We are all related.
Relatives, we are making a journey from our heads to our hearts. This is not an easy journey- it is the longest, most difficult journey we will ever make. We do not make this journey alone- we make this journey together, as one family. This is an opportunity to celebrate, for we are making history, and creating a new world, by willingly enduring the hardships and suffering requisite to this, our defining journey: the journey from our heads to our hearts.
We were raised with a moral philosophy which defined our purpose in life as, "He who dies with the most toys, wins." Incredibly, this blasé phrase is actually the philosophical foundation of the modern world. And it is self-apparently failing to inspire the generations coming of age. It is quite obvious to us all that he who dies with the most toys remains dead, and the toys go into someone else's possession. We are not satisfied with such an artificial, manipulated sense of purpose. Indeed, it is becoming clear that powerful financial interests have been caught feeding the world propaganda, tirelessly working to convince us that being a 'master of consumption' is the highest state a human may aspire to achieve.
Yet we know better. Rational self-interest does indeed demand that our ambition focus on being a master of consumption, but this is no argument for rational self-interest. Rather, it is an indicator that rational self-interest fails to encapsulate the deepest motives of human behavior. Humanity aspires to happiness, which comes not from rational self-interest but from the irrational wisdom of the heart. We do not want to be led with our heads, we want to be led with our hearts. Our heads have led us to a world where we are masters of consumption, and miserable. Our hearts will lead us to a world of service, where we find ourselves thriving with a sense of purpose, meaning, and solidarity. We are moving away from a world of consumption and towards a world of service. Consumption doesn't make us happy, and serving others does. The secret to happiness lies in serving others, and this knowledge is in the process of nonviolently (and thus invisibly) tearing down materialistic capitalism and its foundation of rational self-interest. We as a species are awakening to the paradoxical wisdom of helping others in order to help ourselves.
We see the effects of "rational" self-interest everywhere- it permeates our economics, our politics, our business, our relationships, our psyches, our education, and our environment. It defines our world, and relatives, our world needs redefining. Irrational selfless interest - the irrational and selfless wisdom of the heart - is not analytical and does not deduce 'whats in it for me'. That is the realm of thinking, the realm of the head. That is our starting point, not our destination.
The vast economic forces responsible for the creation of our educational paradigm do not want us to challenge the notion of "Winning by dying with the most toys." A deeply insidious propaganda campaign maintains the illusion that by accumulating more and more toys we will get somewhere, but our own inner compass knows better, and we are revolting en masse. Don't take my word for it, just look at a newspaper. This revolution is noticeable only in the manner in which people consume less and serve more - it is the world's quietest revolution. But the quietness of the revolution is drowned out by the cacophony of wails as our grand, consumption based economy with its hundreds of millions of satiated and spiritually unfulfilled 'consumers' violently spins into excess and self-destruction. The powers that be don't want us to make the journey from our heads to our hearts, because that journey will take away their power.
And we have begun our journey, relatives. The power and attractiveness of infinite consumerism wanes, even as the power and attractiveness of infinite love waxes. the philosophical motto of the new dawn lies in the knowledge that "(s)he who dies with the most service, wins."
This is the West's great encounter with karma - our materialistic, selfish focus is the cause of our collective misery. This is the West's great first encounter with dharma - a service oriented life creates happiness and fulfillment. This is the culmination of western psychology(the science of happiness), the apex of game theory(win-win scenarios), and the foundation of a newly arrived quantum, relativistic, science of spirituality. We are not mere matter. We are mind, and our material existence is merely an aftereffect. We are spiritual beings having a seemingly material experience, not the other way around. And this quiet revolution, this transformational journey from our heads to our hearts aligns our priorities and values away from materialism (which cannot satisfy us) towards the nonmaterial - the realm of spirit, the realm of consciousness, the realm of the heart.
Believing our reality to be materialistic is a means of keeping us prisoners within it. Knowing our reality to be mind-made gives us the keys to the kingdom. Be aware of your own journey, and usher in a world of service! We've got a lot to accomplish...
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
socialnetworkism
Yes, its a word. If socialism is capitalism with a floor and a ceiling, then socialnetworkism is socialism without the central planning.
In Einstein's seminal 1949 paper, "Why Socialism", he astutely points out that the real challenge to socialism is central planning, and he humbly acknowledges that he doesn't have the tools to solve the problem, leaving it to future generations. No big deal - we have the Internet, which is the decentralized planning network. We solve the problem of central planning with a decentralized social network, do you get it? The dialectic of socialism/capitalism is resolved via decentralized social networks - socialnetworkism.
Central planning is the real crux of both capitalism and socialism. In a socialist economy, it is the state that does the central planning, whereas in a capitalist economy, it is the oligarchs and their cartel monopolies that do the central planning, simply by hijacking the state. Don't take my word for it, just look around you. Here's Albert Einstein:
"Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights."
Free market, online, consumer-driven socialism takes voluntary responsibility for the least among us, the voiceless, and the organism as a whole. In this case, not just humanity but all of mother earth. It does so by effectively persuading the general public to invest in the commons. And it does so on the open market, by competing online for the attention of people who want to be part of the solution. By building a social network of private nonprofits who are each highly efficient and verifiably trustworthy in their own niche, a self-regulating nonprofit collective evolves which is neither capitalist nor communist but competitively socialist, compelled by market forces to maintain optimal efficiency while remaining mission-driven to address the social issues of our time which government tries desperately to ignore. This evolving cybercollective is destined to address the issues of poverty, violence, and the environment in a manner far more appropriate, helpful, and cost-effective than government ever could. Indeed, peace and prosperity are existential threats to government. Government will never allow peace and prosperity, and social networks are destined to usher in an age of peace and prosperity in spite of intransigent government opposition. Don't laugh, it's true!
Here's a quote from Dwight Eisenhower:
"I think the people of the world want peace so bad, one of these days government is going to have to get out of the way and let them have it."
This evolving cybercollective is being born. the Asylum Project promotes it, by reframing our overstanding of the times. In the end, the market will likely reward any business entity that entertains us with the truth, or at least a potent version of it.
and the truth is - socialnetworkism. Consumer built online socialism. don't blame me, its not my idea. Its yours.
doo ba dee doo
asylumproject
In Einstein's seminal 1949 paper, "Why Socialism", he astutely points out that the real challenge to socialism is central planning, and he humbly acknowledges that he doesn't have the tools to solve the problem, leaving it to future generations. No big deal - we have the Internet, which is the decentralized planning network. We solve the problem of central planning with a decentralized social network, do you get it? The dialectic of socialism/capitalism is resolved via decentralized social networks - socialnetworkism.
Central planning is the real crux of both capitalism and socialism. In a socialist economy, it is the state that does the central planning, whereas in a capitalist economy, it is the oligarchs and their cartel monopolies that do the central planning, simply by hijacking the state. Don't take my word for it, just look around you. Here's Albert Einstein:
"Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights."
Free market, online, consumer-driven socialism takes voluntary responsibility for the least among us, the voiceless, and the organism as a whole. In this case, not just humanity but all of mother earth. It does so by effectively persuading the general public to invest in the commons. And it does so on the open market, by competing online for the attention of people who want to be part of the solution. By building a social network of private nonprofits who are each highly efficient and verifiably trustworthy in their own niche, a self-regulating nonprofit collective evolves which is neither capitalist nor communist but competitively socialist, compelled by market forces to maintain optimal efficiency while remaining mission-driven to address the social issues of our time which government tries desperately to ignore. This evolving cybercollective is destined to address the issues of poverty, violence, and the environment in a manner far more appropriate, helpful, and cost-effective than government ever could. Indeed, peace and prosperity are existential threats to government. Government will never allow peace and prosperity, and social networks are destined to usher in an age of peace and prosperity in spite of intransigent government opposition. Don't laugh, it's true!
Here's a quote from Dwight Eisenhower:
"I think the people of the world want peace so bad, one of these days government is going to have to get out of the way and let them have it."
This evolving cybercollective is being born. the Asylum Project promotes it, by reframing our overstanding of the times. In the end, the market will likely reward any business entity that entertains us with the truth, or at least a potent version of it.
and the truth is - socialnetworkism. Consumer built online socialism. don't blame me, its not my idea. Its yours.
doo ba dee doo
asylumproject
the future of social networks
Eventually the consumers of social network technology will realize that government is never going to end hunger or war, and they will do it themselves.
You read it here first: Consumers will organize online anonymously and non-hierarchically to feed the hungry, end poverty, and end war in a manner far more effective than government ever could.
This consumer-based social network will use the technology provided them to compete with/against government and win marketshare in the public service sector, as a consumer-created social service nonprofit. Which happens to be nonhierarchical, holarchical, and thus organizationally anarchist...
Government is vested in the propagation of poverty and war, which is very out of touch to the modern marketplace. The modern marketplace views poverty and war as boorish, patriarchal, and obsolete. This means that the modern marketplace is looking to invest in a more holistic, win-win vision of global economics. The anarchist consumer nonprofit will provide this vision, simply through the democratic process of allowing the best ideas to percolate through the core of the social network's distribution chain.
This is better than government, and better than business. This is social(network)ism!
Social action networks are destined to exchange real-time information through worldwide webs, which will lead to the exchange of goods and services at optimal levels of ecological advantage. This isn't just consumerism, this is a cost-effective, highly leveraged social service. And as we know, ecological investment leads to economic dividends...
These same social action networks will 'feed the hungry, end poverty and end war' by promoting a platform of solutions built around the vision of gardening as the focus of public education. This is a very simple thesis. If it were too complicated to fit into a sound bite, it wouldn't work. I'm serious.
Listen: If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. So why is it a boy can go to school for ten to twenty years without learning how to fish? Or garden?
If we grow up without learning how to grow our own food, build our own shelter, take care of ourselves and others, then we have no business calling ourselves educated.
This country was founded on principles of self-reliance, which turns out to detrimental to central authority. Central authority demands a certain level of self-insufficiency, as it were. Self-sufficiency needs no higher authority than itself.
So thanks to the machinations of a very manipulative central authority (by which is meant government by which is meant the Illuminati/Babylonian banking bloodlines of the Federal Reserve) the great mainstays of American society, the can-do spirit and the get-er-done mentality has been replaced with dependency on the state.
For a short time, anyway. It turns out you can't eat money, and it doesn't keep you warm at night, either. Regaining our self-sufficiency requires that we remember how to feed and shelter and clothe ourselves. This is the economic revival we have been waiting for, it just comes at the expense of our leviathan, militaristic state.
And it is ushered in through the legalization of industrial hemp. Otherwise known as ganja.
So. by promoting gardening as the focus of public education while at the same time demanding debt forgiveness, the social action network holds our pernicious central authority at bay while incubating a culture which is sustainable, healthy, ecologically and economically sound. And this creates a knowledge reservoir of ecologically-oriented survival skills that will, in time, become America's greatest export: Innovation and wisdom.
You read it here first: Consumers will organize online anonymously and non-hierarchically to feed the hungry, end poverty, and end war in a manner far more effective than government ever could.
This consumer-based social network will use the technology provided them to compete with/against government and win marketshare in the public service sector, as a consumer-created social service nonprofit. Which happens to be nonhierarchical, holarchical, and thus organizationally anarchist...
Government is vested in the propagation of poverty and war, which is very out of touch to the modern marketplace. The modern marketplace views poverty and war as boorish, patriarchal, and obsolete. This means that the modern marketplace is looking to invest in a more holistic, win-win vision of global economics. The anarchist consumer nonprofit will provide this vision, simply through the democratic process of allowing the best ideas to percolate through the core of the social network's distribution chain.
This is better than government, and better than business. This is social(network)ism!
Social action networks are destined to exchange real-time information through worldwide webs, which will lead to the exchange of goods and services at optimal levels of ecological advantage. This isn't just consumerism, this is a cost-effective, highly leveraged social service. And as we know, ecological investment leads to economic dividends...
These same social action networks will 'feed the hungry, end poverty and end war' by promoting a platform of solutions built around the vision of gardening as the focus of public education. This is a very simple thesis. If it were too complicated to fit into a sound bite, it wouldn't work. I'm serious.
Listen: If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. So why is it a boy can go to school for ten to twenty years without learning how to fish? Or garden?
If we grow up without learning how to grow our own food, build our own shelter, take care of ourselves and others, then we have no business calling ourselves educated.
This country was founded on principles of self-reliance, which turns out to detrimental to central authority. Central authority demands a certain level of self-insufficiency, as it were. Self-sufficiency needs no higher authority than itself.
So thanks to the machinations of a very manipulative central authority (by which is meant government by which is meant the Illuminati/Babylonian banking bloodlines of the Federal Reserve) the great mainstays of American society, the can-do spirit and the get-er-done mentality has been replaced with dependency on the state.
For a short time, anyway. It turns out you can't eat money, and it doesn't keep you warm at night, either. Regaining our self-sufficiency requires that we remember how to feed and shelter and clothe ourselves. This is the economic revival we have been waiting for, it just comes at the expense of our leviathan, militaristic state.
And it is ushered in through the legalization of industrial hemp. Otherwise known as ganja.
So. by promoting gardening as the focus of public education while at the same time demanding debt forgiveness, the social action network holds our pernicious central authority at bay while incubating a culture which is sustainable, healthy, ecologically and economically sound. And this creates a knowledge reservoir of ecologically-oriented survival skills that will, in time, become America's greatest export: Innovation and wisdom.
Dharma culture
Health is wealth.
Restoring people's health restores their wealth. In this era of vanishing wealth in America, restoring people's health is the basic first step.
To restore people's health we need to replace profit-centered agribusiness with health-oriented permaculture, agro-ecology, and gardening. Gardening needs to be the centerpiece of public education.
To get rid of agribusiness and pro-agribusiness educational curricula, we need to get rid of Wall St. dominance.
To get rid of Wall St. dominance we need to get rid of the Federal Reserve. We need the Treasury to print hemp currency and mint its own coins.
To get rid of Wall Street, end the Fed, and get the Treasury to print hemp currency we need to organize as a Debtor's Union in support of debt forgiveness. This is prophecied in the Bible, actually. The Bible refers to it as a Jubilee Year. We need a Jubilee.
To organize as a debtor's union, we need a unifying philosophy; an axiom which declares matter to be composed of energy. Energy causes materiality, and thus material wealth can never satisfy our spiritual needs. Materialistic culture and consumer capitalism are unfit to provide the human race with anything resembling genuine happiness and well-being. We need a spiritual path through the world of form. We are on a quest for dharma.
The world is mind-made, and thoughts are things. We've got a lot to accomplish.
Restoring people's health restores their wealth. In this era of vanishing wealth in America, restoring people's health is the basic first step.
To restore people's health we need to replace profit-centered agribusiness with health-oriented permaculture, agro-ecology, and gardening. Gardening needs to be the centerpiece of public education.
To get rid of agribusiness and pro-agribusiness educational curricula, we need to get rid of Wall St. dominance.
To get rid of Wall St. dominance we need to get rid of the Federal Reserve. We need the Treasury to print hemp currency and mint its own coins.
To get rid of Wall Street, end the Fed, and get the Treasury to print hemp currency we need to organize as a Debtor's Union in support of debt forgiveness. This is prophecied in the Bible, actually. The Bible refers to it as a Jubilee Year. We need a Jubilee.
To organize as a debtor's union, we need a unifying philosophy; an axiom which declares matter to be composed of energy. Energy causes materiality, and thus material wealth can never satisfy our spiritual needs. Materialistic culture and consumer capitalism are unfit to provide the human race with anything resembling genuine happiness and well-being. We need a spiritual path through the world of form. We are on a quest for dharma.
The world is mind-made, and thoughts are things. We've got a lot to accomplish.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
mammon under siege
deep within the heart of the gospel of Christ is the seed of a socialist revolution. Mammon has been under siege for 2000 years.
This is why so many followers of the Way were martyred. Not because of their faith, but because of the socialist practices their faith demanded of them. The practice of the Way of Christ is enough to topple governments, world orders, and the economics of consumption entirely. The Way of Christ overthrows the empire of mammon, and mammon has survived this long only through propaganda and deceit...
The rich and powerful have been terrified of the gospel of Christ since the very beginning of his ministry. In fact, the old Empire invented a dogmatic, state-sponsored religion called Christianity to distract the faithful from following Christ's teachings, and believe it or not, this ruse actually worked.
...but it won't work forever. Repent of materialism, for its end is near. Fiat currencies are falling.
So what is this socialism that Jesus was killed for preaching? Well, its not communism. Jesus didn't say give up your things or else. Jesus said give up your things and be saved. Giving up our private property is part of the spiritual path but everyone walks down this path at a different speed, and the teaching is not a formula but a guide. We share a destination but our journeys are unique.
As an example: There is a genuine distinction to be made between the householder and the renunciate, and the householder is not expected to make the same journey as the renunciate. Indeed, the householder is expected to provide the material requisites necessary for the renunciate to pursue the spiritual journey. Both sides depend on the other. Ancient cultures are aware of this, but America is hardly ancient. And between these two opposites lie worlds of varying relativity, all of which recognize the ultimate impermanence of the world and its occupants. In other words, even the 'worldly' householder knows of the impermanence of his household and does not place faith in his household's ability to provide him with eternal truth. The eternal is the cause of materiality, not the other way around.
We live in an interesting age, where the line between renunciation and worldliness has become a porous boundary. Spiritual seekers have careers and relationships, and so do spiritual teachers. The 'either/or' dichotomy so prevalent in logical, dualistic and patriarchal thinking is being replaced by a 'both/and' dichotomy which reveals paradox to be inherent within the fabric of reality itself. This paradoxical reality is inherently nondualistic, where students teach and teachers learn, where renunciates work and householders meditate and pray. It is critical to recognize that our individual dependence upon materiality is a deeply personal decision, unique to ourselves and uncritique-able. Our material needs are known to us alone and no other. We must choose for ourselves our degree of relationship with the physical world. The state cannot take away our right to choose for ourselves what we need, nor did Jesus. However the state can encourage us to want less and serve more, just as Jesus did. This is bad news for mammon and good news for our hearts.
Think of socialism as capitalism with a floor and a ceiling. Everyone in the middle just experiences capitalism like we do now, but under socialism there is a safety net that catches anyone who falls into poverty. Poverty is regarded as a social ill that must be remedied, and with the elimination of poverty, violence and survival stresses decrease. By committing to provide for the global community's basic needs we eliminate the existential paranoia which leads to nationalization, war, and corporate profit (i.e.plunder).
The expense of this social net is paid for by the ceiling. Everyone is allowed to get rich under socialism, but no one is allowed to become filthy rich until after everyone's basic needs are met. Material wealth is understood not to satisfy people's spiritual poverty. This way everyone feels life is worth living - the poor, and the rich. This is the kingdom of heaven - pretty simple, actually!
the point is that within this social net lies the opportunity for spiritual seekers to renounce materialism and focus exclusively on the path of spiritual realization. This opportunity is anathema to consumption economies, where any nonmaterialistic human purpose or agenda threatens institutions of authority.
Despite the obstacles this movement is inevitable. The material world is ephemeral and as such cannot provide unconditional happiness. Those who yearn for the unconditioned must renounce the primacy of materialism. This is the real Copernican revolution of Christ. The world cannot provide us with inner peace. To find inner peace, we must remove our longing gaze from the world. And as we do, any society built on worldly consumption loses its legitimacy. Capitalism does not allow for this nonmaterialistic mode of living and as this mode of living inexorably grows so must capitalism wane.
and the key element of socialism - the key element that Jesus died preaching and practicing - is that everyone's basic needs deserve to be met, regardless of who they are or what their karma is. Just because he's a drunk and she's a hooker doesn't mean we get to judge them and find them wanting. The practices of forgiveness, tolerance, and compassion are very powerful and must be built into the very fabric of any sustainable culture. Without this moral practice, society is destined to consume itself and collapse. Those who are not worthy or deserving of our time and our energy are nonetheless worthy of a hot meal, a decent place to sleep, some hygiene, some healing, a little company, some respect and some compassion. Not because they deserve it, but because none of us deserves it, and we are all undeservedly and equally blessed with the grace of life. As such we have a moral responsibility to share the blessings of the world to the deserving and the undeserving alike, for none of us is truly deserving and none of us is truly undeserving. We are all incomprehensibly miraculous.
For the last 10,000 years society's challenge has been getting the corruption out of the distribution of resources. Governments, once established to legitimize wealth distribution, coopt the wealth distribution process and perpetuate their own genetic heirarchies rather than the societies they are meant to serve. It is critical to realize that the health of any society is measured by the degree to which we provide for our weakest and most vulnerable members. By this criteria capitalism is a social failure and a moral disease - the 'predatory phase' of human evolution.
but don't take my word for it. Please read what Albert Einstein has to say in defense of socialism here: http://monthlyreview.org/2009/05/01/why-socialism
This is why so many followers of the Way were martyred. Not because of their faith, but because of the socialist practices their faith demanded of them. The practice of the Way of Christ is enough to topple governments, world orders, and the economics of consumption entirely. The Way of Christ overthrows the empire of mammon, and mammon has survived this long only through propaganda and deceit...
The rich and powerful have been terrified of the gospel of Christ since the very beginning of his ministry. In fact, the old Empire invented a dogmatic, state-sponsored religion called Christianity to distract the faithful from following Christ's teachings, and believe it or not, this ruse actually worked.
...but it won't work forever. Repent of materialism, for its end is near. Fiat currencies are falling.
So what is this socialism that Jesus was killed for preaching? Well, its not communism. Jesus didn't say give up your things or else. Jesus said give up your things and be saved. Giving up our private property is part of the spiritual path but everyone walks down this path at a different speed, and the teaching is not a formula but a guide. We share a destination but our journeys are unique.
As an example: There is a genuine distinction to be made between the householder and the renunciate, and the householder is not expected to make the same journey as the renunciate. Indeed, the householder is expected to provide the material requisites necessary for the renunciate to pursue the spiritual journey. Both sides depend on the other. Ancient cultures are aware of this, but America is hardly ancient. And between these two opposites lie worlds of varying relativity, all of which recognize the ultimate impermanence of the world and its occupants. In other words, even the 'worldly' householder knows of the impermanence of his household and does not place faith in his household's ability to provide him with eternal truth. The eternal is the cause of materiality, not the other way around.
We live in an interesting age, where the line between renunciation and worldliness has become a porous boundary. Spiritual seekers have careers and relationships, and so do spiritual teachers. The 'either/or' dichotomy so prevalent in logical, dualistic and patriarchal thinking is being replaced by a 'both/and' dichotomy which reveals paradox to be inherent within the fabric of reality itself. This paradoxical reality is inherently nondualistic, where students teach and teachers learn, where renunciates work and householders meditate and pray. It is critical to recognize that our individual dependence upon materiality is a deeply personal decision, unique to ourselves and uncritique-able. Our material needs are known to us alone and no other. We must choose for ourselves our degree of relationship with the physical world. The state cannot take away our right to choose for ourselves what we need, nor did Jesus. However the state can encourage us to want less and serve more, just as Jesus did. This is bad news for mammon and good news for our hearts.
Think of socialism as capitalism with a floor and a ceiling. Everyone in the middle just experiences capitalism like we do now, but under socialism there is a safety net that catches anyone who falls into poverty. Poverty is regarded as a social ill that must be remedied, and with the elimination of poverty, violence and survival stresses decrease. By committing to provide for the global community's basic needs we eliminate the existential paranoia which leads to nationalization, war, and corporate profit (i.e.plunder).
The expense of this social net is paid for by the ceiling. Everyone is allowed to get rich under socialism, but no one is allowed to become filthy rich until after everyone's basic needs are met. Material wealth is understood not to satisfy people's spiritual poverty. This way everyone feels life is worth living - the poor, and the rich. This is the kingdom of heaven - pretty simple, actually!
the point is that within this social net lies the opportunity for spiritual seekers to renounce materialism and focus exclusively on the path of spiritual realization. This opportunity is anathema to consumption economies, where any nonmaterialistic human purpose or agenda threatens institutions of authority.
Despite the obstacles this movement is inevitable. The material world is ephemeral and as such cannot provide unconditional happiness. Those who yearn for the unconditioned must renounce the primacy of materialism. This is the real Copernican revolution of Christ. The world cannot provide us with inner peace. To find inner peace, we must remove our longing gaze from the world. And as we do, any society built on worldly consumption loses its legitimacy. Capitalism does not allow for this nonmaterialistic mode of living and as this mode of living inexorably grows so must capitalism wane.
and the key element of socialism - the key element that Jesus died preaching and practicing - is that everyone's basic needs deserve to be met, regardless of who they are or what their karma is. Just because he's a drunk and she's a hooker doesn't mean we get to judge them and find them wanting. The practices of forgiveness, tolerance, and compassion are very powerful and must be built into the very fabric of any sustainable culture. Without this moral practice, society is destined to consume itself and collapse. Those who are not worthy or deserving of our time and our energy are nonetheless worthy of a hot meal, a decent place to sleep, some hygiene, some healing, a little company, some respect and some compassion. Not because they deserve it, but because none of us deserves it, and we are all undeservedly and equally blessed with the grace of life. As such we have a moral responsibility to share the blessings of the world to the deserving and the undeserving alike, for none of us is truly deserving and none of us is truly undeserving. We are all incomprehensibly miraculous.
For the last 10,000 years society's challenge has been getting the corruption out of the distribution of resources. Governments, once established to legitimize wealth distribution, coopt the wealth distribution process and perpetuate their own genetic heirarchies rather than the societies they are meant to serve. It is critical to realize that the health of any society is measured by the degree to which we provide for our weakest and most vulnerable members. By this criteria capitalism is a social failure and a moral disease - the 'predatory phase' of human evolution.
but don't take my word for it. Please read what Albert Einstein has to say in defense of socialism here: http://monthlyreview.org/2009/05/01/why-socialism
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