A Kabbalah philosopher on the US education system, social control, the IMF, and happiness

From Laitman.com:

US Schools Are Creating Worker Robots, Not Human Beings Posted: 15 Jun 2009 05:45 AM PDT Forty-six U.S. states have announced that they will design a unified child education program, spanning from kindergarten through high school. The goal is to work out a unified standard suitable for institutions of higher education the world over. The main indicator of success will be “competitiveness at the international level.” My Comment: This program might, in the end, completely stifle a child’s ingenuity. Why are our schools so unsuccessful? With the emergence of mass in-line production at the turn of the 19th century, wherein man and machine supplemented and replaced one another, its creator, American engineer Frederick Taylor, placed the organization of machine and human labor on the same footing. The factory workers necessarily became replaceable machine parts. After the invention of the conveyor belt by Henry Ford, there arose a need to train factory workers faster, as though on a human conveyor belt. This need fueled the formation of the modern school system: separate stages called “grades,” where children are grouped strictly by age. The children are expected to climb from grade to grade in the allotted time. Every class has an overseer, a “teacher,” precise divisions in time, bells, breaks, and so on. The result are schools that are isolated from life, created with the purpose of churning out factory workers akin to the interchangeable soldiers for the army of Friedrich the Great. The principle of education has remained the same to this day. School provides very little knowledge (graduates leave school retaining only about 5% of what they had been taught), but in no way does it make a child into a person. This is the core of all of society’s problems: the upbringing we give our children determines the society we create. Related Material: Laitman.com Post: Schools Should Teach Children How To Become Human Beings Laitman.com Post: The Goal Of Education Should Be Perfection And Equivalence To Nature Laitman.com Post: What Can We Teach Our Children? Bail Yourself Out: “Teach Your Children Well” Share This This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

The Role Of Mass Media Is To Serve The World Posted: 15 Jun 2009 02:00 AM PDT A question I received: How does the role of the mass media in the process of common correction have to change? My Answer: Correction of man can happen only under the influence of society. We all have to bond properly as the result of the correction, and in order for this to happen, everyone has to receive examples of correct connections from his environment. Therefore, we have to use the mass media, the most powerful communication tool, to create the proper environment for everyone in the world. The media has to turn into an instrument of correction for the world in response to society’s demands and by the pressure placed upon it by the government. Only powerful and broad based media will be able to influence a person in such a way that he will feel the need to change his relationship with his environment. Children have to demand proper conduct from their parents, otherwise they will be ashamed of their parents’ behavior, and each person has to feel ashamed of treating others badly. This is possible only because of changes brought about by society’s demands. It is in this way that we will make the mass media truly become an instrument of connection, rather having it remain as an instrument of selling to gain profit. Related Material: Laitman.com Post: The Kabbalah Channel, YES 66, Brings Good Changes Laitman.com Post: Public Opinion Must Be Changed Through An Education About Goodness Laitman.com Post: Changing the Information Supplied By The Mass Media Is of Prime Importance Bail Yourself Out: II. Learning from Nature. Chapter 9:”Creating a Media that Cares” Share This This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Shareholders Are Not Likely To Revive The IMF (International Monetary Fund) Posted: 14 Jun 2009 10:45 PM PDT In the News (from Truthout): “The IMF is Back? Think Again” - Recent events illustrate nothing more than the fact that the world’s largest economies, who happen to be the Fund’s largest shareholders, view it as an instrument to manage emergency crisis financing. That was never, however, in question. It was the borrowers who saw the need for substantial reform in the IMF before this emergency financing function could be played effectively and, in fact, it is the infusion of large amounts of funding, by freeing the IMF’s hands and relieving its fears of survival that will act against such reforms. On the other hand, there’s little that suggests a sense of renewed faith on the IMF by its main shareholders, let alone by the borrowers. … Clearly, there’s not much evidence of a change of heart among IMF shareholders to revive and strengthen the IMF, particularly among the richest industrial countries. My Comment: Suffering will bring us to recognition of globalization and the integral nature of humanity, forcing us to create a world government (regulator) that will not revoke individual nations’ governments but include them within itself. Related Material: Laitman.com Post: How Will The Society Of The Future Begin? Laitman.com Post: Would Common Currency Worldwide Be A Good Step? Laitman.com Post: Another Step Toward Global Awareness Lecture in Arosa Share This

Playing Your Part Posted: 14 Jun 2009 08:30 PM PDT The following was sent to me by Maxim Matushevsky, a Bnei Baruch member from Moscow: Do you remember your first steps as you began to study music? You sit on an uncomfortable stool with your feet barely touching the floor. Before you there is a disobedient and stiff keyboard, above it is a music book full of scribble, unintelligible signs, and notes in Italian. Next to you there is a teacher. You try hard to understand what is encoded on this printed sheet, while almost breaking the joints of your fingers as you attempt to place them on the right keys in the right order and with the right pressure. The cacophony of your efforts fill the room. Your teacher is displeased. You consider yourself a dunce and a loser. You hate the composer. He must be a pervert: how can one compose this let alone play it? He must have had five hands. You are angry with your teacher, your parents, yourself and this stupid instrument. Meanwhile the sun shines outside, boys play soccer and laugh. No! I will never play this! Let me go! Days have passed. Your fingers get used to striking the right keys. You can even discern some fragments of a melody (wow!) that sounds not too bad. Weeks have passed. You no longer look at the music sheet, your fingers carry you along the keyboard. Suddenly you catch yourself enjoying this beautiful multilayered polyphonic melody! You are proud of yourself; you experience an ocean of emotions. So that’s what the composer experienced when he created this beautiful music! What if I put an accent on this place? And in doing so you hear a new sound and new emotions arise! This music is beautiful and infinite! You feel an affinity with the composer. You are thankful to him for helping you to experience this excitement. You are thankful to your teacher, who did not spare you and made you learn to read music. You are free and happy! But where is the freedom? You strictly play the music following what someone composed in accordance with the strict laws of harmony. However, now you can contribute your tiny part through the performance and interpretation of the composition, without breaking its plan and integrity. You become a co-composer! It’s your instrument, it’s YOUR music, and it is composed for YOU to play it! Related Material: Laitman.com Post: We Are Programmed In This World, But There Is Freedom In the Upper World Kabbalah, Science and the Meaning of Life: Between Kabbalah and Science Baal HaSulam Article: “The Freedom” Share This Research and Discover the Hidden Forces of the Universe Newsletter No. 167 “One first needs to study our world. It is a global world, where all parts are interdependent. You have to feel it! Only then you can proceed to action. More >> ” Video of the Week Implement the Universal Forces in Your Daily Life By studying the force of nature that exists in and around our world, we employ that power upon ourselves in all areas of life, and it's expressed to everyone around us. Watch [07:30] From Michael Laitman's Personal Blog Reveal a New Reality to the Degree You Become Similar to It Question: How can one reveal the whole system of reality and make the right calculation? After all, even physicists with the most up-to-date computers cannot determine the exact location of an electron. And what does it mean to completely reveal the universe? Answer: Physicists delve so deeply into their studies that the borderline between matter, waves, and other forms of existence fades. At this borderline our senses stop perceiving phenomena. True reality is revealed in the form of forces that control Nature. These positive and negative forces unite at their source, which is called the Upper Force. Knowledge of it provides the basis for us to make the correct calculation. However, if we wish to exist correctly in this world, as compelled by nature, then we are able to do this only by rising to the next degree. This means revealing the general force that acts in nature and discovering the mechanism of its influence on all parts of the universe. This will allow us to make our every action in balance with the all-encompassing force of nature and live more positively. More>> Article of the Week The Science of Kabbalah, A Method to Research Hidden Dimensions In order to research itself and the surroundings, humanity has developed various sciences such as physics, chemistry, biology etc. They are called Natural Sciences, and they are based on man’s five senses. But among all sciences, there is one that develops us quite differently; it is called the science of Kabbalah. Beyond the corporeal world that we research, there is another world, concealed. Though we cannot see it, we do feel its existence. But why do we assume its existence if we cannot feel it? It is because we see that there are specific laws, which are a part of a broader reality. We understand that such general, more rational laws, which describe our lives and our existence comprehensively, simply must exist. There is something that eludes us, slips our awareness. Hence, there is something around us we cannot grasp. But how can we come to grasp it if we don’t have the appropriate senses? Can we create them, or acquire them, in order to feel a more complete and real creation?More>> EUROPEAN CONGRESS Unity Above Boundaries Set the path for a better future for Europe and the world at this year's European Kabbalah Congress. UNITE WITH BERLIN Gathering of Friends in Toronto Let's join together in a supporting action that will synchronize our hearts with our friends in Europe. 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