Posts tagged "Humanity"

How your Daily Life Can Change the World

Today’s world is reaching a crisis point, and while many of our social structures are still intact for this moment, there will come a time when major changes will need to occur in the way we are living our lives on a day to day basis. This bold statement is shared not to create alarm and fear, but rather to awaken a sense of responsibility within all of us. This awakening has already begun, and most people are now aware that our current way of life is causing harm to the precious Earth we live on. The question now for many of us is … what can I do?

Our lives are already chock full of challenges. Just managing the day to day realities of life is for many of us a full time job. The growing complexities of life that have developed from the accelerated pace of change can at times feel overwhelming. We hear news reports of natural disasters, wars, poverty, disease, environmental pollution, and a seemingly endless number of new challenges … the amount of overwhelm can cause us to numb ourselves, and shut ourselves off from the realities that are happening around us.

How then do we help our struggling world? What can we do? The answer to this question lies within our hearts, and is much bigger and more important than we may realize. There are certain obvious things that we can do on a daily basis to conserve energy, recycle, and be more environmentally conscious. Thankfully, more and more people are stepping up and creating change in their daily habits in this way. This helps a great deal towards beginning to reverse the cycle of abuse to the Earth and lack of respect for her resources. There is a larger change that needs to happen however, that is at the root of the world’s problems. It is one that we all participate in unless we choose not to, and this has to do with our consciousness.

Consciousness? How can that affect the world situation? You may be wondering just how changing our awareness can affect things. Isn’t that in the realm of the metaphysical, for people who wear robes and chant and do strange spiritual practices? Dearest ones, taking responsibility for our consciousness is not just for those with a spiritual awareness. Our consciousness affects the world we live in, whether we are aware of it or not. The thoughts and energy we put into the world have an impact, and our consciousness creates the actions and choices we make on a daily basis.

Just how did the world get into the state that it is in now? It all started with where our collective consciousness has been. Humanity has been involved in developing our individuality, and in experiencing the world of physical reality without much attention to the larger whole of which we are a part. This was a necessary step in our evolution, but now times have changed. We’ve gone as far as we can in developing our individuality and unique identities.

Unfortunately, as we’ve explored our individuality, we have made choices that do not take into account the affects that our actions have on the larger whole. We’ve chosen to use energy resources that are finite, and that cause pollution of the Earth. We’ve chosen farming practices that remove the essential ingredients from our food, in favor of mass production. The lack of nutrients from our food has increased our health problems, but our healing practices have attempted to fix the symptoms without addressing the root causes. We’ve chosen to pursue individual wealth that brings prosperity to us and our families, but leaves the majority of humankind suffering in poverty and starvation.

All of these challenges we now face started with a consciousness that had forgotten our essential connections to the larger whole of life. We are divine beings that entered into physical reality in order to learn, and now at this crucial time in the evolution of humanity, we are beginning to learn how to reconnect with ourselves, with each other, and with the Earth. We are beginning to learn that our thoughts create our reality, and that what we think and feel matters as much as what we do.

One of the great spiritual truths shared with us by all spiritual teachers and religions is that we are all connected. We are a part of God, who lives within us. In the same way, all others in our world are equally a part of God, and are an essential part of the essential whole of life. Therefore, if we harm another, we ultimately harm ourselves. If we prevent others from receiving what they need, we limit ourselves because we are constricting the free flow of God’s light and life force.

These concepts are not new, but they have been mostly in the background of human consciousness, which up until this point was focused on pursuing more individualized goals. Times have changed, and now the only solution that can be found to the problems of today’s world is to work together, and to reconnect ourselves with our divine eternal nature as souls.

When we are no longer separated from the divine source of all light and love, our relationship with ourselves and with others changes. We are no longer alone, seeking to get our needs met, and competing with others who all are trying to get their needs met. Instead, we go within to connect with our hearts, to understand who we are, and what our purpose is for being on the Earth at this time. Each soul is present on the Earth for a reason, and when we discover and fulfill that purpose, our life makes a positive contribution to the world and in the process our own needs are met and fulfilled.

When we realize that our consciousness matters and has an impact on others, we take responsibility for our thoughts as well as our actions. Are you holding a grudge towards someone in your life? With an awakened consciousness, you realize that holding on to this grudge is creating a blockage in the free flow of light and love in your life, and you take steps to heal this pain you are carrying. You may not be able to let go of the pain right away, but your intention to let go, rather than to hold on, opens up the energy of healing. In the larger network of human consciousness, you’ve just created a small pocket of light and love, which enters the atmosphere of the Earth and strengthens the love and light present in the world. This small pocket is like a candle, which lights other candles that it comas into contact with.

On the other hand, if you choose to hold on to your anger, blame, judgment and so on, the emotions you are holding onto contribute to the cloud of negative energy that is present around the Earth during this time. You feel entitled to be angry, and refuse to budge. You may even act out your feelings and create disharmony or even harm to others. In this way your choice contributes to this very same energy pattern which is prevalent in so many of today’s world conflicts and wars. Anger, blame, judgment, entitlement, and the unwillingness to compromise are all fed by the daily thoughts and feelings of others.

Do you see the choice you have each day, and at each moment? Your consciousness either adds to or detracts from the presence of love and light on the Earth. The love creates a feeling of harmony, and of possibilities and hope. The love opens up new possibilities and ideas, and can help us find creative solutions to the world problems.

You are a part of this love, and your daily choices can support and strengthen the many positive actions of change now happening in the world. In this way your daily life can change the world, and can help others to awaken, heal and contribute positively as well. You are blessed to be present at this monumental time in the Earth’s history, with an unprecedented opportunity to grow, learn, heal, transform, and to participate in creating a New Earth.

Mashubi Rochell
http://www.articlesbase.com/new-age-articles/how-your-daily-life-can-change-the-world-263699.html

If the world truly did end up into a tyrannical oligarchy world government, how would you deal with it?

Just imagine it for a moment …

The remanence of a once free humanity are forced to live within highly controlled compact prison like cities.

Travel is highly restricted. Super highways connect the mega cities and keep the population from entering in unauthorized zones.

No human activity is private. A.I. super computers chronicle and categorize every action.

A prison planet dominated by a ruthless gang of control freaks, whose power can never be challenged.

How would you deal with living in a world like this?

Wake up. We are already under such a system.
What do you think the American system of Divorce is?
Lawyers are the tyrannical oligarchy of the world today.
PROOF: They take away your jury, and your "not guilty" plea. They write laws to encourage destruction of the American family by giving all the power to the marketing system. (See recent Supreme court decision as an example). The American marketing system is designed around selling to your emotions and they are unscrupulous in their efforts to drive wedges between spouses and parents.
The laws are written to encourage and endorse only one side of the divorce argument: (People who want divorce as an option) People (like true Christians) who cannot accept divorce under any circumstances are not represented by this system of divorce. If they wanted to write laws to protect both sides they would simply require individuals to decide up front: Do you want a marriage or do you want a partnership. In a partnership contract either side can get out without any reason for a 50/50 split. In a marriage you are committing to your partner that there is no way out and that you will (like a solder protecting the country) rather die than fail to make it work. Doesn’t a person have the right to know the commitment level of the person they are marrying? Doesn’t this country stand more to gain by learning "how to get along" and teaching it to others? Why must we cater to the destructive element?
It’s like car insurance. Can you get coverage for an accident if you failed to sign up for insurance? People in this country are being cheated on a wholesale level. If there is an inalienable right in this country it should be the right to know the terms under which you are going to bring children into this world. Divorce is inhumane because we are forcing children to deal with psychological situations that we refuse to ask adults to deal with. God will bring great shame on this world for this system.
The only way to deal with the horror of this tyrannical oligarchy world is to run to God’s word. Only He can keep you safe. Read your Bible before it’s too late.
All these events are proof that we are near the end of time. In fact it can be proven that the Bible declares (through parables) that Judgment day is MAY 21 2011.
1COR 2: 9-16 indicates that the true believer can know. "No man knoweth" is an argument reserved for the unsaved.
Read your Bible and be ready.
God bless you all

Don’t Try to Save the World

All probabilities exist at the same time, and in the same space. What you wish to experience is just one probability that already exists.

Life is a buffet of endless choices that is already available to us. Everyday we choose what we want to experience this day. Whether we turn right or left at the end of the driveway is not dictated to use by necessity, responsibility or anything else. It is a conscious choice. The fact that we do have responsibilities only leads us to make certain choices that reflect how we feel about those responsibilities. If we choose to experience them we make a choice at the end of the driveway that says “I’m responsible.” If we do not wish to accept the responsibility that we have created, we simply make a choice that says “I’m not responsible.”

Our actions represent our thoughts-it is a physical symbol of how we are thinking in the moment. We cannot demonstrate a thought physically that does not demonstrate our true thoughts unless we are insane, and even then there is a thought behind the action.

The world is perfect the way it is. The circumstances and conditions of the world are our thoughts made manifest. The world is the way it is because that is how we want it to be. If it is not, then it represents our global insanity-our thinking is not working. But the world does not have to be changed-we do! If what we are experiencing is not what we desired or want to experience, then there is something that is not working for us, and it needs to be corrected.

If we consider ourselves highly evolved persons and we have created a world that we do not wish to experience-there is something wrong with our thinking. We have clearly not demonstrated our superiority or enlightenment as a collective world body.

There are only three possible exceptions to this-we may indeed be insane, or it was our desire to experience this world as it is now. The other possibility is that we created a situation that has huge benefits and opportunities for growth. It is easy to pollute, but much more difficult to correct the problem. The industrial revolution has done much to expand our technical expertise, but has done little to demonstrate our enlightenment. However the fallout from this growth may be a gift in disguise, and within our ability to turn our circumstances around.

It may be our subconscious desire to expand even more quickly in order to save ourselves from the damage that we have done. When people have a common goal, i.e., one of survival, they begin to work more effectively together and change comes quickly. Reaction to crisis or disaster brings unity in thought, and the combined thought process brings greater changes faster.

If humanity sees itself as lost, the global circumstances are reflecting that thought. In order to restore order chaos is created, and the chaos demands more thought energy and unity to bring order once again.

It is clear that as a race of people we have not really evolved very much spiritually. So at a subconscious level we are now creating circumstances in our environment that are going to give us the opportunity to learn from our mistakes, and bring out in each one of us, a whole new era of thoughtful enlightenment that is life affirming.

The circumstances of the world, natural-disasters, poverty, cruelty, inequity, and war are not punishments from God or anyone else. They were created by us individually and en masse. They are opportunities for growth, and greater co-operation and spiritual enlightenment. When we rise from our own insanity, and see what is obvious-what we have done-we will be able to change it.

The world is the way it is, because it is what we wanted to experience at some level of consciousness. We now have another opportunity to change it, if we no longer wish to experience it, in its present condition-if we can accept the responsibility for its condition, then we also have the power to change it. If we pass that responsibility onto others or God, then we will be waiting a very long time for them to change it. The creator does not perform miracles-he gave humanity to ability to do them for itself.

Miracles are simply thoughts manifested, that do not reflect current conditions. The world does not need a miracle unless we believe that it does. Then, and only then will we have the power to change it. If disasters and wars are the wake-up call for a world that it has gone insane, then we are now in the position to acknowledge it, and alter our thoughts to manifest the world we desire to experience.

It is not necessary to change the world from what it is. This probability will always exist. It is within each of us to change our thoughts about the world, and how we want to experience it, and manifest the world that we desire into our present reality.

Leave this world alone-create something new. Put all your efforts and energy into thoughts of a new world that you wish to experience, and you will create it. If it is your desire to experience changing the present world, that is were your energy will go, and that is what you will experience. If you want to experience a “changed” world-focus your attention on that world which already exists as another possibility.

However you cannot put all your efforts and energy into creating a new world, while you are still holding the same thoughts that created the one that you now experience. That is another demonstration of insanity-change comes when you change your thoughts, and your actions reflect that change. You can’t keep doing the same things expecting different results-it just does not work that way.

You can not save the world-the world does not need saving. You need to save yourself from yourself.

Roy E. Klienwachter
http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/dont-try-to-save-the-world-68310.html

Have you seen Fall of the Republic?

With the establishment at every level desperately attempting to extinguish the simmering fires of fury now burning within the psyche of grass roots America, devastated at the effect The Obama Deception had in unlocking people from the hypnotic trance of the left-right paradigm, Fall Of The Republic arrives to deliver the sucker punch to the new world order.

Resistance to tyranny is spreading like wildfire all around us as the masses finally begin the long process of awakening to the agenda of the globalists that targets them for total domination and the elimination of all human freedom and dignity.

But only with the activism of you, the front line soldier in the Infowar, can we ever hope to reach more people and accelerate the transformation of understanding now enveloping the planet as the new world order similarly accelerates its programs of world government and global enslavement in the knowledge that their time is running out.

We are putting out this urgent call to action to everyone reading these words – get Fall Of The Republic – get the DVD or download a high-quality version at Prison Planet.tv – make copies and hand them out, seed the online version to the four corners of the Internet. Spread the truth virally and help us reach tens of millions of people, just as we did with The Obama Deception.

This is not just about opening minds, its about saving souls from eternal bondage to the new world order system that seeks to strip them completely of their true inherent shining spark of humanity and love.

This is your chance to be part of history, to stand up for freedom, to stand up for humanity and become part of the solution that finally defeats the dark agenda of the new world order and leads to the spiritual renaissance of the 21st century.

Fall Of The Republic: The Presidency Of Barack Obama (FULL MOVIE)

http://gandeste.org/usa/fall-of-the-republic/6904

Fall Of The Republic documents how an offshore corporate cartel is bankrupting the US economy by design. Leaders are now declaring that world government has arrived and that the dollar will be replaced by a new global currency.

David Icke: The Global Spiritual Awakening Of Humanity Part 1/5

http://www.prisonplanet.tv

http://www.infowars.com

David Icke: The Global Spiritual Awakening Of Humanity

In an exclusive interview for Prison Planet.tv members filmed in Phoenix Arizona, lecturer and author David Icke explains how the panic-stricken elite are desperate to put the lid back on a global awakening that is stalling their agenda for world domination. Icke details how the irresistible force, the mass of humanity awakening to the global agenda, is coming face to face with what thinks it is the immovable object, the new world order.
Icke explains how drugs, toxic food and electromagnetic pollution are all being ramped up in a last ditch effort to dumb humanity down to a sheep-like mentality so they can be more easily controlled.
The biggest headache for the global elite is the fact that they are vastly outnumbered by humanity and thus are finding it more and more difficult to control populations, which is why they are pursuing genocidal measures of population reduction by attacking our immune systems via food, vaccines and other biochemical attacks, explains Icke, labeling ludicrous the fact that infants are being injected with no less than 25 different vaccines before they reach the age of two.

Icke also recalls his 1997 meeting with a CIA agent during which he was told that microchips had been developed that were so small, they could be injected through a hypodermic needle, and that this was planned to be implemented via mass vaccination programs.
Icke slams the swine flu scare as a complete scam, proven by the fact that patents for the vaccine were applied for even before the virus was discovered
Icke highlights how not only are large numbers of people waking up than ever before, but they are doing so at a staggeringly fast rate, expanding their horizons and realizing that they can rise above the confines of the prison planet and truly become spiritually free.
Icke predicts that 2016 marks the watershed date whereby the new world order will come crashing down, submerged under the wave of an empowered and enlightened humanity.

Duration : 0:10:21

Read more…

Do you believe in the illuminati and the new world order?

I read in a website that the illuminati are working on the new world order and they worship satan. Is it true?

For those who scoff and mock this occurring it is very real. Not just the presence of the Illuminati but also the Masons and the Bilderberg Group. However, while many may deny their influence upon the world there is a highly visible and relatively unknown presence of the Georgia Guidestones.

On one of the highest hilltops in Elbert County, Georgia stands a huge granite monument. Engraved in eight different languages on the four giant stones that support the common capstone are 10 Guides, or commandments. That monument is alternately referred to as The Georgia Guidestones, or the American Stonehenge. Though relatively unknown to most people, it is an important link to the Occult Hierarchy that dominates the world in which we live. The messages engraved on the Georgia Guidestones deal with four major fields: (1) Governance and the establishment of a world government, (2) Population and reproduction control, (3) The environment and man’s relationship to nature, and (4) Spirituality.

THE MESSAGE OF THE GEORGIA GUIDESTONES

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely – improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion – faith – tradition – and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth – beauty – love – seeking harmony with the infinite.
10.Be not a cancer on the earth – Leave room for nature – Leave room for nature.

Limiting the population of the earth to 500 million will require the extermination of nine-tenths of the world’s people. The American Stonehenge’s reference to establishing a world court foreshadows the current move to create an International Criminal Court and a world government. The Guidestones’ emphasis on preserving nature anticipates the environmental movement of the 1990s, and the reference to "seeking harmony with the infinite" reflects the current effort to replace Judeo-Christian beliefs with a new spirituality.

The message of the American Stonehenge also foreshadowed the current drive for Sustainable Development. Any time you hear the phrase "Sustainable Development" used, you should substitute the term "socialism" to be able to understand what is intended. Later in this syllabus you will read the full text of the Earth Charter which was compiled under the direction of Mikhail Gorbachev and Maurice Strong. In that document you will find an emphasis on the same basic issues: control of reproduction, world governance, the importance of nature and the environment, and a new spirituality. The similarity between the ideas engraved on the Georgia Guidestones and those espoused in the Earth Charter reflect the common origins of both.

Yoko Ono, the widow of John Lennon, was recently quoted as referring to the American Stonehenge, saying:

"I want people to know about the stones … We’re headed toward a world where we might blow ourselves up and maybe the globe will not exist … it’s a nice time to reaffirm ourselves, knowing all the beautiful things that are in this country and the Georgia Stones symbolize that. " (1)

What is the true significance of the American Stonehenge, and why is its covert message important? Because it confirms the fact that there was a covert group intent on

(1) Dramatically reducing the population of the world.
(2) Promoting environmentalism.
(3) Establishing a world government.
(4) Promoting a new spirituality.

Certainly the group that commissioned the Georgia Guidestones is one of many similar groups working together toward a New World Order, a new world economic system, and a new world spirituality. Behind those groups, however, are dark spiritual forces. Without understanding the nature of those dark forces it is impossible to understand the unfolding of world events.

The fact that most Americans have never heard of the Georgia Guidestones or their message to humanity reflects the degree of control that exists today over what the American people think. We ignore that message at our peril. Lest anyone thinks I am exaggerating there are 572,000 article about the Georgia Guidestones on the internet. Plus there are 281,000 results for the Bilderberger Group.

gatita_63109

Apostolic Believer In One God, Jesus

David Icke: The Global Spiritual Awakening Of Humanity Part 3/5

http://www.prisonplanet.tv

http://www.infowars.com

David Icke: The Global Spiritual Awakening Of Humanity

In an exclusive interview for Prison Planet.tv members filmed in Phoenix Arizona, lecturer and author David Icke explains how the panic-stricken elite are desperate to put the lid back on a global awakening that is stalling their agenda for world domination. Icke details how the irresistible force, the mass of humanity awakening to the global agenda, is coming face to face with what thinks it is the immovable object, the new world order.
Icke explains how drugs, toxic food and electromagnetic pollution are all being ramped up in a last ditch effort to dumb humanity down to a sheep-like mentality so they can be more easily controlled.
The biggest headache for the global elite is the fact that they are vastly outnumbered by humanity and thus are finding it more and more difficult to control populations, which is why they are pursuing genocidal measures of population reduction by attacking our immune systems via food, vaccines and other biochemical attacks, explains Icke, labeling ludicrous the fact that infants are being injected with no less than 25 different vaccines before they reach the age of two.

Icke also recalls his 1997 meeting with a CIA agent during which he was told that microchips had been developed that were so small, they could be injected through a hypodermic needle, and that this was planned to be implemented via mass vaccination programs.
Icke slams the swine flu scare as a complete scam, proven by the fact that patents for the vaccine were applied for even before the virus was discovered
Icke highlights how not only are large numbers of people waking up than ever before, but they are doing so at a staggeringly fast rate, expanding their horizons and realizing that they can rise above the confines of the prison planet and truly become spiritually free.
Icke predicts that 2016 marks the watershed date whereby the new world order will come crashing down, submerged under the wave of an empowered and enlightened humanity.

Duration : 0:10:41

Read more…

David Icke: The Global Spiritual Awakening Of Humanity Part 4/5

http://www.prisonplanet.tv

http://www.infowars.com

David Icke: The Global Spiritual Awakening Of Humanity

In an exclusive interview for Prison Planet.tv members filmed in Phoenix Arizona, lecturer and author David Icke explains how the panic-stricken elite are desperate to put the lid back on a global awakening that is stalling their agenda for world domination. Icke details how the irresistible force, the mass of humanity awakening to the global agenda, is coming face to face with what thinks it is the immovable object, the new world order.
Icke explains how drugs, toxic food and electromagnetic pollution are all being ramped up in a last ditch effort to dumb humanity down to a sheep-like mentality so they can be more easily controlled.
The biggest headache for the global elite is the fact that they are vastly outnumbered by humanity and thus are finding it more and more difficult to control populations, which is why they are pursuing genocidal measures of population reduction by attacking our immune systems via food, vaccines and other biochemical attacks, explains Icke, labeling ludicrous the fact that infants are being injected with no less than 25 different vaccines before they reach the age of two.

Icke also recalls his 1997 meeting with a CIA agent during which he was told that microchips had been developed that were so small, they could be injected through a hypodermic needle, and that this was planned to be implemented via mass vaccination programs.
Icke slams the swine flu scare as a complete scam, proven by the fact that patents for the vaccine were applied for even before the virus was discovered
Icke highlights how not only are large numbers of people waking up than ever before, but they are doing so at a staggeringly fast rate, expanding their horizons and realizing that they can rise above the confines of the prison planet and truly become spiritually free.
Icke predicts that 2016 marks the watershed date whereby the new world order will come crashing down, submerged under the wave of an empowered and enlightened humanity.

Duration : 0:9:18

Read more…

Why does most of humanity hate America when we are so good and saved them from tyranny?

We also donate so much foreign aid and feed most of the world, yet they hate the hand that feeds them. Why?

"America was targeted for attack because we are the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world, and no one will keep that light from shining." -George Bush

Globalization: an Islamic Perspective

This paper investigates from an Islamic perspective the consequences of globalization in general. To specify my argument in accordance with my understanding of Islam, I would strive to argue that globalization might be very harmful before society reaches maturity but very useful after that. Allow me a brief prefatory note about my methodology in this essay: in the first part, I provide many specifics about how Islamic texts and sources view the human being as God’s creation and his ultimate goal in the world. In the second part, after a brief definition of globalization, I apply the analytic method employed in the conventional literature of economics to show why the market mechanism fails to satisfy equality and eradicate poverty in the globalization era. Finally, I try to explain how a free but virtuous, mature society can satisfy equality throughout the world in this era. Obviously, my argument relates, to some extent, to normative aspect of economics. However, it does not follow the ideological methodology at all.

Let me begin by elaborating briefly on the ultimate goal of man’s creation in Islam, since this is so essential to understanding my argument.

The Human Being as God’s Creation

From monotheism, the pivotal pillar of the Islamic worldview, we can conclude that the universe is the best and perfect manifestation of God’s beautiful names and that there is no better alternative system to govern the universe. Indeed, this principle refers to the conception of creation. That is, God is like a secret treasure, so He creates and expands the universe not only to give a clue to His throne but also to reveal His beauty and His brilliance. Some facets of His attributes such as His majesty may manifest themselves in a deterministic environment such as with galaxies and other physical phenomena. There are, however, other facets of His characteristics such as His wisdom and His mercifulness that are impossible to manifest themselves except in indeterministic form.

There seem to be many common elements in the explanation of the philosophy of man’s creation in all Abrahamic religions of which Islam is believed to be a sequel and culmination. By investigating the quality of Adam’s creation, which stands as the symbol of human being in the Quran, we can infer the kind of status he occupies in the sight of God in Islam, as well as in other religions.

In the beginning the Lord addresses all the angels[1]that He wants to create a viceroy[2] on earth. This position will be held by man. The angels object to Him and say that He wants to create a vengeful and vindictive creature to commit crime and bloodshed on earth again! But God responds that He knows something they do not know. And so, God became engaged in creating man. And this is the point which symbols, loaded with profound anthropological connotations, come into being.

From a faithful Muslim point of view, God is the greatest and most exalted. Thus, with this providential address the mission of man on earth is clarified. That is, man’s mission on earth is to fulfill God’s creative work in the universe. Therefore, man’s first superiority is that he represents God on earth.

Since God wants to create a viceroy for Himself on earth, He must, as a rule, choose the most valuable and sacred material. Yet He selects the basest matter. In the Quran there are three references relative to the material that man was made of: from sounding clay[3], like unto pottery[4], and from mud[5]. Finally, the Lord blew His spirit into the dry mud and man came into being.

In the human tongue, God is the most sacred and exalted being so the spirit of God refers to the most exalted, and the noblest manifestation of His being, while mud stands as a symbol of the meanest and the basest thing. Accordingly, He blew His own Soul, not something else like His breath, blood, or flesh, into man in its creating process. God is the most sublime being and His spirit is the finest entity for which man can possibly have an epithet in his language.

Thus, man who was formed from mud and God’s spirit is a two- dimensional being. For unlike all other beings which are one dimensional, man is two-dimensional; one dimension tends towards mud, lowliness, sedimentation, and stagnation while the other aspires to the loftiest imaginable point possible. Thus man’s significance and grandeur lie in the fact that he possesses two poles: mud and the spirit of the Lord. It is up to man to choose where to go, towards mud or providence. And as long as he has not selected either of the poles as his fate, struggle will perpetually rage within him.

Another surprising point in man’s creation in the Quran is that God calls upon the whole universe that He has a trust to offer it, but everything refuses to accept this offer except man[6]. This is indicative of the fact that man possesses another virtue; that is, his acceptance of a trust that everyone else refused. This means that man is a representative of God in the universe as well as His trustee. As to what the trust is, Islamic scholars mention many things. Some of them such as Mawlavi and Shariati[7], believe that it is will and choice. I agree with that, however, it means much more than that. It means that man has adopted a great responsibility to personify all His beautiful names; individually and collectively. Of course, such responsibility requires the ability of will and choice.

Shariati (1981) says that the only superiority that man has over all other beings in the universe is his will. He is the only being that can act contrary to his nature, while no animal or plant is capable of doing so. It is impossible to find an animal which can fast for two days. And no plant has ever committed suicide due to grief or has done a great service. Man is the only one who rebels against his physical, spiritual, and material needs, and turns his back against goodness and virtue. Further, he is free to behave irrationally, to be bad or good, and to be mud-like or divine. The point is that possession of will is the greatest characteristic of man and it throws light upon the relationship between man and God.

Man is a viceroy of God on earth as well as His trustee among the universe, and the spirit of both quenches their thirst from the same fountain of virtue: possession of will. God, the only being in the universe, who possesses an absolute will and can do whatever He wishes, blew His spirit in man. Hence, man is capable of working like God (not on par with Him, only as an image of God), or acting against the physiological laws of his own nature. Therefore, as in the Old Testament[8], He has created mankind as a potentially perfect image of Himself. Obviously, this perfect image goes beyond the interpretation that some distinguished scholars have given it[9]. It shows that all God’s beautiful names may manifest themselves with man and human society. Consequently, it requires the ability to mastery and rule over the universe.

Two kinds of rationality

As mentioned above, according to my Islamic understanding, man is a two-dimensional being. During his spiritual evolution, he should pass from being mud-like to approaching God-like. In other words, God has invited him to pass through an important reference point, maturity[10]. Thus, we can imagine that he has two distinct parts of his life: an individualistic, selfish period (before maturity of society, when the real love is not the dominant flow in the society); and a God-like, selfless period (after maturity of society). Clearly, each specific period requires a certain and separate corresponding rationality. The rationality[11] discussed in the conventional literature of economics, which is based on a low-level self-interest, only corresponds with the period of childhood. Mainstream economics, based on Adam Smith’s invisible hand and the market mechanism, quenches its thirst from this fountain of rationality. In the next part, I will explain how the market mechanism increases the gap between poor and rich countries as well as the gap between poor and rich classes. That is, the more international trade and the more integration of financial markets, the more market failure and more divergent economies! However, when society evolves from selfishness and being mud-like to altruism and being God-like, this rationality will not be effective at all and will collapse instantaneously. The alternative and mature rationality creates a special dynamism for the economy which is very powerful and without any failures. The driving force of this rationality is still self-interest, but a high-level one rooted in being God-like.

I would like to refer to one verse of the Quran, which clearly argues that the individual desires derived from a low-level self-interest lead to harm and corruption[12]: “Corruption doth appear on land and sea because of which men’s hands have done, that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return.” We may deduce this corruption is only a part of the consequences of what man has done as a result of his selfishness, and that there might many other bad consequences washed clean by God’s forgiveness. In other words, the invisible hand in an immature society not only is not able to optimize social benefits, but also it creates a great deal of harm and corruption that surpasses our imaginations. However, most of this corruption will be removed by the mechanism provided in the universe by God. The remaining corruption serves to warn the people and deter them from being selfish.

Due to self-interest maximization in immature society, we may also observe clearly many, many problems such as global warming and environmental destruction which will definitely jeopardize future life, while the market mechanism and its price signals fail to reduce these consequences, much less to motivate sustainable development.

Globalization and the issue of equality

In this part of my essay, I would like to show why globalization in the context of low-level self-interest motivation and based on the market mechanism may not lead to equality. Instead, it is biased to developed countries where there is located a complex of various industries and the benefit of economies of agglomeration can be utilized. To do this, it is necessary to have a brief definition of globalization first.

The definition of globalization

As globalization is a multi-layer concept and it has become a buzzword in recent years, globalization has already been defined in many ways. I, in some extend, agree with what Thomas L. Friedman defines globalization. He says: “it is the inexorable integration of market, nation-states and technologies to a degree never witnessed before- in a way that it is enabling individuals, corporations, and nation states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before, and in a way that it is enabling the world to reach into individuals, corporations, and nation states farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before” (Friedman 2000, 9). He says: globalization “also has one overarching feature- integration. The world has become an increasingly interwoven place, and today, whether you are a company or a country, your threats and opportunities increasingly derive from who you are connected to. This globalization system is also characterized by a single word: the Web”(ibid, 8). This system is a dynamic ongoing process, with a driving idea of free-market capitalism, and “its own dominant culture” involving “the spread of Americanization” (ibid, 9). It has its own defining technologies, and is measured by its speed, “speed of commerce, travel, communication and innovation” (ibid, 10). He suggests that “globalization is not simply a trend or a fad but is, rather, an international system. It is the system that has now replaced the old Cold War system, and, like that Cold War system, globalization has its own rules and logic that today directly or indirectly influence the politics, environment, geopolitics and economics of virtually every country in the world” (ibid, IX).

What I want to focus on is strictly the economic layer of globalization. In my view, economic globalization refers to a completely different process of internationalization. Although in internationalization the cross-border relations between countries will increase, the nation-state institution will play the main role in the economies, they can still make economic policies and decisions. Economic globalization, however, refers to the process of removing government-imposed restrictions on movements between countries in order to create an “open”, “borderless” world economy’ (Scholte 2000: 16) so that the nation-state institution will be eradicated and no longer play no role in economy. Instead, the Transnational Companies (TNCs) will be the main players in the economy. More technically speaking, the nation’s Production Possibility Frontier (PPF) makes nonsense in the literature and there is only the worlds PPF and TNCs follow fragmentization policy in their production and distribution which is definitely alien from conventional international trade and international finance.

The Inevitability of Asymmetry in Globalization

According to mainstream economics, policies of openness through liberalization of trade and investment regimes, and capital movements have been advocated worldwide for their growth and welfare enhancing effects on the basis of the propositions embedded in the well-known economic theories of international trade and investment (i.e. the Ricardian comparative advantage theory, the Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson (HOS) model, the new trade theories of Krugman, or the model of intertemporal international borrowing/lending or portfolio allocation models). In these models, the main goal of openness is assumed to increase social welfare through: (i) static efficiency gains associated with improved resource allocation for national economies as well as for the world economy due to increased specialization; (ii) dynamic efficiency gains from such factors as economies of scale, diffusion of information, technology transfers, knowledge spillover effects as well as intertemporal trade gains from cross-border borrowing/lending for increased investment and consumption smoothing and portfolio risk diversification.

Convergence in accordance with international trade theories is still a serious dilemma. That is, there is no doubt that the level of social surplus will increase totally after free trade or integration of financial markets. However, there is a lasting concern regarding how these gains are distributed between trade partners; are they biased toward developed countries or at least unbiased. Mainstream economics’ theories including static and dynamic insist that international trade will reduce the per capita income gap amongst the open countries. For instance, one of the main theorems that derived from the static model of HOS Theory, implies that when the prices of the output goods are equalized between countries as they move to free trade, then the rewards of the factors (capital and labor for instance) will also be equalized between countries. Therefore we should expect that the increase of free trade due to globalization will reduce the North-South per capita income gap. The dynamic version of this model also suggests a convergent per-capita income trend between north and south countries.

To explain cross-country differences in economic performance, Matsuyama (1996) employs symmetry-breaking methodology. Symmetry-breaking creates asymmetric outcomes in the symmetric environment. It is the key concept for understanding self-organized (a.k.a. endogenous) pattern formations[13].

As a key answer to the increasing gap between North and South countries in the level of cross-country differences as well as the increasing gap between poor and rich classes inside the countries, Matsuyama (2005), rejects coordination failures as the key notion to understand these questions. Instead, he argues that such emphasis is misplaced; the key to understanding the diversity is symmetry-breaking. The notion of coordination failures is not only irrelevant but also misleading when thinking about diversity.

Quoting Matsuyama’s (1996) explanation briefly, it will be shown how globalization can be considered as an endogenous (or a self-organized) factor to create the inequalities.

He offers a model of the world economy, where many (inherently) identical countries trade with one another. It is shown that cross-country differences in the standard of living and in income appear as a stable outcome of international trade. According to his model, the coexistence of rich and poor countries is not just a possibility. It is an inevitable aspect of the world trading system. Although his model adopts many assumptions for the sake of simplification and concreteness, the logic behind the result is fairly general and can be understood intuitively.

Imagine that there is a list of goods that need to be consumed. Furthermore, there are some agglomeration economies in the production of each of these goods. In the absence of international trade, these goods must all be produced in each country. Without any innate difference across countries, each country produces these goods in the same amount, and there is no cross-country difference.

Now introduce the possibility of international trade in these goods. As different countries start acquiring comparative advantage in different goods, the production of each good concentrates into some countries, which leads to an emergence of a system of international division of labor. The stable cross-country difference appears as a result of ‘‘symmetry-breaking’’ in the world economy, caused by international trade. Some countries become rich if they are lucky enough to acquire comparative advantage in goods associated with large agglomeration economies, while other countries, those which happen to acquire comparative advantage in goods with small agglomeration economies, become poor. They fail to achieve a necessary coordination to reach a Pareto-superior equilibrium and find themselves in a Pareto-inferior equilibrium. The problems thus seem just a matter of coordination failures. The global perspective, however, offers a different view. The international division of labor requires different countries to take charge of producing different tradable goods with differing degrees of agglomeration economies. International trade thus creates a kind of ‘‘pecking order’’ among nations. Not all countries can be rich: some countries must be excluded from being rich, just as in a game of musical chairs[14]. At the same time, the model does not rule out the possibility that some (but not all) countries might succeed in overcoming the coordination failures, and becoming rich. This feature of the model makes it possible to talk about the effects of such an ‘‘economic miracle’’ in the world economy.

Since the economies of agglomeration requires the diversity of industries which produce intermediates available in the marketplace, we can conclude that only those countries which have already bypassed the threshold of diversity have a chance to be industrialized and reach to a Pareto-superior equilibrium. Hence, this shows how the phenomena of economies of agglomeration cause a symmetry-breaking to separate the otherwise identical regions into the manufacturing belt and the agricultural hinterland.

Globalization in Mature Society

To explain how globalization in mature society accomplishes beneficial goals, first we have to take into account the two following challenges:

1. The problem of static market failure: This problem arises mainly because of externalities (including public goods, pollution and common pool resources), transaction cost, asymmetric information (such as incomplete markets[15], moral hazards and adverse selection), as well as organization failures. The most common response to a market failure in the literature of the public sector is to use the government to produce certain goods and services. However, government intervention may cause non-market failure. Besides, as mentioned above, globalization causes nation-state eradication so there will be no effective government in such an era. Furthermore, I can hardly believe that international institutions are able to fulfill this responsibility, even if they were independent from the USA.

2. The problem of dynamic market failure: As Matsuyama showed accurately, international trade creates a specific chaos in the symmetric environment so that the operations of markets normally lead to increasing inequality across the countries over time. Likewise, inequality across inherently identical households is caused endogenously by symmetry-breaking. Matsuyama (2004) explains how the class structure is an inevitable feature of capitalism. Even if every household starts with the same amount of wealth, the society will experience “symmetry-breaking,” and will be polarized into the two classes in steady state, where the rich maintain a high level of wealth partly due to the presence of the poor, who have no choice but to work for the rich at a wage rate strictly lower than the “fair” value of labor. Hence, in the capitalistic context we may consider these increasing gaps –whether between countries or inside countries – as an indication of market failure in a dynamic version.

It is now necessary to show how mature society, using a different rationality, may bypass these challenges. This rationality formally is very similar to the conventional one. It is, however, very different in content. I would like to refer to a few verses of Quran related to this subject. God says: “Man has been created restless, so he panics whenever any evil touches him, and withdraws when some good touches him; except for the prayerful who are constant at their prayers and whose wealth comprises an acknowledged responsibility towards the beggar and the destitute; and the ones who accept the Day for Repayment.” These verses show sufficiently that the rationality that guides immature people is definitely different than that which guides mature people, although they benefit from the same potential characteristics. The main distinction between mature and immature is that the mature direct these potentials toward a transcendental personality which is beyond selfishness. They are concerned with all human beings’ needs in all generations rather than their own selves individually or at most their families.

It is very appropriate to ask about the driving motivation in this society. Of course, conventional self-interest cannot motivate people efficiently to be concerned about others. It is extremely in need of a stronger motivation based on an exalted worldview. This worldview should consist of specific beliefs that grant the greatest reward to the doer when he considers all people of all generations altruistically. As I understand, the mature society may not be blind and aimless. Society can achieve this reference point of maturity only when the true beliefs such as the belief in oneness of God, the Day of Judgment, Justice drive it entirely. Passing this reference point is a necessary condition, but divine love, which requires perfection in selflessness, is the sufficient condition for the maturity. In general speaking, love when it appears, has no room but for itself and the lover thinks of no one except the beloved. In other words, selfishness destroys love and it can never be considered as co-existent of love. Nonetheless, worldly love is too weak and ineffective to last and motivate society toward its transcendental goals. In contrast, divine love is quite sustainable and powerful. Since nature is the realms where God’s beautiful names are exhibited, divine love implies, in turn, love of the entire world and the whole creation particularly human beings, the most comprehensive fruit of existence. Therefore, love is at the core of the concept of mature rationality and creates a specific invisible hand to satisfy social benefits including prosperity and equality for all regions and all generations.

Now, allow me to explain how globalization might be useful in a mature world society. As mentioned above, a mature society is a society where all God’s beautiful names have flourished. Therefore, as God provides mercifully all necessary requirements for all creatures, in such a society, each person possesses a certain portion of natural resources consistent with his area of interest. All initial endowments are redistributed by lump sum among the people so technically speaking, all individuals move to the central points of Edgeworth’s box. All members subject to all generations’ benefits do their best to produce more and more creatively because they are His representatives. According to symmetry-breaking methodology, there is still some potential of asymmetry. However, people will share their incomes voluntarily to produce public goods and to reduce the existent gap.

The communist system is as far away as the capitalistic system from the system based on love. The lack of motivation in people’s activities as well as the inefficiency of government –especially when the size of society grows enough- are the essential issues in communism while there is no concern about them in mature society. It is because the people are mature enough to understand that more being active means being closer to God. Besides, there is no need for the presence of strong and big government because this society is governed by many small components of authority connected together in a world wide network. There is hardly conflict of interest between these components because selfishness is the main source of confliction while here the people are selfless. Moreover, they are tolerant and educated enough to avoid violence and to discuss their problems peacefully.

It should be noticed that the economy in mature society serves only as a means by which we can improve the level of virtue so that we are not allowed to sacrifice humanity and its dignity and virtue because of economic benefits.

Endnotes

——————————————————————————–

[1] Quran, 2:30: And when thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am about to place a viceroy in the earth, they said: wilt Thou place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee? He said: Surely I know that which ye know not.

[2] It shows very clearly the worth of man in Islam. Even the Post-Renaissance European humanism has not been able to bestow such an exalting sanctity upon man.

[3] Quran, 15:26, 15:28, and 15:33

[4] Quran, 55:14

[5] Quran, 6:2, 7:12, 23:12, 32:7, 37:11, 38:71, 38:76

[6] Quran, 33:72 Lo! We offered the trust unto the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it. And man assumed it.

[7] See: Sahriati (1981)

[8] Old Testament, 1:27-28 Elohim said, “Let us make humanity as our image, according to our likeness. And let them rule over the fish of the sea, the bird of the heavens, the beast, the whole earth, and all the swarmers which swarm on the earth. And God created humanity as his image: as the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.

[9] Thomas Aquinas (1976) located the image in the human ability to think and reason, to use language and art, far surpassing the abilities of any animals. Leonard Verduin (1976) says that the image consists in our dominion over animals and plants, which continues despite our sinfulness. Emil Brunner (1976) says that it is our ability to have a relationship with God, reflected in the tendency of all societies to have forms of worship.

[10] Quran, 90:10-17 And [Did We not] guide him to the parting of the mountain ways? But he hath not attempted the Ascent. Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Ascent is! (It is) to free a slave, And to feed in the day of hunger, an orphan near of kin, or some poor wretch in misery, and to be of those who believe and exhort one another to perseverance and exhort one another to pity.

[11] I will discuss the other kind of rationality which corresponds with mature period later on.

[12] Quran, 30:41

[13] For example, cosmologists wonder why the matter in the universe is distributed in clusters, leaving much of the universe empty. Earth scientists study the formation of wave patterns, such as jet streams, ocean currents, and continental drifts. Material scientists study phase transitions, how molecules aligned themselves when they reach the critical temperature. Molecular biologists ask how life began in the primordial soup of amino acids, and developmental biologists attempt to explain how living organisms acquire forms through cell division and morphogenesis (Weyl 1969, Prigogine 1980). Similar questions of pattern formations also exist in economics. Why are there rich and poor countries? Why are industries clustered? Why are there booms and recessions? Why are some ethnic groups underrepresented in certain jobs or neighborhoods?

[14] Musical chairs is a game played by a group of people (usually children), often in an informal setting purely for entertainment such as a birthday party. The game starts with any number of players and a number of chairs one fewer than the number of players; the chairs are arranged in a circle (or other closed figure) facing outward, with the people standing in a circle just outside of that. A non-playing individual plays recorded music or a musical instrument. While the music is playing, the players in the circle walk in unison around the chairs. When the music controller suddenly shuts off the music, everyone must race to sit down in one of the chairs. The player who is left without a chair is eliminated from the game, and one chair is also removed to ensure that there will always be one fewer chair than there are players. The music resumes and the cycle repeats until there is only one player left in the game, who is the winner.

[15] The theory of incomplete markets is an extension of the general equilibrium approach to intertemporal economies with uncertainty, where the set of available contracts which can be used to transfer wealth across time is limited relative to the possible probabilistic states that an economy might find itself in. Unlike in the standard Arrow-Debreu model where all trade takes place at beginning of time, in an economy with incomplete markets, agents trade in sequential spot markets.

References

The Noble Quran.

Aquinas, T. (1976), Man to the Image of God, in Millard Erickson (ed.), Man’s Need and God’s Gift: Readings in Christian Theology, Grand Rapids: Baker, pp. 37-43.

Emil, B. (1976), Man and Creation,” in Millard Erickson (ed.), Man’s Need and God’s Gift: Readings in Christian Theology, Grand Rapids: Baker, pp. 45-54.

Friedman, T. L. (2000), The Lexus and the Olive Tree, New York: Anchor Books.

Krugman, P. (1992),Geography and Trade (Gaston Eyskens Lectures), The MIT Press

Matsuyama, K. (1996), Why Are There Rich and Poor Countries?: Symmetry-Breaking in the World Economy, NBER Working Paper Series

Matsuyama, K. (2005), Structural Change, forthcoming in L. Blume and S. Durlauf, eds., the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition, Macmillan (available at: http://www.faculty.econ.northwestern.edu/faculty/matsuyama/Structural%20Change.pdf )

Prigogine, I. (1980), From Being to Becoming: Time and Complexity in the Physical Sciences, Freeman, 1980.

Scholte, J. A. (2000) Globalization. A critical introduction, London: Palgrave.

Shariati, A. (1981), Man and Islam, Translator: Fatollah Marjani, Houston: Free Islamic Literature-Filinc.

Verduin, L. (1976), A Dominion-Haver, in Millard Erickson (ed.), Man’s Need and God’s Gift: Readings in Christian Theology, Grand Rapids: Baker, pp. 55-74.

Weyl, H. (1969), Symmetry, Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Nasser Elahi
http://www.articlesbase.com/ethics-articles/globalization-an-islamic-perspective-293758.html