. You charge people for a service. How about this: When a loan is issued the bank or the lender receives a fee that comes out of the principal. In other words, a $10,000 loan is issued and the bank takes $500 of that (5%) off the top. The receiver gets $9,500.
“That’s stupid,” you say. “You have issued a loan for $9,500 not $10,000. The $500 is still interest. You’re just nit-picking with words, it’s the same thing.”
Not quite! $10,000 is created and $10,000 remains in circulation. “Economic pressure” is not created and the system never has to expand out of control. New money and credit are issued in proportion to economic demand, not because interest payments require it. The other way, $10,000 is created but $10,500 is needed, $500 of which doesn’t exist. This creates a rat race to see who can get their hands on the extra money.
Even in a fractional reserve banking system, this still works. Let’s say you deposit your $9,500 in the bank, which has to keep 10%, or $950, in reserve. The bank then takes the $8,550 and issues another loan for $8,550. The bank keeps 5%, or $427.50, and the borrower gets $8,122.50, and so on. This will slow the creation of money and credit in the system somewhat, but the amount of money/credit in the system will always be balanced. And the bank or credit issuer gets their profit right off the top, so everyone is happy.
How would this work on a credit card, for example? The credit card company simply charges you a flat fee to track and print or post your statement online. You might say, “That’s the same thing as charging interest you fool!” OK, but if you have to spend more than you make you could go to the bank and get a loan each month to pay off the credit card fee. If you have a lot of credit card debt you might need $300 every month to pay off your debt, so you get a $315 loan. You still have to pay off the loan, but the bank creates the entire $315 needed to settle your debt and the bank’s fee.
Of course there will still be defaults! People make dumb decisions and the economy disciplines you if you make the wrong choices. But that’s on you, not the system. As it stands now the system creates more and more scarcity for every economic transaction. If you wanted a way for a couple of thousand people to manipulate billions of people, this is a sweet, elegant way to do it. It’s so simple and the powerful truth behind it is hiding in a simple, two-variable linear equation. But it’s a beautiful way to keep the population working hard and stressed out. It is, IMHO, a system designed by sociopaths to keep us “useless eaters” in line.
Compassion and Love (and Selfishness)
All right, enough of that. Now let’s talk about compassion and love and selfishness. I have been dealing with selfishness my whole life, but during the past year or so I have had to face up to the fact that I haven’t been as compassionate as I should have been.
I realize now that selfishness – at least for me – comes from low self-esteem. That’s a tough one to face, because I was raised by a hard-ass father who believed that toughness was the most important virtue a man could have. Funny though, because the things I most remember about my father is his (rarely expressed) compassionate nature. He would always have a kind word for the checkout person at the supermarket or the employee at the hardware store, and I have carried on that tradition.
I have discovered that “toughness” (at least for me) stems from fear, and that fear came from my own lack of regard for myself. Bluster and tough talk, for me, was a way to make up for my own lack of self-esteem, and it hid my more compassionate nature. That’s what happens when you are too dumb to listen to your own guidance! I always had the idea that if I couldn’t “figure it out” myself, it was cheating to trust my intuition. And that’s amazing because for years I did a radio show where I channeled my own guidance. I wrote three books this way, and it was the funnest time I ever had in my life. But I realized that my underlying assumption was, “it’s OK to channel for OTHERS,” but not for myself! How’s that for lack of self-esteem!
My more compassionate side did begin to show itself during my channeling years, but it manifested as compassion and love for animals. My attitude toward the human race was similar to Bill Murray’s comment to Rita in Groundhog Day: “Rita, people are morons.” I have been forced to follow the seamier side of human existence because I have always been motivated to look under the surface of the duality to see what is causing events. I am never satisfied with superficial explanations for events, and have never believed in the pronouncements of authority figures and experts. This desire to “find out what’s really going on” has opened my eyes about the history of our planet (which is a total and complete fiction) and about the matrix we live in (being exposed as you read this!) However, this necessarily led me to discover all sorts of nefarious human activities, which is part and parcel of thoroughly examining both the light and dark aspects of the duality here in third-density existence. Doing this unfortunately skewed my opinion of the human race toward its darker aspects. I had a tendency to assign the Light aspect of humanity to Spirit, and the darker aspect to “human nature,” even though my guidance was telling me (and I was experiencing) tremendous well-being and love when I did my channeling.
Hey, I never said I was very bright! I’m just a regular Joe trying to live life and be as happy as possible. But anyway, I assigned the Light aspect of Spirit, in the physical plane, to animals. I have always had pets and have observed how easily they connect to source, and how they can also mimic the worst parts of my own human nature. I saw how the animal kingdom mimics the meme structure of humanity. Interestingly, my opinion of individuals was good, but my attitude toward the human race in general was dismissive and sometimes even contemptuous.
All of these factors caused a lack of (or a dismissive attitude toward) compassion.
However, when my 85-year-old step-mom had to go to the hospital for hip surgery, I found myself opening up hugely to compassion for human beings and the human race. Long story short, I always perceived my step-mom kinda like I perceived myself: selfish but basically OK. We’re different people. When her companion died a couple of years ago she moved into a condo by herself so that she could be near her friends. Unfortunately both her daughters are critical of her and wouldn’t help, so my wife and I wound up taking care of her during her hospital stay and after. For some reason, looking out after the old gal really opened up my heart. When that happened I had a much better opinion of myself. (I told you I wasn’t very bright! Most people learn this a lot sooner than I did, especially if you have children, which I never did).
And that, for me, goes to the lesson of compassion and love.
On the one hand, unconditional love means unconditional acceptance of ANY act – including torture, murder, and all of the horrible acts human beings commit every day. “God loves us so much he allows us to do anything,” my grandmother would say. (Those of you who have children know exactly what I’m talking about. It doesn’t take a village to raise a child, but it sure as hell takes a lot of patience, compassion, and love.)
On the other hand, compassion means to help out when you see someone in need.
But what if the person is having his or her own lesson and suffering is just a part of that lesson? What of the person’s suffering is actually a good thing, a necessary result of their own attitudes and actions? How can you learn here in the duality unless you experience the consequences of your own beliefs and actions? If you compassionately prevent someone from going through the experience, aren’t you hindering their spiritual progress? This is the dualistic nature of compassion and love, which are higher vibrations. It is part and parcel of existence on earth: here, even higher vibrations have their lower harmonics.
So when should you exercise compassion and when should you exercise unconditional love and allow someone to work through their shit?
I’ve discovered that the answer to that, dear ones, depends entirely on you.
I think the first major lesson in third density is the lesson of Light and Dark. You gotta choose which way you are going to go! But after that comes the lesson of compassion and love. That’s at a higher level, once you’ve chosen the Light. The lessons involved in compassion vs love can’t occur until you’ve chosen the Light. Probably Mother Theresa knew all about that, and experienced it. I don’t know how much exposure you need to this lesson, but it’s probably different for each person.
What Is Life?
That brings me to the last section of what I wanted to talk about this month: What is Life?
My wife Jenny takes the purely spiritual / angelic POV, that life on earth is supposed to be fun, and that we’re not here to learn lessons but to be happy, to choose the Light side of the duality, and everything else is just people just not getting with the program. Well, she might be right because she’s an angel. Jenny says that places like earth have to exist so that we can experience all of the stuff it’s impossible to experience from Source. Esther Hicks compares it to a roller-coaster ride. Once you get on, you’re going 100 mph 100 feet in the air. You can always jump off but if you want to stay in the game you have to ride it out. Jenny says that you always go back to Source so why worry?
The other angle is that earth is here for a very, very important experiment that is vital to the evolution of the entire galaxy. This is what my favorite channeler, Lee Carroll, says. It’s what whistleblowers like Corey Goode say, that the earth is an experiment involving dozens of ET races who have mixed their genes with ours, trying to hop on our backs as we evolve spiritually out of third density. Lee Carroll says that the earth is a planet of free choice and that the decisions we make here affect the evolution of civilizations on planets in our own neighborhood and across the galaxy.
So which is it? Is the earth ultimately just a fun physical playground, or are we here for some grand purpose?
Maybe it’s both.
The Good News Front
Here’s an article from the Guardian of May 18, 2016:
PORTUGAL RUNS FOR FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT ON RENEWABLE ENERGY ALONE
Zero emission milestone reached as Iberian country is powered by just wind, solar and hydro-generated electricity for 107 hours
Portugal’s clean energy surge has been spurred by the EU’s renewable targets for 2020. As recently as 2013, renewables provided only about 23% of Portugal’s electricity. By 2015 that figure had risen to 48%.
By Arthur Neslen
Portugal kept its lights on with renewable energy alone for four consecutive days last week in a clean energy milestone revealed by data analysis of national energy network figures.
Electricity consumption in the Iberian country was fully covered by solar, wind and hydro power in an extraordinary 107-hour run that lasted from 6.45am on Saturday 7 May until 5.45pm the following Wednesday, the analysis says.
News of the zero emissions landmark comes just days after Germany announced that clean energy had powered almost all its electricity needs on Sunday 15 May, with power prices turning negative at several times in the day – effectively paying consumers to use it.
Oliver Joy, a spokesman for the Wind Europe trade association said: “We are seeing trends like this spread across Europe – last year with Denmark and now in Portugal. The Iberian peninsula is a great resource for renewables and wind energy, not just for the region but for the whole of Europe.”
James Watson, the CEO of SolarPower Europe said: “This is a significant achievement for a European country, but what seems extraordinary today will be commonplace in Europe in just a few years. The energy transition process is gathering momentum and records such as this will continue to be set and broken across Europe.”
As recently as 2013, Portugal generated half its electricity from combustible fuels, with 27% coming from nuclear, 13% from hydro, 7.5% from wind and 3% from solar, according to Eurostat figures.
By last year the figure had flipped, with wind providing 22% of electricity and all renewable sources together providing 48%, according to the Portuguese renewable energy association.
While Portugal’s clean energy surge has been spurred by the EU’s renewable targets for 2020, support schemes for new wind capacity were reduced in 2012.
Despite this, Portugal added 550MW of wind capacity between 2013 and 2016, and industry groups now have their sights firmly set on the green energy’s export potential, within Europe and without.
“An increased build-out of interconnectors, a reformed electricity market and political will are all essential,” Joy said. “But with the right policies in place, wind could meet a quarter of Europe’s power needs in the next 15 years.”
In 2015, wind power alone met 42% of electricity demand in Denmark, 20% in Spain, 13% in Germany and 11% in the UK.
In a move hailed as a “historic turning point” by clean energy supporters, UK citizens last week enjoyed their first ever week of coal-free electricity generation.
Watson said: “The age of inflexible and polluting technologies is drawing to an end and power will increasingly be provided from clean, renewable sources.” [italics mine]
My (made up and unfactual) post-article comment:
The U.S. Secretary of Energy said today that “alternative energy is a communist plot,” and that oil companies were “benevolent entities only out to serve the common good. Here in the US we’re proud of our energy generation from fossil fuels. Our goal is 100% use of fossil fuels by the year 2030. Oil is great! Coal is great!” Ha-ha-ha.
Have a good month of June.
