Money & the crisis of civilization

Read this intriguing article on Charityfocus. Striking, how we are now constantly growing around the concept of money so much so that everything we do or think of doing should somehow translate to generation of money. We have now done this long enough that our thinking is shunned and its dire consequences are showing in the form of global crisis we are in. We have commercialized our happiness, education, food and anything you name it. Now we are running out of ideas for things we can monetize. We have accepted that as a form of bestowed culture, as a way of life. So, beware, if you do not hold monetary value in your existence, you probably have no value in the current system!

Think for this for a minute (snippets from the article),

"Essentially, for the economy to continue growing and for the (interest-based) money system to remain viable, more and more of nature and human relationship must be monetized. For example, thirty years ago most meals were prepared at home; today some two-thirds are prepared outside, in restaurants or supermarket delis. A once unpaid function, cooking, has become a "service". And we are the richer for it. Right?"

Or

"Today we sell away the last vestiges of our divine bequeathment: our health, the biosphere and genome, even our own minds. This is the process that is culminating in our age. It is almost complete, especially in America and the "developed" world. In the developing world there still remain people who live substantially in gift cultures, where natural and social wealth is not yet the subject of property. Globalization is the process of stripping away these assets, to feed the money machine's insatiable, existential need to grow. Yet this stripmining of other lands is running up against its limits too, both because there is almost nothing left to take, and because of growing pockets of effective resistance."

There is a risk that developing countries are facing now, if they don't board this fast train of "development" they are being labeled and libeled as third world countries.

Tuesdays with Morrie

I read this book in one go! It's a wonderful read. You will agree with me if you have already read it..if not, here are few quotes by Morrie, a terminally ill professor on various facets of life:

Have you found someone to share your heart with?
Are you giving to your community?
Are you at peace with yourself?
Are you trying to be as human as you can be?


Well, for one thing, the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. We're teaching the wrong things. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it. Create your own. Most people can't do it.


So many people walk around with meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they are chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself in loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.


You closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too- even when you're in the dark. Even when you're falling.


Do you take care of others or take care of your "inner child"? Return to traditional values or reject tradition as useless? Seek success or seek simplicity? Just say No or Just do it?


Love each other or perish. And its so true. Without love, we are birds with broken wings.


There is no experience like having children. That's all. There is no substitute for it. You cannot do it with a friend. You cannot do it with a lover. if you want to experience of having complete responsibility for another human being and learn how to love and bond in the deepest way, then you should have children.


I thought about how often this was needed in everyday life. How we feel lonely, sometimes to the point of tears, but we don't let those tears come because we are not supposed to cry. Or how we feel a surge of love for a partner but we don't say anything because we're frozen with a fear of what those words might do to the relationship.


I don't want to leave the world in a state of fright. I want to know what's happening, accept it, get to a peaceful place, and let go.


On Morrie working with mental patients:
Morrie observed that most of the patients there had been rejected and ignored in their lives, made to feel that they didn't exist. They also missed compassion-something that staff ran out quickly. And many of these patients were well-off, from rich families, so their wealth did not buy them happiness or contentment. It was a lesson he never forgot.


All this emphasis on youth- I don't buy it, he said. Listen, I know what a misery being young can be, so don't tell me its so great. All these kids who came to me with their struggles, their strife, their feelings of inadequacy, their sense that life was miserable, so bad they wanted to kill themselves...


Its all part of the same problem, Mitch, Morrie said, we put our values in the wrongs things. And it leads to very disillusioned lives.


We have got a form of brainwashing going on it our country. Morrie sighed. Do you know how they brainwash people? They repeat something over and over. And that's what we do in this country. Owning things is good. More money is good. More property is good. More commercialism is good. More is good.


Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not substitute for tenderness.


There's a big confusion in this country over what we want versus what we need. You need food, you want a chocolate sundae. You have to be honest with yourself.


Do the kind of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be longing for somebody else's things.


We are great at small talk: What do you do? Where do you live? But really listening to someone- without trying to sell them something, pick them, recruit them, or get some kind of status in return- how often do we get this anymore?


I've learned this much about marriage, you get tested. You find out who you are, who the other person is and how you accommodate or don't.


There are few rules I know to be true about love and marriage: If you don't respect the other person, you are gonna have a lot of trouble. If you don't know how to compromise, you're gonna have lot of trouble. And if you can't talk openly about what goes on between you, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don't have common set of values in life, you're gonna have a lot of trouble.


Biggest one of those values: Your belief in the importance of your marriage.


I think marriage is a very important thing to do, and you're missing a hell of a lot if you don't try it.


Love each other or perish.


You can't get stuck on the regrets of what should have happened.


Death is as natural as life. It's part of the deal we made.


Death ends a life, not a relationship.

The Big Power Question

When two "intellectuals" ( I should actually say American Intellectuals, yes, with all the sarcasm intended) present their point of view on current political and economical issues and its outcome on America's power struggle, the tinge of self-centered thinking is hard to miss beneath the layers of intelligence. Here

Yes, I have trouble with this statement!

Zakaria: Are we going to run second in this race?

or this for that matter...

Friedman: The game is still open. I want my country to win it--I'm not sure it will.

Misled

Are we...in name of liberation/freedom? How did we ever come up with a ruthless concept of war? I am in tears & speechless after watching this documentary..!! I wanted to scream WT* and I did but it was a helpless one as these misled girls are...Who says human beings are humane?

Go Blue!

Like any other alien in US I also saw all the presidential debates including the one that took place yesterday. Now, you may ask why? Well, you don't want to be a social outcast when the whole of United States is going bonkers with analysis and over analysis of upcoming elections. Kidding! I have recently developed interest in politics. Kidding again!

Now you don't want me to write my lame reasoning of why I was disappointed with Ms.Palin and McCain's ever growing negative allegations on Obama and why I am a true-Blue democrat. But there is something about Obama's striking composure & intelligence and something very real & earthy and radiating the shine of person who has seen hardship in life.. You may agree with me more if you read his book- Audacity of Hope. Thank you Sud for insisting that I read it!

What I noticed yesterday was that Barack is a left-hander..:)..I have more reasons to be biased now. This post is soon going to turn as a whine. Why? I was born as a left-hander and since for some God forsaken reason, it was considered bad, my mom insisted me to be a right-hander. I still remember my childhood days when I used to draw on the wall with my artistic left hand.. I got scolded for both, writing on wall and with left hand. So in the process, I forced switched my hand for writing with right but rest of the work is still with left hand. I am now one of those artificial hybrids who are neither here nor there. I am not even truly ambidextrous since I cannot write with my left hand. All my sports activities are with left hand. Identity crisis, you see!

Coming back to Barack the Obama man, I read this story today, I felt that may be there is still hope for Americans after all the mess (of greed and insatiable hunger of power) that Bush has royally created for his successor for past 8 years. Now, I don't expect magical/radical changes in short time since the mess is pretty messy but there is still hope in Obama's reformative thinking.

Ode to Nusrat

It took me a while to enjoy the pure form of classical qawwali rendition/music by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I used to indulge in a lot of poppish version of his music earlier, until someone (special) pointed to me what I was really missing. For one I was missing on the true trance feeling and it gradually grew on me. It sure did! I still struggle to understand the lyrics to most of the songs but I somewhat figure out the overall feel of it..so there is no looking back from this genre which has entered my bucket of eclectic music.

NFAK - Sanoon Bhul...