Credit

The current news is flooded with stories about failed credit relationships between lenders and borrowers. This is the polite veneer of corporate capitalism in the modern world. All about the paperwork. A distraction from the human misery beneath.

The reality of credit is less dignified. Credit is an invention and tool of those who aggressively gather and horde society's resources for their personal use. It is not a blessing. It is not a civilizing influence. It is a vehicle for the rich to get richer at the expense of those with less. It is a cancer, which eventually increases the spread between the haves and the have-nots.

When government colludes with lenders (banks) by lifting regulation and oversight, as the US Government has done recently, the process of oppression and domination by the haves is accelerated. The historic remedies for this plundering have been catastrophic. Depression, starvation, war.

Yes, I view 'the system' from outside the economists' tight little box. I haven't much liked the few economists I've met actually. Obsession with money makes people narrow and humorless in my opinion.

My practice includes a daily relationship with money, credit and ownership. I am not a monk, supported on the backs of devotees in a pastoral monastery. That is not my concept of practice.

My practice entails being as monetarily independent from lenders as possible in an urban world. I try to avoid paying interest. I do not participate in the corporate machine as much as possible. This takes a great deal of work. It becomes harder and harder to do, since I am a man of meager means.

I think the greatest threat of credit is its invasion of all levels of human interaction. Will we become a species of lenders and borrowers on all levels of interaction? Will we lose the social sense of sharing wealth through generosity and fair taxation, whereby those with more pay more proportionately? Will every good turn be seen as a credit and every human need seen as a debit? Will friendship be replaced by the exchange of debits and credits?

FundaMENTALism

The fundamentally and dogmatically religious are, by definition, intellectually afraid. They are not stupid. They simply are not adult learners or questioners, those human beings who are never satisfied with one simple answer.

The source of this fear could be poor socialization, conditioned dread of change. a genetic predisposition to paranoia or xenophobia, or other dysfunctional personality traits. The primitive human ego externalizes fears and projects them onto 'the outsiders', those outside the comfortable, conditioned or adopted belief system.

Compassion for these individuals can be a challenge for a person in evolutionary practice, since the fundamentalist of any belief system purposely, out of defensiveness, places himself in aggressive opposition to anyone who challenges his fundamentalism. Aggression is a natural defense of the primitive and fearful. The fundamentalist is an expert in fear. He uses it as his natural weapon and defense. The current U.S. government is controlled by these fundamentalists. They fear loss of control of wealth, oil, power. The Muslim jihadists are afraid of loss of control of land, their oil, their women and their wealth.

Mindful interaction with fundamentalists must be based in this understanding of them. Anger is always counterproductive and especially so with fundamentalists and growling dogs. The practitioner of peaceful human evolution can avoid their aggression by distance, silence, kindness, education or any other skill. However, to expect any result outside oneself in practice is folly. So, caution and wisdom are best observed when dealing with the fearfully religious.

I focus on my practice, not on the obstacles to my practice.

Money

Recent fears about Recession in the world's economies point to the near-sighted materialist nature of human civilization. The stupidity if this fixation on money and paper stocks is staggering. The planet is sick. The environment is polluted beyond safety for our species and many others. Yet, men in suits lead us into the mad world of salaries, stocks and new appliances.

If the focus of the world were shifted to health and a balanced existence in nature above all things, there would be ample wealth and resources to support a healthy life for all human beings. There would be ample work to build sustainable communities. There would be ample work to design technologies for a healthy future for all mankind.

If those who hold the wealth of the planet, that self-absorbed 10% of the human population, would open their eyes and abandon the conformity of greed and competition in favor of generosity and cooperation, the concept of Recession would be relegated to history as folly.