New Economic Model

Supplemental Materials, No.1 (Introduction)

 

           The new findings that are part of this document have been a great source of surprise and satisfaction.  Initially intended to reiterate the obvious defects on which the capitalist system is operating, and providing new elements like the “Law of Sacrifice” (13) as support for the new vision, one after another piece of information started sprouting up, mainly related to actual work that is being done by different organizations and individuals.  “The Ethics of Globalization: a Baha’i  Perspective” (14) , taken from a speech by Professor Suheil Bushrui, was the first insight that led to the work being done by the Baha’i community as shown in “Sustainable Development and the Human Spirit”, (15) (UNCED) all of which seems to come from “A Baha’i Perspective on Development”. (16) Similarly the article “The Economics of Social Responsibility and Spirituality” (17)  led to “PROUT-Agenda for a New Age” (18) which on its turn led us to “What Is An Indicator of Sustainability?,” (19)  with all the related information that the PROUT organization provides.

              “Rescuing Hope,” (20) from the international conference “Ethics and the Culture of Development: Building a Sustainable Economy” supports the notion that there are a significant number of human Interest groups working on the same direction with more and more clarity over context and scope of the work that needs to be done.

              Inspirations that come from Mahatma Gandhi, “On Economics and Bread Labour,” (21) and others, such as “Spiritual Vision for The New Era,” (22) complement the practical approach of Jubilee Research @ NEF (New Economics Foundation) (23), along with “An Unusual Meeting of Bankers and Believers” (24) or “In Europe, Business People Apply Spiritual Insights To Economic Problems,” (25) and the very effective actions taken by Co-op America (26).  In sharp contrast, a piece that stimulates a sense of urgency for a unified approach to a new economic vision is “A New Economic Model” (27) by Alasdair Murray, corroborated by the recent decision of the EU to cave in to the pressure and accept the imposition of the USA to allow GE products.  We see how “…that would greatly increase the chances of the EU meeting its highly ambitious goal of becoming the most competitive (aggressive, greedy) and dynamic (roll over the rest even at the cost of human lives) in the world by 2010…” Europe is being pushed into traveling the same road from which we are trying to divert.

              As a closing remark, from a yoga perspective it seems pertinent to include some excerpts from the book Handbook to Higher Consciousness by Ken Keyes; it will help us to understand the role that the chakras, or Centers of Energy, or Centers of Consciousness, as he calls them, play in the present behaviour of society.  It is also becoming more clear that the time has come to raise the level of consciousness to a “Higher Consciousness Human”, as described by Ken Keyes. For that, these concepts, that are also part of the “Perennial Truth,” or “Wisdom of the Ages,” or “Ageless Wisdom,” as they are variously referred to, must be incorporated in the new vision explicitly, in a way that the relationship between societal behavour, and individuals operating on the three lower centers, becomes obvious, as does the need to work from the fourth center in order to align economy with the higher level of consciousness of humankind.

           Ken Keyes says:

  Millions of years ago when our animal ancestors had to survive in the jungle, it was necessary to have an instantly effective fight or flight mechanism.  When a tiger was about to spring, an automatic emotional response was a life saver. A nervous shock was needed to squirt adrenalin into the blood so that muscles became jet powered.  Emotional alarms were needed to command full attention.  When a tiger was ready to jump, there was no time to admire the beautiful sunset.  As a jungle survival mechanism, our ancestors were programmed for automatic duality—automatic feelings of otherness, threat, and paranoia.  Survival required instant domination of consciousness to meet the perils of the jungle.

We are the pioneers in the evolution of human consciousness.  It was only about 10,000 years ago  that our ancestors built the first cities.  As civilization grew, survival no longer depended on the instant fight or flight of the jungle.  Survival and happiness now depend on tuning in to the overall situation involving ourselves, the people around us, and the total environment of the here and now.  Perceptiveness, wisdom, and oneness are now the ingredients of effective and happy living.  But our biocomputers are still programmed for jungle fight or flight—for a fast release of adrenalin into the blood stream, and for rapid heart beat—for automatic anger and fear. In our social interactions, our consciousness magnifies molehills and makes them into mountains—and this constant distortion destroys our energy, our insight, and our ability to love. 

Thus survival in the jungle meant that we had to be programmed for instant paranoia—instant fear—instant anger—instant perception of duality.  Survival in our world today means that we must have instant perceptions of oneness—of love—of compassion with everyone and understanding of everything around us.  When we learn to cut through our paranoid jungle programming, we are on our way to higher consciousness and happiness.

Evolution is now working to remedy this primitive jungle alarm wiring in our brain that tends to hold us on lower consciousness levels.  Paranoid, dualistic individuals who cannot love themselves and others tend to get heart trouble, ulcers, other psychosomatic diseases, are accident-prone, etc.  Perhaps in 100,000 years, through the ruthless survival of the fittest, humans may have nervous systems that are automatically structured to produce instant insights that facilitate love and oneness. But that doesn’t help you and me…

We have escaped from the domination of instincts (inflexible learned behavior) that guides animals through their daily life situations. Since the young human is not provided with a full repertoire of automatic fixed responses, we are unable to independently cope with life for a number of years after birth.  This long period of plasticity and openness to learning complex life guidance patterns helps us avoid fixed preprogrammed behavior. For example, this long nurturing period lets us learn complex language systems—and our flexibility is such that we can learn to communicate in Swahili as easily as in English or any other language.

Instead of a complete pattern of animal-type instincts to provide survival responses to life situations, the young child uses ego mechanisms backed by hair-trigger emotions to develop security, sensation, and power magnification of the moment-to-moment sensory inputs.  Our personal development into fulfilling, happy lives (as well as the progression of civilization beyond the dangerous power consciousness) depends on our getting free of our ego-backed, subject-object, me-them, security-sensation-power hang-ups.

It may be helpful to see this progression of consciousness in outline form as follows:

   

                                                   METHOD OF PROTECTING 
            ORGANISM                            AND ENHANCING THE ORGANISM

                   Animal                                                Relatively fixed life style based on instinct or
                                                                        unlearned preprogrammed  behavior.

                   Lower Consciousness Human            Ego-directed, subject-object, emotion-backed, security, sensation, and power consciousness (increasingly involving the rational mind) that makes us inflexibly guard and protect habitual folkways and personal patterns.

                   Higher Consciousness Human            The ego-driven negative emotions have been replaced by wide-ranging insight and deep intuitive understanding giving full flexibility to flow in mutually supportive and loving ways with no inflexible folkways and personal patterns.

   

          The biocomputer with which you are equipped is the most remarkable instrument in the universe.  Your only problem is to learn to use it properly.  It is capable of handling two million visual inputs and one hundred thousand auditory inputs at any one time. Your biocomputer operates continually throughout all of its parts and is capable of making millions of simultaneous computations. It operates with enormous power primarily on unconscious levels—with only a tiny portion of its activity rising to the level of consciousness. The conscious level of your biocomputer is analogous to the print-out of the man-made computers. Your journey into higher consciousness is a matter of your learning how to properly program your remarkable biocomputer. When you really learn to operate your exquisite mechanism, you will be able to fully realize your potential for a happy life.

              A wonderful thing about life is that it is naturally good. Life is set up to work—to produce love, fulfillment, and happiness continuously.  However, various situations during your first years of life conditioned you in the methods of consciousness which continually generate unhappiness in your life. Yet every current experience can aid you in your growth toward higher consciousness if you know how to use it…   

            “Most of us,” said the cosmic humorist, “go through life not knowing what we want, but feeling darned sure this isn’t it.”      

Over 99% of the people in the western world live on lower consciousness levels characterized by trying to find enough security, sex, pleasant sensations, ego rushes, prestige, money, power, and status. This endless struggle yields lives of constant resentment, worry, suspicion, anger, jealousy, shyness, and fear.  Everything people tell themselves they must do to be happy ends up yielding more frustration than joy.  The more successful a person is in making money, collecting skills and possessions, developing exciting sexual relationships, acquiring knowledge and degrees, and achieving positions of status, power, and prestige, the less loving, peaceful, and contented he may find him or herself.

              And yet it is not these things in and of themselves that create an unhappy life—it is the internal mental addiction or desire for them that minute-by-minute keeps one from enjoying life.  Addictions (or emotion-backed demands) bring fear of non-fulfillment; jealousy that someone may steal our source of fulfillment; anger when someone thwarts us; cynicism if constantly undersupplied; paranoia if constantly threatened; boredom if we’re making no progress toward satisfying our addictions; worry if we can’t see a steady supply; anxiety if we’re worried about being worried; and unhappiness when the outside world does not supply us with whatever we are addicted to.  Since the nature of life is such that we win some and lose some, an addicted person has no chance of living a happy, loving, peaceful, conscious, wise, and effective life.  And the addictive programming is not necessary to find and enjoy that which we prefer in life.

              You are ready for growth into the happiness of higher consciousness when you realize the utter futility of trying to live a beautiful life by your efforts to rearrange or change the world of people and things outside of you to fit your addictions and desires.  You will find you have only to rearrange your own personal, automatically programmed responses to life situations—most of which are childhood hangups.

              As you work toward higher levels of consciousness, you will find that you have always had enough to be happy. It is the patterns in your head that make you unhappy, although you usually blame the people and conditions outside you for your unhappiness. Your journey into higher consciousness can enable you to be loving, peaceful, wise, and free of a constant barrage of unpleasant emotional feelings...                                                                    

Understanding the connection and the need to work with the fourth center is what will facilitate implementing the new vision that has been so well expressed by so many different authors and organizations.

Last but not least, “Economia con Rostro Humano”  can play the role of an eye opener because of the pristine and scholarly way in which the failure of capitalism in Latin America illustrates what is being replicated in the rest of the world.  Our thanks to Dr. Bernardo Kliksberg for such a wonderful gift for the progress of humankind.

 

                                                                                       Om Shanti,

                                                                                      Victor (Vyasa)

                                                                                       Washington, D.C., Nov. 27, 2003.

 

 

 

 

13) The Law of Sacrifice, by Mrs. Annie Besant, from Laws of the Higher Life.

14)   The Ethics of Globalization: a Baha’i  Perspective. Professor Suheil Bushrui, June, 2003.

15)   Sustainable Development and the Human Spirit, from “The Most Vital Challenge” presentation to UNCED, Earth Summit, 1992.

16)   A Baha’i Perspective on Development. Article from www.bahai.org.

17)   The Economics of Social Responsibility and Spirituality, by Dada Maheshvarananda, in The New Renaissance, Vol. 10, No. 4, Issue 35, Winter 2001-2002.

18)   PROUT-Agenda for a New Age, from www.PROUT.org.

19)   What Is An Indicator of Sustainability?,” from www.sustainablemeasures.org

20)   Rescuing Hope, by Dr. Juan Antonio Blanco, at the international conference : “Ethics and the Culture of Development: Building a Sustainable Economy”, 1998.

21)   On Economics and Bread Labour, by Mahatma Gandhi.

22)   Spiritual Vision for The New Era, www. Intuition-in-service.org

23)   Jubilee Research @ NEF (New Economics Foundation). www.jubileeresearch.org.

24)   An Unusual Meeting of Bankers and Believers. www.onecountry.org.

25)   In Europe, Business People Apply Spiritual Insights To Economic Problems. Ibid.

26)   Co-op America. “The 2003 Year-End Report to Members of Co-op America.”

27)   A New Economic Model, by Alasdair Murray.

 

 

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