The First Key

I suggest that there are 2 fundamental rules one should live by.



1. Seek to understand the nature of the reality we find ourselves in.



2. Act with compassion.





As free beings in an effectively Infinite Universe, all actions are permissible. There are, of course, consequences. As we delve into the layers of knowledge and meaning, we find more and more that much of what we think and do are programmed into us by our society. Much of this is used to control and manipulate us for the benefit of others. We, as social animals, go along willingly with the bulk of this. To be accepted as part of the troupe has a certain comfort, whilst bucking the cultural restrictions can lead to ostracization, and in the extreme, a violent and unpleasant death.



Thus we are somewhat discouraged to seek the "truth". It at times is analogous, and the image is often used, to the summiting of alpine peaks. The view is stunning and beautiful, but there is danger from the cold and the rarefied atmosphere. However, as with the mountaineer, we are able to ascend safely to the heights if we choose appropriate techniques.





Choosing Happiness.





I suggest that the pursuit of happiness is just this technique. This may at first sounds glib and trite.

But with all things there are layers of meaning. As we contemplate Happiness and the conditions that bring it about for us as Individuals, we come to realise that the secret of happiness is to Choose to be happy. As "free beings in an effectively Infinite Universe" happiness is not a right. We live in a storm of consequences and seemingly random events that impact us in ways that cause us to experience realities ranging from the bliss of love to the horrors of war and disease and the darkness of despair. This does not have to be the case.



We have within us the ability, when developed, to apprehend Happiness despite the circumstances of life.



First; one needs to See that Happiness can be chosen and is independent of circumstance. Here we come to the reasons why the pursuit of Happiness is so effective in the understanding of Reality. To achieve this independence from circumstance, one needs to cultivate the abstract mind that is able to stand back from action and analyse the given situation. Often called the Higher Mind. To apprehend and develop this facility we come back to rules 1 and 2 from above. These 2 rules, when applied to a given line of development, have a tendency to create a feedback loop. Pushing the Mind into progressive Realisation.



We seek understanding, and apply it with compassion. Thus we are raised to the Summit and can see Forever



Second; one needs to do that which is required to achieve and maintain Happiness. Here we not only need the clarity of thought of the Summit, but also the abandonment of fear and the attachment to those things that stand in the way of our Happiness. We need to be able to let go of the Toxic. The abusive relationship, the addiction to food or drugs, the Need for wealth and status, whatever it is that holds one back. Again we use rules 1 and 2.



We seek understanding, and apply it with compassion. Thus we are freed of Gravity and cannot Fall.



Third; one needs to remember to practice the choice of Happiness. To maintain Happiness at all times, one must choose Happiness at all times. This brings about the apprehension of time and the role of time in our lives and the nature of Reality. Life is not a series of snapshots but a Sea. Our consciousness is a wavefront propelled by the past into an unformed future. One needs to achieve Perspective. To hold the pastand possible future in mind whilst being in the present.



So it's all process, there is no destination, there is only the Journey. This contemplation of time and its role is the real challenge. The first two steps are relatively mechanistic in operation. Cause and effect. Not easy, but if followed, will lead to Happiness. These are operations of the Individual in the mundane circumstances of our lives. But to expand into the contemplation of time in this way pushes our consciousness away from our Individual circumstances and begins to show us our true position in the Universe. Even at our present primitive abilities, we can see that the Universe is incomprehensibly large. This is just spatially. What about the time line, what about the more subtle energy manifestations of this Universe, some of which we are starting to study, others yet to be discovered. What about the Small. The Cell, The Atom etc etc etc.



As Free Beings in an effectively Infinite Universe, one can see that we are effectively nothing. Our lives, even the most dynamic and influential, for "good or ill", disappear into time on this planet, and are totally unknown elsewhere. This can be scary, it can also be freeing. This brings us back to the assertion that all things are permissible, because in the totality of the Universe, all our actions are meaningless. Yet, to the Individual Mind, I am all there is. I am that which experiences the Universe. What was there before I became aware of it? What will there be when I am no longer? Thus I am the Universe experiencing itself. All things are permissible.There are consequences to all action, and all inaction, for of course there is no such thing as inaction.



However we want to cut this. It still comes out that all things are permissible and that there are consequences. We could go off and do all sorts of stuff that advantages us as Individuals, but unless we act with Compassion, we cause unnecessary suffering of others and ultimately ourselves. Thus we cannot achieve Happiness and we fall into delusion. We become a casualty of the climb to the Summit.



We need to not forget, in pursuing Happiness, that we also exercise Compassion on ourselves.







OK, that's what this Blog is all about. I suggest this stuff for contemplation, and as the"spirit moves" I'll add more in the way of clarification.







Choose Happiness Now!!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Multi-tracking with Happiness

When we have achieved a certain stage in the pursuit of happiness we identify as “I am Happy” rather than “I am unhappy”

We can be “I am happy but I'm feeling sad about such and such a situation” The reverse is also true of course. Even when we are identifying as being unhappy we still feel happy about certain things.

It is only natural to be affected by the trials and injustices of life, especially as we tend to become more sensitive to those trials and injustices as we progress along the path. When we identify with happiness, these trials become external to our “default” setting of happiness. We can deal with the situation in a more empowered way because we are able to stand back and look more clearly at the whys and wherefores of the situation. We become immune to the desire to lash out in revenge or hatred for some impact. We refrain from beating ourselves up over these situations. In fact many situations that would have previously elicited a negative response, are allowed to “pass through to the keeper” as being unworthy of any response.
The pursuit of happiness helps anchor our consciousness in the higher mind. The one who watches, and stands back to assess.

It's not about cutting off feelings, it's about TAKING CONTROL of the emotions and the body/mind.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Awakening

We live at an amazing time, for we are living through the awakening of the planetary mind.
The Internet and the mobile phone have allowed instant real time flow of information to a growing proportion of the planets population.
Individuals are akin to brain cells. The Internet provides the function of memory (data storage) and connections between the cells. Social media sites such as twitter facilitate real time interaction between the cells.
Previously the flow of information has been limited by both slow flow and limited bandwidth.

The interesting outcome of this is the way that random individuals can work in concert to process information in a relatively consistent fashion due to our tendency to think alike.
This leads us to contemplate the redundancy of Government in the face of peoples ability to now decide for themselves how their collective will can be exercised.
Our present forms of governance are sorely lacking in true representation and are prone to corruption. Most of our "Democracies" are 2 party dictatorships. Even those that have a more diverse representation are distorted by the lobbying of the rich and powerful.
It is now a possibility to evolve a direct form of democracy.
The resultant outcomes for governance are extremely interesting from our human point of view. The overthrow of tyrants in the Arab world is but the start of the adjustments that will flow from this new dynamic.

What will be the effect of an awakened planetary consciousness? Hard to say. Do your individual cells see the whole of your life and intent?
I would imagine that there could be a greater push to control the damage we are causing to the biosphere. This may involve a reduction in population. We will have to see how it develops. It is early days.

As this process expands and becomes more integrated, we will find that there are outcomes that we can not yet conceive. How exciting.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Fear

Fear is a useful reaction to threat.It stimulates a series of actions in the body and brain. It prepares one for fight or flight.It is a primary defence mechanism.

However, fear becomes toxic when there is no clear and present danger. Those fears that play in the mind distort our perception of reality and therefore our actions.
Fear is the great delusion.
If not controlled,it can rule ones life and turn it into a hell on earth.
If one overcomes the imagined fears, life opens up into a wondrous playground.

We are constantly bombarded by information, either designed to induce fear or that produces fear through identification.
An example of intentionally induced fear is all the hysteria whipped up around the threat of terrorism. These sort of fears are promoted through our societies for both political and social and religious control.
The fears induced by identification are those we take on when we see something bad happen and think "That could happen to me" and then dwell on the fear.

These fears become another "infection" in the belief system. They are promoted and/or used by the "Parasitic Viral" infections (religion,politics) previously written about,as integral elements of their constructs.

An aide in the clearing of the belief system of fears, and therefore reducing the impact of the more complex infections, is;
Get comfortable, close your eyes and relax. Start to list the various fears that you are able to identify as an irritation.As they arise, study them for what they are,and you may realise that they are really just hypothetical, figments of the imagination fed by distorted information.
Then let them go. Imagine them being expelled from your body.
Repeat this process for all the fears you are able to bring to mind.
This is a good exercise to do when going to sleep. One tends to slip into sleep without noticing.

This process is also useful for facing another group of fears that are reality based, but nothing much can be done about them. These are the fears directly related to our mortality. These are the core fears that spawn all the others.

Lets face the facts. We all die. If we live in fear, then we only live a shadow of a life. If we put aside fear, we live life to the full. We taste the sweetness of existence.

This is an essential step in the pursuit of Happiness.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Near Death Experience

I've just been to see the new Clint Eastwood film Hereafter. It set me thinking.

A long time ago, more than half my life, I went through an experience that shocked my soul to the core.
In the ventilator ward, the only conscious patient amongst the crash victims and the guy with tetanus, laid out almost totally paralysed, yet fully conscious, being kept alive by the air pumped into my lungs via the tube cut into my trachea.
I'd been having physio. As was common, I had bad pneumonia, so the physiotherapist used to come around every day and beat my chest with cupped hands. I grew to like the percussive rhythm and the contact.
While she beat away with her rhythm, another nurse would disconnect me from the ventilator and "bag me" manually with a balloon type gizmo attached to the tracheotomy tube. Every so often she would disconnect the bag and insert a suction catheter down into my trachea while the physio pushed down on my chest to simulate a cough. They'd suck all the crap out, attach the bag and do some more percussion.
While this was going on, the ventilator technician would service the machine.
This time when they hooked me back up to the machine, something, I don't know what, went wrong. I wasn't getting any air. Every cell in my body started screaming for oxygen, the physical panic was a tidal wave that ripped through me. As the panic wracked me, sight faded, body sense faded, sound faded and then came the calm.
I found myself disembodied, floating above a crystal clear lake. It was only small, the water shallow with smoothed stones about the size of a spread hand. Lush green foliage with small shiny leaves overhung the water. I was as conscious and able to think as I am here now writing this. Yet I was suffused with the "peace that passes all understanding". This was something of a revelation to me and I didn't want to go back to the horrors of the HDU.
All to soon though, sound started to infiltrate the peace and it faded. I was left with the imprint in my psyche,"death is easy, it's the living that is hard, but necessary for the learning"
Body sense and sight slowly returned. I was left stunned and with a terrible head ache. But the fear had gone. It never came back through the rest of a long illness and recovery, and to this day, I am able to tap a certain fearlessness when it is needed.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Mia Culpa

The way I see it, current political failings are our fault as much as the fault of the elite.
While we seek leaders and are unwilling or uncaring enough to watch them closely, we will always have corrupt behaviour. Although we spout democracy, we behave mostly as if we lived in Monarchies. We love the "strong" leader. We love the pomp and ceremony, the celebrity. We believe we are still the chattels of the ruler appointed by God. We are still the primate picking the fleas out of the fur of the dominant male or female.

How many people voted in Bush (GW)? If I recall correctly, it was 25% of people of voting age, or thereabouts.When most people are faced with the need to improve the situation, they are mostly happy to let someone else do the work, so long as they can complain about how it was done. With that sort of apathy in the population, I'd imagine that the elite think they can do what they like with little interference. And that is mostly how it goes. It is only when conditions get tough that the "average" person works up enough caring to do anything.

It is up to those who see and care to take a stand against the failings of Government. It is also up to those who see and care, to attempt to bring the apathetic along for the ride, for without their support, we have no democratic legitimacy and we become another lot of elitists imposing their view upon the population.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Belief, Filter of the Senses.

We experience the world in our minds. The information, that is used to assemble that world, comes through the channel of our senses. Our beliefs influence the information we receive and the way we process it.

This then leads us, if we wish to see the world in as clear and objective way as possible, to the necessity of clearing out the belief system of any inaccuracies.

What is the belief system and what is it for?

The belief system is in place as a shortcut in processing information. It's the TV dinner of cognition. Just heat and serve, all the hard work has already been done.It is akin to reflex and instinct. It is there to speed up the processing of data and adds some consistency to output. The belief system provides a whole series of preconceived scenarios that can be utilized, when deemed applicable, instead of processing the data on it's merits. There is also the function of aligning ones thought processes with the group one is associated with.
We can see from this that it is a useful adjunct to normal cognition, however, it's nature of circumventing true cognition is where the dangers lie.
If the belief system is constantly adjusted to the perceived circumstances of reality, then it is a useful tool, but frequently it is used as a lazy abrogation of the need to actually think about the true nature of reality and the interplay of the varying elements.
The willing acceptance of authority's pronouncements into our belief system, lends itself to manipulation and abuse by those authorities.
As previously analysed in "The Pathology of the Belief System" there are numerous internally consistent (mostly) constructs of belief "infecting" the population. The most powerful, in their ability to warp perception, are the religions. These take the natural wonder of reality and our relation to it, and, to varying degrees, subvert it to thought control for the benefit of the hierarchy of the religion. The isms of political thought are of a similar nature, and are often co infective with the religious.

Whilst we accept belief systems without rigorous analysis and suitable modifications, we are immersed in an illusion and are not able to accurately process available information. We behave in irrational fashions. We may even descend into active hate and violence, a true outward sign of delusion.
Garbage in, garbage out.

Free your mind.

Choose Happiness !!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The Brain and Time.

In the Judaeo-Christian Mythology, humanity was exiled from the garden and prevented from reentering by an angel wielding a flaming two edged sword.We were exiled for partaking of the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Translation.
The garden is the natural state of being. In that natural state, the organism functions through reflex, instinct and in higher animals, rudimentary cognition.It is a state of innocence in that there is no concept of right and wrong. Action is dictated by reaction, needs and instinct.
At one point, the ancestors of modern man reached a point of development where the concept of right and wrong evolved out of the biological pleasure\pain mechanism.
We are kept from the "natural" state of being by the faculties of the mind. The two edge sword represents the discriminatory function of the mind and the flame represents the inspirational receptivity and output of higher abstract thought.
Once our ancestors developed the faculties represented by the two edged sword, we were no longer able to solely operate in the instinctive way. We now saw the opposites, right and wrong , good and bad, we discovered free choice. We now became unpredictable. A great advantage in the survival stakes.

This was an over simplified explanation of the evolution of consciousness for a time when the knowledge of the workings of the world was limited and the education of the people was minimal.

Let's try again with the benefit of our increase in knowledge.

I suggest that the nervous system and the brain in particular is an organ for the capture and processing of time.In its most rudimentary form,the nervous system is purely capture of information, a function of time, and a preprogrammed reflexive response. Example: a fly lands on a sundew. The plant senses the landing and reflex closes the trap. As far as we know that is about the extent of the sundews mental capabilities.There is minimal processing involved.
So we have Information - capture -processing -action.
As the organism becomes more complex, the sense organs become more developed and the range of inputs increase.The length of time capture also increases, we call this memory. Because of the wider range, and greater length of time/information sensed, greater processing power is needed, to both decode, manipulate, and then activate a more and more complex structure.
I suggest the evolutionary advantage was the ability to overcome reflex, and thus lose predictability and gain flexibility. The higher turn was to do the same with instinct.
Modern Human, with his broad range of sense perception, long and detailed memory and recall, Abstract thinking ability and the ability to not only control a flexible and complex body, but also operate fast and complex machinery as if it was an extension of the body, captures a vast amount of time/information.

The brain uses the flow of time in a similar way to electricity. The longer an impulse can be held in the equipment the more processing is possible.The more complex the brain the longer the segment of time can be held for processing.
The human brain is able to remember a large proportion of what has been experienced.This is captured time. We are able to decouple our awareness from the current flow of time,and recall a segment of time for greater processing. In the coupled awareness of the flow of time, we do not have the speed of thought needed to do much more than experience and act reflexively.
Ones normal time perception is similar to the 25 frames /second of movie film.We sample the actual flow, and process. We switch our awareness back and forth, the rate of switching being dependent on the intensity of the information or the needed depth of processing.
Example; riding a motorcycle, requires rapid sampling and reflex, with little need for higher processing, so the impression is of being in the now.With perhaps the opposite, meditation, being almost all attention focused in the processing, sampling frequency is slow,and the time sense becomes heavily distorted.

With this recalled segment, we are able to replay at various speeds and definition, alter perspective, run alternate projections, compare to similar segments etc etc. The greater our ability to concentrate (focus) on the remembered segment,the more we are able to do with the stored time/information.

The evolutionary impulse that powers this trend line is the ability to predict the future.It is a great advantage that is used by many organisms.The learning of a prey's behaviour, so that one may easily capture it, is a prime and simple example.
For humans it becomes more complex. Look around in society and see where predictive behaviour is. Many high paid positions are reliant on this ability. Finance and the stock market, driving and flying, sport, politics etc.,
There is no future as such, it is purely a potential. However the flow of energy in time is able to be manipulated, and predicted. Both of these are dependant on the organisms ability to capture and process time.

So we see that what we call intelligence has as it's prime function, the ability to both attempt to predict the future, and modify it to a required state.As we do with other aspects of our environment.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Bubble

We are patterns on the skin of an expanding 4D (time) bubble.
What happens when it stretches too thin?
Do we get the Big Pop?

This, of course, could be a poor analogy.

A little bit of Time

There is no such thing as an event.
They are cognitive constructs.
The events we talk about are but a slice out of the flow of time. To think about the " event" we have to disconnect from the conscious apprehension of the flow of time and focus on a discreet moment. Whilst we are thus engaged, reality/time continues to pass our conciousness by.
The events that we talk about are not singular discreet occurrences, but the outcome of an infinite number of lines of force/time/consequence intersecting. Emitted from these "events"is a new infinite batch of force/time/consequence lines than intersect with others to create the next moment.
It is something like a chain reaction. It lies behind matter and energy.
Now is the time event horizon of the big bang after all.
The next moment does not exist.

The Irrational Taxation Debate

In this, and many other countries, we have a situation with taxation that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
The people have needs that are being met, or at least someway to being met by government service provision. This of course has to be paid for by taxation.
So what is tax? It is the fee we have to pay as citizens for the services we require. If this taxation is to be fairly weighted, then the higher wealth citizens would pay more, as they, as a rule get to use more of the services and benefits provided by Government. In a compassionate society this is a necessary subsidy.
There is an onus on Government to use these funds wisely. This is a matter of quality of management.
Unfortunately, there is a mindset that has crept into the debate over taxation, that taxation should be minimised. To do this, services are cut, or allowed to drift into an underfunded position as inflation eats up their budgets. Same result. I have no problem with reviews into wasteful practise and previous pork barreling.
The reality is, if we require these services then we have to pay for them. If we do not have them provided by the public sector, which I support for many reasons including the cost effectiveness as there is no need to put a profit margin on top of the cost of provision, then they have to be provided by the private sector. This is a less than ideal situation because of the aforementioned profit margin, the drive for that margin leading to aggressive cost cutting that degrades the quality of service. This is understandable from the perspective of the private (corporate) entity, as their prime motivation is profit. However it is not good for the recipients of the given service. There is their other option which is to increase the price that consumers have to pay. This is often by those least able to.

Now we come to the crux. Under the private provision of these services there is no subsidy,unless some special deal has been struck, and therefore the wealthy avoid their societal responsibility of helping those less fortunate. Many of those that whine about having to pay a little extra for the health care of the old and sick, fail to take into account the welfare that they receive through child support and education (even private schools are subsidised by the taxpayer) etc. The well to do also get to use the infrastructure more, as they have a higher level of activity. Then there is the welfare/subsidisation of business, both private and multinational corporates. Fuel subsidies, special provision of infrastructure, and all sorts of handouts.

So why do our politicians have this pathological fear of raising sufficient taxation for our needs?
It's actually even worse than that. Whilst degrading many services because of the undefined "need to cut government spending", they hand out tax cuts. (mostly biased to the well off). We see even in the situation of the current flood crisis, when the possibility of raising a bit extra to help the recovery was floated, the chorus of " cut spending instead" was wheeled out again. How cutting services in one area to pay in another is overall effective, is beyond my comprehension. These people need help, and the general population seems keen to provide it. The politicians once again turn the needs of the hurting into a cheap plastic football. Shame on you all.
Lets look at the US situation at present. They are running huge deficits to pay for the previous administrations tax cuts to the wealthy and their aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq, whilst handing over large sums to the banking industry and trying to stimulate the economy after the GFC. Now the people that set up this debacle are trumpeting spending cuts, not to their military adventure I might add, and tax cuts. How one stimulates an economy by applying the brakes, I don't know. It seems to me that the current problem is reduced activity caused by fear. Admittedly some have reduced ability to participate at previous levels, but many do have the ability and don't. You can't increase activity with borrowed money for too long without ending up in a debt hole that will take forever to get out of. This appears to be the US situation at present.
The solution. Raise taxation to fund increased activity. No debt, no interest, and the money ends up going around and ending up back in tax receipts. The funds dispersed by Government through increased service provision end up in the hands of the people( we won't go into the imbalance now), who then spend it etc etc etc. Each step of the flow is taxed.
I suggest the wealthy and the super wealthy should be the prime benefactors as they have the ability to put funds aside, which to an extent chokes the flow, whereas the less well off spend every cent they get which keeps the flow running. Some say that taxation chokes the flow, but this is a misunderstanding of energy dynamics. Provided the money is returned to the flow through provision of services, it is not the case. It is taking it out of the flow that chokes the system.

We have to remember that Money does not exist as a discreet entity. It is an abstract symbol that represents the energy flow through society.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Direct Democracy

The concept is basically a graphic user interface like Simcity. Web based. The user would navigate through the graphics to whatever issue was of interest, and then some sort of database would be available in conjunction with advice and countering argument from both experts and the general public. I guess one would need some sort of deadline, and as one can't have everyone know everything about everything, then some sort of percentage of the affected population would be used to make the required decision. Probably those who were actually interested. More like the voluntary voting schemes in other countries. I think it would be advantageous, at least in the beginning to retain an elected advisory body. It would of course be necessary to make sure that they did not have ability to veto or overturn decisions.

There are lots of fascinating design problems in both the program and the social dynamics needed to make such an idea work, but I feel that something like this concept will be needed when it is time to embark on the next adventure into REAL democracy. By the current state of many of our Representative democracies, I suggest that time is upon us

Friday, January 21, 2011

Why do I writen this stuff?

For my own Pursuit of Happiness.

The suffering of my fellows is a pain I can no longer tolerate.

Please choose Happiness!!

Extrapolate or Perish

Think every thing's OK?
Extrapolate the trend lines.

More on Happiness

The Pursuit of Happiness is the "anti viral" that we need to cure the Religious/Quasi Religious thought constructs that have "infected" our collective belief system.

Why Happiness?

Happiness/pleasure/relief from discomfort is a basic biological tool of life to train/evolve the organism to it's environment. Pleasure good. Pain bad. This effect works through the whole of our being. Not just the physical aspect, but also the emotional and mental, etc.

If one is hungry, food will make one happier
If one is cold, warmth will make one happier.
If one is poor, money will make one happier.
If one is powerless, influence will make one happier.

What happens when one is well fed,clothed and sheltered, has sufficient or even excess funds, and one has influence, and is still not happy? Will more of what one already has make one happy? It will not!! Running faster in the wrong direction will not get one to ones desired goal. It is counter productive.

So what else is there in this diseased belief system. There is still Love. I'm not just talking about the love of/for another person, wonderful as it is, I'm talking about the Love that opens our eyes to the wonders of all of life. The Love that gives appreciation of that which we already have, the astounding gift of consciousness in an infinite Universe. The Love that shows that both Giving and Receiving, the out breath and the in breath, are needed for Life.Without this Love, we suffer.

Now I'm not suggesting this from some gushy fuzzy headed concept. This is an aspect of our reality as real as gravity. If one keeps ones attention on the unhappiness from what one is lacking then one enters a negative feedback loop that inevitably leads to destruction. If one keeps ones attention on the happiness that comes from what one already has, then we enter a positive feedback loop that leads to Continuous Happiness.

The reality for most of us is somewhere between the two extremes of the distribution, but the principal remains. To focus on the good will inevitably lead to greater Happiness and understanding. The focus on the bad, fear etc, will inevitably lead to greater suffering and delusion.

With the Knowledge and Understanding gained through the effort to keep ones attention focused on the good, we "inoculate " ourselves against the infective thought constructs. We start to see the individual strands of thought that have been combined to create the construct. We start to understand how these thoughts influence us in our daily lives. We start to see that there are other combinations and intentions that are possible. We start to find the light. We start to cure ourselves of the delusion and discover the freedom that has always been there waiting for us.

Choose Happiness!!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Public vs Corporate vs Private Enterprise

There is allot of Ideological rubbish in the debate about public vs private enterprise.
Let me state at the outset that I am not against private enterprise. In fact, I believe it is the backbone of freedom of the individual, and an effective vehicle for innovation.

In it's most basic form private enterprise is the sole operator offering his/her skills direct to the user. As the scale of operation increases we get partnerships and private companies. These businesses have direct feedback from the customer to the ownership. The owners are directly affected by the success or failure of their own efforts. The natural tendency is to good service at a fair price. This of course is no guarantee as, with every aspect of society, there are some greedy and shonky people involved.

I won't include joint stock companies (publicly listed companies on stock exchanges) as these entities are not strictly private enterprise. I will use the term "corporate." The owners of the business are normally not the operators/workers of the business, they are mostly anonymous investors who's motivating interest is profit. These entities attract the most rapacious individuals into management, who then strip as much remuneration as they can from the business, without any real risk. In fact we have seen many instances where some incompetent CEO and team totally ruin the business yet still end up with the "golden handshake." They also have a tendency to use their board positions to "buy" favours from the political sphere. How many companies have ex politicians on the board?
These structures have the ability to develop into immensely powerful, trans national, economic nodes. This creates distortion in the free operation of both the economy and politics.


Public enterprise has been under concerted attack by the corporate sector eager to get it's hands on the assets and the possibility of monopoly inflated profits. Public sector enterprises when properly resourced and managed have been a very cost effective deliverer of services. They have also been used to set standards for the private and corporate sectors, helping to reign in some of the excesses. They also have been used to train workers to a high standard, as quality was regarded as more important than cost cutting. Many of these well trained workers were then snapped up by the private sector. This training role has been undervalued in the private/ public debate. Public sector enterprise is also ideally suited for the provision of "caring" services. Health, welfare, education etc. In these requirements of the population, to have profit as the primary motivation of the provider, is to virtually guarantee cost cutting leading to poor service provision. Too few nurses to do a proper job, poor facilities, heartless administration, etc, etc. We hear of these atrocities all the time.
Unfortunately most of our Governments have been captured by the Corporate Sector and are busily selling off all the best public assets, often way under value, and underfunding the rest to prepare the public, through discontent with the declining service, for the inevitable sale.

Focus

Keep your eyes on the Prize.


Choose Happiness

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

More on Intent

Intent does not have to be anything especially lofty. Say for instance in the public service. The sort of intent that would be great for everyone would be "Do the best we can for our employers, the citizenry that we are here to serve." We all know how much better it is when we deal with someone who is trying their best to help us through the sometimes obtuse workings of government. Contrast that to the officious, by the book, cover their arse type.

The helpful leaves one feeling good about at least the people of the system. The officious leaves one feeling oppressed by a heartless Government that is there for some other reason than servicing the needs of the population.

If the belief of all, or at least a large majority, of the public sector, from top to bottom, was that their function is to service the needs of the population to the best of their ability, not filling in time till payday, not career boosting, not sucking up to the boss,not having to get their own way, not doing special deals, etc., then outcomes will be great. The 'willingness to help-ers' add friendly flexibility and easy outcomes. Whereas the 'rigid rulers', the 'slackers' and the 'bent' are inherently hostile, and toxic to the system.

When we look at Business this becomes even more apparent. As with the Government's role of providing services, so it is with Business . Business exists to provide for the needs of the people.
Many successful businesses have been built on the principals of good service and a fair price.
Unfortunately, Business has largely been corrupted. Some by greed and some by belief and misunderstanding. The joint stock company is largely to blame. The belief associated with these entities is that their task is to maximise profits for the shareholders. This attracts the more predatory individuals, who in the process make sure that they are WELL paid. Gone is the servicing the needs of the population as the primary goal. This belief has an internal logic that requires the doing of less for more, the antithesis of what it should be. Once again we have the example of the GFC.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Human Rights

I've been thinking allot about human rights. I have strong reservations about having a bill of rights. It seems to me that rather than protecting the rights of the individual, they actually go a long way to taking them away.


Is it the right of government to dictate limits to a citizen? Are we not actually free in our natural state?Unless imprisoned, can we not do what ever we like, anyway?Are we really protected by "rights" that are being constantly bent and broken by both governments, lawyers, and circumstance?


Unless we are chattels of the state, as in a feudal system, then the state (or government) is a construct to serve the needs of a collection of individuals. It is the role of government to administer those things that it is impossible or difficult for the individual to carry out. Things such as roads, health, electricity etc. It is not the role of government to dictate behaviour.



This last point comes from the basis that we are all equal in our personal sovereignty. It is not my place to tell others what to do, and conversely it is not the not place of others to dictate behavior to me. Does this mean I advocate a free for all? Yes and no. We have to remember that whatever the action, or even inaction, there are consequences.


So if we expect this freedom and sovereignty for ourselves, we can do no less than grant it to others. Our actions must not knowingly harm others, as this would be a restriction of their freedom.



That's the gist of this thought. The ideal that we are all free and responsible for our own actions, and have to face life on it's own terms. Unfortunately, it would seem that we have a way to go to achieve this sort of society. We are beset with people who would inflict violence and other forms of compulsion upon others to achieve their goals, whether it be for financial gain, political power, sexual dominance, or just fear of the other. Our governments love to promote these destructive values as fear helps keep the population compliant. They do so whilst claiming "for the good of the people".



The sad thing about all this is that all these anti freedom impulses are caused by fear. I'll do a post about that eventually.



So how do we live together? What do we mostly do now? We cooperate. We care for one another. And in our individual views of the world we allow others to have their view with equal respect. And it makes sense that we look after the needs of those who for whatever reason can't do for themselves, for there will most probably come a time in our lives that misfortune or illness could reduce our ability to look after ourselves.



And Government? Scrap it. It's a hang over from monarchy when the powerful believed that god had given them the people as their private property.What we need is Administration. The provision of services that the populace require can be provided by public enterprise or private enterprise. If properly managed either would be OK. If PROPERLY MANAGED public enterprise can be very cost effective, no need for a profit margin to add to cost. That's all material for another post as well.



How would this improvement look? Who knows? Some features would be the welfare of everyone rather than wealth for the few. It would be sure to have better education and health services for all. There would be greater equity, though there would be no impediment to amassing wealth. And there would be no reason for the wealthy to hoard and savagely protect their privilege.
With the knowledge that they will be treated equally, perhaps people would be less inclined to prey on others and the crime rates would start to drop. It may sound a little Utopian, but we must keep focused on our innate personal sovereignty, and if we do so, maybe we can get to Utopia one day.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Plant the Seed

The ground is ripe for planting.
The soil has been disturbed.
Lets plant the seeds of pure thought before the weeds take hold.

Intent is the Leading Edge of Action

If a suitable intent is held by the participants of a given system, an outcome is assured. The details will evolve as needs be.


Choose Happiness!!

Friday, January 14, 2011

The Law and Belief

We are told frequently by those who seek power over us that we live under the rule of law. This is assumed to be a good thing. When Law is made and applied with compassion to the needs of the population, then it truly is good. A codified set of rules that everyone can understand and is applicable to the current societal conditions is preferable to the whims of Rulers.

Unfortunately, the "rule of law" as we have it is a sham. It is an illogical con job. It is claimed that the system has suitable checks and balances built in to prevent manipulation. BS. Those who obtain power over us make the laws!! Duh!! If they get it in their collective heads to oppress or deceive or siphon off funds through dodgy deals, they can legitimise their actions quite easily. Yes, sometimes there is some noise from the judiciary, but this can be dealt with. Who appoints the judges? Most of recent history's monstrous regimes operated within the law.

The Law is a pawn of the belief system.

The problem we are having at present is that the majority believe the basic tenets of the Militarist/Capitalist system.
There is, however, discontent because of recent over the top dumb actions by the leading "Free Nations". The Iraq war waged on a fiction by oilmen turned politicians, who not only used 9/11 as a trigger for war, but also as an excuse to savagely curtail the freedoms of it's own and it's allies citizens. The greedy rake off of the general populations wealth through the GFC, when not only did the financial hit squads strip many hard working people of everything through predatory lending practises, but then used their power to force the government to hand over billions more of taxpayers money as bail outs. I see people struggling with the aftermath. I see the Bankers once again making obscene profits. Did the people loosing their houses get the aid? No.!! Screwed both ways.
And then there is the attack on the freedoms of the press and speech. Take the abysmal state of journalism and the rabid attacks on Wikileaks and Julian Assange. In a supposed "Democracy" the people have a right to know!!

Those that seek power over us, have conditioned our society's belief system. Through constant repetition and distortion they have us believe that the heartless brutality that emanates from our Fundamentalist Capitalism is necessary to maintain our "free" way of life with it's surfeit of useless "consumer goods". They blind us with morally bankrupt TV shows where greed and appalling behaviour are cheered on and promoted. They feed us on the bodies of mistreated animals and poisoned crops. They turn us into slaves with easy credit and conditioning to consume. They mine the labour of sweat shop slaves in foreign countries to not only make immense profits, but strip their own populations of security of wages and conditions.

It's this belief system that is the core problem of all our somewhat psychotic behavior. We have examples all throughout history and even today, of belief systems leading to extreme behaviours, both bizarre and destructive.

We need to decondition! Open our eyes!! Think for ourselves.


We need to choose Happiness!!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Monday, January 10, 2011

Change

One thing is certain.

Change is going to happen.

One can have a hand in it, or one can be it's victim.

You choose.



Choose Happiness

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Strategy for Change

When change is desired,
rather than suppress the undesired trait and create conflict,
it is better to create a new and improved pattern alongside.
The energy will naturally flow to it.
The old trait will atrophy and may even disappear.

This is Active Evolution.





Choose Happiness!!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Sleeper Awake.

Sleeper Awake!!

Emerge from your chrysalis slumber.

The Crisis is upon us!!

And I'm not just talking about the politics.

Open your eyes and view the clear sky above the smog and filth of the mundane.
Seek out the light in the world and amplify it to banish the selfishness that has bought about this crisis.

Our lives are so fast and short that it is hard to grasp the slow movement of the world. We look upon life as events.
Open your eyes to time.
There are no events, that is the illusion, it is process and intent!!
"Now" is the wavefront being propelled into the unformed future by the past.
We can steer a course.
Lets make our rudders large.



Choose Happiness!!


P.S. I love Bjorks "joga"

Pathology of the Belief System

Lets view the belief system as analogous to the body.

It is made of an imperfect arrangement of components.
It is subject to intrusion by external pathogens, (bad ideas).



The belief system is made up of a myriad of ideas. For most of us this is a somewhat loosely organised conglomeration of prejudices, hunches, social conditioning and the results of contemplation.
Our belief system, as is the body, is constantly bombarded by intrusive influences. For the body it is toxins, viruses and bacterium etc.
For our belief system we have similar.
The intrusions that I wish to address are the Religious/Quasi Religious Thought Constructs.
These infections are like a virus in that they co-opt the host into promulgating the infection.
As with other parasitic diseases, these infections can lead to a whole raft of strange behaviors that are often detrimental to the host, but serve the needs of the infective agent.

We, who wish to free our fellows from the thrall of these"diseases" must seek the "anti-viral" concepts that can be safely introduced to the population to "cure" them.


Meditate on this.


Choose Happiness!!

Mind in Matter

The scope for Conciousness in the Universe is infinite.
Lets drag ourselves from the mire and reach for the Stars.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Evolution of Democracy

The time has come for the next evolution in governance.
Up until the advent of the Internet with it’s ability to pass vast amounts of information both ways, Representative democracy, when applied correctly, was the most efficient and open form of large system governance available.

Unfortunately, in it’s working out, bad habits of secrecy, lies and favoured treatment for particular groups and individuals have crept in due to the nature of the individuals administering the systems.
The misinformed belief carryover from feudal times of many politicians, bureaucrats and the population at large, that the citizen is a chattel of the state,contributes to this misconduct. What we seem to have forgotten is that in a Democracy, the Politicians and Bureaucrats are employed by us to administer the collective services that we require.

With the Internet and it’s capacity to keep us informed of the most detailed information combined with the ability to give immediate feedback, we now have the wherewithal to evolve our governance systems into Direct Democracy.

The question that must be asked of those that seek power is, will you allow this to happen peaceably. We have the examples of the French revolution and the evolution of parliament in Britain to educate us.Will they let the power evolve back to us like the British did(albeit with some kicking and screaming) or will it be the proverbial Guillotine?
Julian Assange’s courageous campaign to open up the lines of government and business communication to outside scrutiny and thus improve their behaviour, or at least gum up their security systems and reduce their ability to act in secret, should be loudly applauded.It is a PEACEFUL response to the need for change. As we can see from the coordinated attack on him and Wikileaks by various governments,business and judiciaries, shutting down websites, freezing funds, slandering, threatening and imprisoning him without charge, this strategy must be working.

Perhaps in all this Julian Assange’s willingness to be the lightning rod for these attacks is his most informative action. I personally have been shocked by the widespread and rabid response to what is basically a publisher releasing leaked material, something that main steam media also does from time to time.

Remember your place public officials, you are accountable to the people.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Playing in the Garden

















In the garden there are pretty flowers and trees and furry animals.
In the garden there are ants and wasps and spiders and snakes.
In the garden the sun shines and the cool breeze caresses the skin.
In the garden the tempest howls and the earth quakes.
All are needed for the life of the garden.
Don't hide in fear.
Come out and play!!!


Choose Happiness!!

Vampires

It's kind of interesting that Vampires, those vile creatures that suck the life out of their victims to maintain their own lives and power, are being portrayed as romantic heroes.


Where's Van Helsinger?

Knowledge

A shortcut to Knowledge is pattern recognition.

Beware the Imagination!!


Choose Happiness!!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Theocratic Motivations in Democracy

A driver for change (and control) is Religion and to varying lesser degrees, Quasi-religious thought.(Communism Fascism Capitalism etc.,)

At best they call to the better aspects of our humanity, at worst they are a vehicle for thought control.

We can see in our current milieu various groups motivated to extremes by their belief systems.

An interesting case is the transition of the militarist republic in Rome to the Roman Catholic Church. Rome was stretched militarily and financially and this pesky bunch of trouble makers (Christians) were gaining popularity. Despite persecution, they refused to go away. In fact it only seemed to encourage them.
Somewhere in the workings of the Imperium, someone made an interesting observation. These Christians were highly motivated and followed their leaders willingly. A much easier and cost effective way of controlling the population than military force.
So the Imperium converted to Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church was formed. It effectively contracted out military and judicial control to the Feudal Lords, but demanded allegiance and tribute, and largely kept control of the flow of information and storage through the monasteries.
The reality of the working out of all this of course was a little messy at times, but the pattern held relatively unchanged up until the enlightenment, and is still a powerful force in the world.

Imagine the power when the vast majority of the population BELIEVE that you hold the keys to Heaven and Hell. See the Papal Seal. The Beehive looming over the Crossed Keys.

I suggest that one, if one can,go have a look at the Vatican. Check out St Peters and the Vatican Museum. The walls are covered in the glory of the Popes. Scenes of Kings Merchants and Peasants bowing to the Clergy. Vary few religious scenes. Interesting. And every old Roman building insight has the Papal Seal on it.

Of course there are many good and sincere believers in these religious organisations, but the propensity of the participants to willingly hand over their power and belief to what are always hierarchies led by one who claims God's (generic) Ear. (Insert deity or Ideology of your choice) has set you free, now here is what He/it tells me you must do. A bit scary!!

When one sees the rise of Fundamentalism in religion and /or Quasi religious thought (Ideologies). Hold your nose. There's a stink coming. And reason has left the building with the air freshener.
There's a little flaw in many of the discussions going on around wikileaks and the erodeing of our democracies.
I agree that opening up the information flows out of governance is a good thing and would improve the situation somewhat.
The flaw is ; None of these "secrets" are actually secrets. One person can have a secret, two people have a conspiracy. All these "secrets" are known by numerous people. Wasn't there something like 2 or 3 million people that had access to some of the leaks? The point is, that it is the nature of the people in the positions of influence that is the core problem. Change the rules? Who cares? We have enough rules if followed to maintain a fairly equitable and free society. It's what's in the hearts of men that determines their behaviour.
At the moment it apears that we are heartsick!! The leaders that abuse their position are supported by a vast network of complicet people. One may not see the whole story but one can smell a bad fish in a large room. And in many ways even those that see and disagree are still somewhat complicet in that we still interact with aspects that we know are tainted.

The bit that really astounds me about the current grab back of power/wealth is its absolute stupidity. It pisses of the proles, their spending power is reduced, the value of fixed assest declines. The pool that they scim is diminished. What? Isn't that counter productive?
Bloody oath!!
If the population is looked after properly they are willing participants in society, they are healthier and more productive, the cost of suppression is released into the pool which is larger anyway, and the scim off would be so much greater at lesser percentages. And everyone feels good. (mostly)

What, are they buiding spaceships or something? Ha Ha?

Choose

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Above the Fray

To rise above the Fray

Accept

and Let Go




Choose Happiness

The Revolution Dilemma

The big dilemma in political/social activism is; How does one bring about change without coercion? Coercion, by it's nature, steals the individuals freedom. If we seek through activism to improve the lot of our fellows, coercive force is anathema.

To apply compulsion to the population (whether it be economic or military/policing) can be effective. We see all around us the results of this way of managing the population. If done with a light hand, the population will largely be compliant, and their lot will seem preferable to the disruption involved in making changes. Even if those changes are to be to their benefit.

If applied with a heavier hand, there will be growing discontent, especially in the undereducated, as the elite and middle classes see it as their "duty" to coerce them into greater servitude through reductions in economic opportunity, and increasingly restrictive regulation. The better educated, generally the middle management of the system, are generally compliant for they are beneficiaries of the system. There will be, of course, a section of the educated that will use their knowledge and insight to attempt to address some of the failings that they see in the system. This may have some effect.

If applied with a very heavy hand, the undereducated will be ripe for revolution, for they will be to the point where death will seem like a release from the suffering inflicted on them by the elite. Much of the educated will also be ripe for action as they too will be getting shut out of the goodies, as the elite ramp up the accumulation of wealth and power.

This then leads to revolt.
The leaders of the revolution will most probably be from the educated, or even the elite if some of them see a chance to leapfrog the hierarchy to seize power.

Violent revolution is a poor option. Even though the names and faces change, the quality of those new names and faces are generally no better, and sometimes worse, than those they replace. The belief that the population is there to follow the lead of the elite remains. However noble the initial thrust of change is, the method eventually leads to corruption and oppression of varying degrees. And in the process, people die and suffer greatly.

A great hope in the world is that a number of recent revolutions have been non violent(effectively, though there may have been a little).

As we seem to have entered the second stage now in most of the " developed world" (inc China and India) and at stage three in most of the rest, we need to work to not only open up governments and business to scrutiny, we also need to educate and empower those that at present have no strategy to bring about change.

This is where Wikileaks and Julian Assange have entered. They are to be applauded for the quality of insight and the courage that has led them to initiate this strategy for change.

It is imperative that we diffuse the march to violence.

To die for an ideal may be a worthy sacrifice, but to kill for an ideal is lunacy!!!




Choose to be Happy

environmentalism

I'm stunned to find in all the tooing and froing of environmental debate, that the core of the problem keeps being overlooked.
Everyone bangs on about CO2 emissions and global warming, peak oil, the degradation of the worlds arable land, species extinction, overfishing of the seas etc., and come up with numerous strategies for addressing them.But they don't, or rarely and never pushed in mainstream media, mention the simple fact that there are too many people using/wanting to use the planets resources.
Yes we can improve the way we do things so that per capita the impact is lessened, a activity I wholeheartedly support, but when we take both population increase and the aspirations of those that don't have the "western lifestyle"into account, it is exceedingly obvious that we are pissing into the wind.

Many of the practises that have bought our species to this position have to be modified. Most of our "civilized" behaviour is sublimated primate troupe dynamics, complicated by our more complex brains. We need to modify more. With populations of this density, the constant adversarial nature of politics and economics needs to be reduced. Competition is effective for rapid evolution, but within more stable and complex systems, cooperation is of greater value.
As a species, our ability to cooperate has been one of our greatest evolutionary advantages. Yet here we are with the world going bananas with "competition" The creed of the Capitalist (including Central planned capitalism) has need of modification.
Well we all know THAT story. Sickening wealth and sickening poverty. The rich feasting on the blood of the masses, and all that.
We HAVE TO start to take more control of our lives and apply some reason to it's living. We can not leave things to someone else anymore. Sure there are some amongst us who are more capable in their various areas, but we all have a life and it is OUR life that we have RESPONSIBILITY for. Wake up and be responsible!!