Focus

To be able to focus in a rapidly unfocused society is a great benefit. Practice is a form of creating focus in daily life. Setting the goal, the cause, which underlies all thought and action in life, is an essential step to developing a practice and maintaining focus. One cause, for example, could be to devote oneself to helping other human beings to improve their lives. Then one's practice every day would be focused by responding to the world with the goal of increasing the general quality of life in each moment of the day. Those who set a goal of being rich, for example, often practice the accumulation of money every day. That is also their focus. The difference in these goals and practices is simple. The person who focuses his practice in increasing the general quality of life on the planet is rewarded in ways money can never buy. The person who focuses their practice on being rich is eventually rewarded with great physical comfort, but often suffers from an isolation from other life on the planet. These are choices. The rare person who can accumulate wealth and be open to the Universe is indeed fortunate and can do great good.

Fear

Television, radio and print outlets in America are intentionally peddling fear for profit. Fearful people are easier to control. Fearful people do not parade openly in demonstrations against a corrupt, corporate-controlled government. Fearful people gladly hand over exorbitant taxes to pay for armies and police forces. Fearful people are more likely to act defensively and irrationally under stress. This fear mongering is intentional and corrupting. It can turn a peaceful and tolerant society into a Fascist police state. Perhaps this is the agenda of the corporations which control the governments of the developed world.

Noise

There is a recent idiotic mania in the USA. It entails watching/listening to stupid dribble on television/radio. When a celebrity makes a remark that crosses some vague line of good taste or hypersensitivity, usually concerning a minority population, a cat fight ensues in the media, which the masses watch and feed with great enthusiasm. All of this is simply noise. It changes nothing. It feeds the very prejudices and resentments which are at the root of the behavior itself. This noise is a symptom of a society which has forfeited education and civic responsibility in the name of permission and libertarianism. One true cause is greed, which has depleted funds from the community chest for schools and child-support services. Another true cause is the lack of investment by parents in actually instilling ethics and manners in their own children. This is a society of childish, self-gratifying parents, whose children reflect their lack of discipline and respect for society. The cumulative self-loathing of the society has led to this mania for throwing stones from the windows of glass houses. My practice entails the conscious use of silence to quiet the mind. My practice entails looking at my own demons before pointing at those of others. My practice entails showing respect to others in the community, while reserving my right to my own thoughts and opinions. My practice entails confronting or ignoring disrespect calmly and non-violently on an individual basis as I walk through the world.

Growth

One of the absurdities of capitalism is the concept of growth. Capitalism depends on expanding markets (more people and companies to buy/sell goods and services). Without expanding markets, the system fails. The concept of expanding markets is tied to human population growth. Therefore, the major economic model of the planet is tied to a natural phenomenon which is naturally unsustainable over time. This simple fact exposes ardent capitalists as self-centered and antisocial beings. The defense of capitalism by the pseudo-humanist is often stated, "Well, it isn't a perfect system, but it is the best we have." This is equally stupid. The reason capitalism is the 'best' we have is simple. The wealthy, whose hereditary privilege and wealth come from capitalism, own the most powerful governments on the planet. They own the secret police forces, the espionage forces and the military. They subvert the development of alternatives to capitalism. This has gone on since capitalism's ascendancy to power in the nineteenth century. The current victims of this growth model are the poor of those countries who are least developed and tied to the capitalist model enforced most vigorously by the United States of America. These people are exploited in their homelands in substandard working and living conditions to produce goods for the citizens of wealthier countries. They are also exploited in wealthier countries where they are imported for cheap labor in exchange for the privilege of living in the poorest neighborhoods of those host countries. What about the moral and ethical growth of humanity? What about the growth of quality of life on the planet? Capitalism makes great displays of token philanthropy to keep the poor deluded into thinking they are cared for and will be pulled along to greater prosperity. This is a cynical and self-serving method to discourage dissent and possible disruption of the raping of the planet by the few. Social justice will be achieved when capitalism is transformed into social and economic democracy. Information technology may indeed be a contributor to this evolution. However, the greatest resource for true human growth is the individual acceptance of social conscience and responsibility. This is a matter of daily practice and daily right choices.