New day in old way

I was listening to a couple of African-American political commentators when the first pundit said that the world would be disappointed if Obama was elected and did not push for social justice and equitable treatment or at least the liberals. The pundit-2 noted that no one expects Obama to be a Black Power advocate and champion the cause of Black people. The first pundit responded that social justice and equitable treatment was not a "Black people" issue but one of fairness. The reality is that Black people are at the bottom of the barrel using just about any social indicator that you can choose.

The significance of this exchange is that it speaks to the fundamental contradiction that we each face when we attempt to excel in a world that is based on "riba" or something for nothing. If we can not get past the need to conform to the existing dictates of society we end up with new caretakers for the same old house. This is old house needs more than a new coat of paint. It needs more than putting up new siding. But recognizing that requires us to suspend our belief in the righteousness of the existing order. It means that if we are down and don't deserve to be we need to get up. But if we are where we are suppose to be then we can lay down and feel content. The idea that Obama is not either willing or able to challenge the existing inequity and bias in society is a sad commentary for the future.





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The magic in the mundane

 We look at a world where the assmuption is that the world variables that affect our material existence is understood well enough to manage it in a way that will allow us to head off catastrophes. But do we? I mean do we really?

We have seen the narrow definitions of what is an what is not held by European societies prove themselves wrong and usher in a new orthodoxy. The latest shake up in the financial markets does not bring us new knowledge rather it subjects us to a chastening that is a recurring theme. The golbalization of the twenty-first century is no grander than that of the seventeenth century (or was it the eighteenth?). The most well remembered depression that occurred in the 1930s is considered by some to have been outshone by the one in the late 1800s. But neither the pattern of the past which incorporates the point of existence that we are currently experiences or the repeated repetitions within the various aspects of our life that demand reciprocity and create it in ways that are devastating enough to shake the desire for something for nothing.

Science is showing the limits of taking without giving, consuming without producing, and getting something while trying to give nothing. Global warming is an example of dumping product into the environment poisoning the air, water and body of living creatures.

Now the financial arena is wreaking its own havoc on those who would take and take without giving back. 

Human health is experiencing all kinds of problems with cancers of all kind on the rise, endocrine disruptors, precocious puberty, etc., etc., etc.

Then ther are all kinds of problems affecting animal health with disappearing bees, disappearing frogs, deformities and frailties that are evidence of threats to the non-human animal world.

Each of these situation are representative of the spiritual era many of us, not excluding myself, are experiencing.

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Looking for a friend

We are faced with a mirror that reflects our intent, interests and motivations when we look at the current financial situation in the U.S. and internationally. One point that many people point to (including me) is the role of the institutions and the business culture in promoting an attitude of exploitative entitlement. An example of an investigation into the depths and the breadth of this financial crisis is this radio episode.

What we see is partly a spiritual reckoning that expresses the tendency to seek balance. Mathematicians call it "regression to the mean." In ancient it was called "maat." In the Judeo-Chrisitan tradition it is called the "golden rule," i.e., do unto others as you would have them do unto you or want for your brother what you want for yourself. This tendency that is expressed by the universe as reciprocity is also seen in human affairs in the economics arena as market corrections or the boom and bust of the business cycle.

Fundamentally we lose sight of the exploitation factor that is a central and integral part of the capitalist system. The edge that capitalism provides over other economic systems is to carve off a piece of others efforts for your self. It is based on the idea that we should get something for nothing. The same fiction that allows us to treat corporations as natural people with all the associated rights and privileges also justifies the role of capital as a commodity when lent. This neo-credit has been looked down upon and objected to in religious traditions across time and space. We find that in the Jewish tradition only non-Jews were exploited by charging interest. It was forbidden to charge interest from other Jews. Islam has maintained its prohibition against "riba."

The current financial crisis shows that the international capitalist monetary system has lost sight of the old hustler's adage: use don't abuse.





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