I am not sure why I am attracted to catastrophic scenarios, but I have to follow my intuition, my inner voice anyway – so be it, I really believe in the disastrous future of our civilization and I am so mad, that I believe it’s not so far, it will be fast and unexpected by majority – the never ending old model of collapse of the big civilizations will play its role again. We have a great opportunity in these days to learn a lot of things about the history, enough to educate us what the ancient civilizations did wrong, so we don’t need to repeat the same mistakes – but you know it better than me, we learn nothing, we go in the same steps of the destruction.

Yes, I have joined the “doom & gloom” group of weird people, that are so attacked by “The Secret” type of groups – but I still believe in optimistic thinking – but for me, the blind optimism is very dangerous – optimism together with rational thinking and proper action is my best choice. I believe in the constrained resources – fossil fuels, water and most important of all – quality soil.

I have written this little summarization of my core beliefs only for the reason to explain my apocalyptic interests at this blog.

Here’s very interesting article describing the 1990 famine in the North Korea, after the fall of the Soviet Union, that was the main food provider for the Korea.

After poor harvests in the mid-1990s, the North Korean government was forced to reduce the food ration that its people relied on. This amounted to 700-900 calories per person per day supplied by the government. This was supplemented by what could be grown in home gardens or purchased elsewhere.

There was a natural progression that saw disease attack the most vulnerable, which were the children under five. Next were the aged; those over 70 followed by the 60-year olds and the 50-somethings. Death then stalked the people in the prime of life. Men, because they had less body fat, went next. The strong and athletic were especially vulnerable because their metabolisms burned more calories.

We need 500 calories per day, on average, to survive. Eating only food foraged in a temperate forest; you could expect to live no more than three months.

I wonder what could happen if we would be taught to believe the popular esoteric model that we are not our body, but we are Oneness, Everything. I mean, really taught from the birth. Do we need deep meditations, profound esoteric training to realise that we are all connected? Or can it be done simply by switching the ongoing consensus about the reality, about our belief in the connection to the single body? What if you were taught that you are All, your body is just the point of reference to this Everything world. But you are responsible for everything that happens around. There would be no logic in fighting against anyone – you would logically behave peacefully to everyone/everything around, because all is you. There’s no reason to steal, to cause pain, to cheat someone, to make money on someone, to not help someone – all is you. It’s hard to imagine this logic now, because we are preconditioned already, but it’s more possible with everyday training. I am not sure if the meditation is the only process for achieving great results in this matter, or if it’s also possible with pure logic, switching of the thoughts about this Reality. Buddha was saying, that whatever we do, whatever we feel, we shouldn’t take it, that we are the Doer – I understand it as one of the ways how to unconnect from the body-limited-view. There are many other examples in the esoteric texts – they are quite well known. I am simply pondering if the change in consciousness is happening only through the meditation sitting or if the way could be enhanced by the everyday act of changing our thoughts, of the belief system that we are all sharing, the paradigm shift – this shift has nothing to do with meditation, right? It’s done at the logical level of the thinking process.

Anyway, I am not sure what’s the end of the meditation activity at all – but if it would be realisation of the Oneness (or if this is one part of it) – I am beginning to believe, that it could be very much achieved by this rational act of paradigm shift – just start to think about Everything as You, you are responsible for all.

But in the end – maybe the point in meditation is, that you really realise this Truth internally, while logical realization at the level of brain is only a small part of this.

How can we find ourselves in the culture of capitalism?
We are determined by the idea of ever rising GDP.
We are tied by the artificial value of money.
To grow GDP every year, it’s totally necessary to consume, to throw out things for the reason that you can buy new – without consumerism, the present economic system couldn’t continue/prosper.
And we are totally determined by this present economic structure.
We agree to study deliberately, to become professional, to get a good job, to earn money, to spend money and to fulfil the dream of the stupid logic of the few idiotic leaders.
We are sheep, domesticated to create other sheep, to accept the present logic of the humanity, to accept the growing GDP logic, to accept the illusionary value of the paper money, to be stressed by the rules of the capitalism, to accept the masquerade of the political game.
Only when you have enough time, to study, to read, to question everything, you can start to see behind this curtain.
But it’s still very hard, because you are not learnt to question thinks – the educational system is in the favor of remembering facts, instead of critical thinking. When you do tests from the remembering of the hard facts, it’s also easier for the teachers to give you a grade, but it’s very hard for them, to grade you based on your critical thinking. So, just learn the historical facts, biological, economical… and repeat them – ok, a little bit freedom is given you to think, but this freedom is nothing compared to the totality of this Universe – we are still confined in the barriers of the dogmatic belief systems around us – the brain is able only to repeat the old.
It’s a very devil trap put upon us right from the beginning – that’s why I say, we are poor sheep – but I don’t blame us – who can blame the poor people that hadn’t time, or God given interest to ponder about things.
It’s like a Matrix and very few are lucky to see through it.
But when you start, when you get more glimpses, you can’t retrace – it’s impossible and you will struggle… you can get mad, or you can get braver, healthier, but only after a long inner/outer fight with the System – but return path is closed in the moment, you realise the basic logic, the core Truth that determines you – the Nature laws.
In the present families, they are making wars against each other for totally stupid matters – about proper education of their children (which is really devil education from the perspective of Nature, but your life becomes much harder without it in the present System), about brand of car, television, whatever… giving energy to maintain their phony social status, copying whatever is the present modern way of behaving – this all eats a lot of energy and logically, you have no energy left to question it all – you are lost in the Sheep land.

There are core things much more important than a good job, than a University education, than a proper marriage….
These things are hidden in a very simple things, so much simple, that our rational mind can’t accept them – again, because we were trained up so.
The simple things are found on the way of Heart – in the intuition, in the feelings, emotions – without questioning them with the mind if they are good or bad, if I can feel them or not, because it’s appropriate by the measure of present Sheep’s behaviour.
We need to trust in Ourselves, our feelings, emotions – but it’s very hard, it’s risky, we fear to stay immersed in them for a longer time – everything from the System gives you message that you are Unique, you are Different and causing you to fear, to return to the average behaviour.

Ahh.. what a Trap put upon us.. from our nearest to us – from parents, grandparents – we are poor repeaters – but you must still find hope in all of this, even when the logic says there’s no – as I said, the logic is very constricted, thinking in the barriers of the known only – the Heart sees much father and the Consciousness is the total Truth.

Who am I talking to anyway?

We are part of the reality that is happening out there, part of the whole.
Our disconnection is illusory – I am not sure if it’s because of the dicstinctions made by the eye-sense, that see strict borderline between our body and environment, or if the disconnection started much earlier in the brain decoding mechanism, or somewhere else.
Anyway, we have believed (in the end, the brain is behind any belief) we are disconnected from the Whole.
Let’s imagine again that we are not separated, that we are interconnected with everything and it was never different – let’s back it up with your favorite theory explaining this interconnection, for example the particle theory about each atom having vast space around and when you zoom close enough, you can’t see any borders between your body and your environment – makes quite sense, right?
Now, you are really connected with Everything – you are not your body avatar only – the Avatar is there only as your lens, as the point of reference from which you observe the Oneness.
How do you get informations from the World?
Senses. Is there anything else then them (I think there’s not, but make me correct in the comments)?
Senses are all there is for you, to get the knowledge about the world.
Does it make logic to listen these senses and to obey them, follow them, because they are some higher logic, higher messages from the Whole reality?
Can you make better decisions made by thinking, by brain, by logic?
What is more restrained – decisions based on senses or decisions based on pure logical thinking of the brain?
Can your brain think up anything different than it already knows from the past?
Isn’t the brain only repeating the past models of thinking, past theories, old stories, old worries?
What about senses? Can they lie? Can they manipulate you?
If you feel joy, is there any false in it?
Is there any reason you shouldn’t be really happy when you feel so? Even when everyone else is not so – maybe at the funeral?
Is there any logic in not following your feelings, your inspirations?
Why should you start using your logic to judge if the inspiration is good, if it’s worth of pursuing, if it will bring you enough of this or that, if it’s childish, if it’s embarrassing etc.?
Can you imagine living totally spontaneously – following your inspirations, feelings, senses – following your intuition – the path of Heart?
It takes some time, to re-learn listening to the senses, to switch from brain consciousness to the heart consciousness – it’s a regular learning process – to de-learn the old habit of “using too much logic”.
But finally, you’ll start to become very spontaneous, not restrained by the pure rational thinking repeating the old patterns – each situation is brand new, totally new variables are presented at each moment, and brain cannot understand it at all – only senses can tell you immediately what is happening around and giving you hints how to behave, how to deal with each situation in every moment.
Does it make sense?

It does to me.. but I am aware I am suggesting here extreme switching from the brain to the heart – I am aware about the advantages of the middle paths – no extremes are good. But I am still not sure what to think about this extreme. I think, that this is what Osho and other total-consciousness teachers do propagate – at least this is how I understand their tips for total-spontaneity. But this lifestyle would be really scary, when bravely applied – you would stop planning, stop thinking about consequences, about problems, barriers – you would just do what you feel at each moment, without fear.
Can it be so easy? Or am I compensating my long term tendency to use too much of the brain logic in my life, by clinging to the opposite extreme?
I am not sure, but I am experimenting with it now – living by the inspiration, intuition of each moment.
As many times in my life – I was hugely inspired by Steve Pavlina with this test.

And sorry for all the typos – I don’t feel like I want to repair them – anyway, I write it for myself at the first place (ok, maybe even for the 2 loyal readers).

I’ve been increasingly angry about the bigoted Greek-bashing attitude by people that have no idea.

So here’s some myth-bashing:
1. Greeks are lazy and live in luxury. After the introduction of the Euro, multinational and domestic cartels started increasing the prices for basic goods and services. The local producers were blackmailed into giving up their produce for pittance while the final prices at the supermarkets were sky-rocketing. Thus Athens became more expensive than London for basic goods, in just a few years. Because the salaries were about half of what an average Londoner makes, this drove the public sector pay up and a very small proportion of the private sector pay. However, especially in the case of the private sector most of salaries are still survival-only or less, especially for young people. While most people had to work two or three jobs to make ends meet, large corporations were making millions selling the same product in Greece for double the price as other European countries. In fact, with the exception of public-sector workers, for the last decade Greeks are in the top 5 most overworked people in EU27, but amongst the least well paid. Of course, basic goods are not luxury but the few that had anything to do with the big companies did actually share in some of the profits, but that’s the same in every country in the world.

2. Greeks are sneaky tax-evaders and should be punished. Corruption is rampant in Greece, that’s a fact. Greeks just adapted to a situation perpetrated by the political elite which was supported by EU members since they could use the corruption to make multi-million Euro deals – see Siemens scandal. The state of play at the moment is that the ordinary Greek doesn’t trust any politician and immediately assumes that he or she has got their hand in the “pot of honey”. This, in conjunction with corrupt public services (a misnomer as they are neither services nor public), which require thousands of extra cash to function (imagine an UK-style NHS where you need to pay to get the doctor’s “attention”) has made Greeks extremely sceptical about where their tax money is going and where it should be going instead. So, instead of paying taxes to have a decent health service you end up evading your taxes to pay the doctors under the table to look after you. It’s not right but people everywhere adapt to the status quo to survive.

3. Greeks get 14 monthly salaries for 12 months work! No, they don’t. They get a yearly salary in 14 instalments. This is not as good as it sounds for two reasons. Firstly, instead of getting more every month you get lump sums at Christmas, Easter and for your holidays, which mostly go to repaying credit cards. Secondly, now that the 13th and 14th salary is about to be stopped, you lose one seventh of your yearly salary. And it’s not as if it was that big a salary in the first place. This is almost the same as if the UK government asked people to work March and September without pay, but it sounds more acceptable.

3. Greece fudged their statistics to get into the Euro. This is a perfect example of a lie that is repeated by the media so often that it becomes the “truth”. The real truth is that Greece got into the Euro as all other countries (except Germany – perhaps) by getting some help from the Goldman-Sachs-type American financial behemoths. This was not illegal at the time, the fact is that everybody was dumping other currencies and getting Euros. Then a new government came into power and wanted to buy some F16s from the US (a deal that I am sure included some hefty bribes) and changed the rules of accounting (payment on order instead of delivery) retrospectively so that it had the money to do so. What was bizarre was that the rest of the EU didn’t object to that, perhaps there was something in it for them too. Then they changed the rules again to what they were before. The same government is mostly responsible for today’s mess and was ousted from power last October. Strangely, most of the problems started after that.

4. It’s the Greeks’ fault for electing corrupt politicians. The fact is that, as in the rest of Europe, there is a two-party political system that has entrenched itself so well into power that only a revolution would change things. Unfortunately, that’s not allowed in the EU, as such a revolution would probably be either a far-right or far-left affair. So political leaders change and keep promising to battle corruption while they end up doing the same things as before. The rest of the EU is happy to co-operate with whatever Muppet is elected as long as they are nice and quiet.

5. Why should the Germans or any other European pay? There are two good reasons for that, a moral and an economic one. The moral reason is that most of the money Greeks owe were diverted to the big European corporations like Siemens, J&J, and others too numerous to mention, and hence paid for some European jobs. These companies used the Greek status quo to charge extortionate prices for their products and services. In a country with honest politicians they would have been told where to put their products, but a few millions here and there sealed the deals. The economic reason is that if Greece defaults it’s mostly German, French and British banks that would lose their money. Instead, Europeans will get loans at 1.5-3% and give loans to Greece at 5% and make a nice little profit, while they keep selling their “superior quality” products to the Greeks at extortionate prices and keep some jobs going.

6. The IMF is involved because EU cannot handle the crisis on its own. This is a half-truth, that doesn’t explain the situation adequately. The truth is, that the EU cannot tell Greece what to do when it comes to public services and welfare and cannot ask for privatizations. But the IMF doesn’t have such restrictions. The EU (and the US) see massive privatization as a way out of this hole mostly because it suits them. They will get to buy everything for peanuts.

7. Greece should live within its means and not borrow more than it can repay. A recent study in Greece revealed that corruption and mismanagement since 1980 has cost the Greek economy €600 billion. This is double the current debt. Enough said.

What should happen now? I personally think that Greece should default, tell the banks to stuff it, put most politicians in jail and confiscate their property, forcibly drive out the big financial institutions, go back to the countryside and live the simple life growing veggies and fishing. Unfortunately, they will never let them, there’s profit to be made.

Taken from the comments at – Greek debt crisis spreading ‘like Ebola’ and Europe must act now, OECD warns

For the last several years I have been addicted, yes addicted is the best description, to powering down, to down sizing, and simplifying. It is truly amazing to me to get to a level of existence that seems radically below where I once was, settle into it a while, then start seeing even more areas where I can simplify even further.

There is a wonderful feeling of liberation and freedom that comes with this activity that can be addictive.

My whole family, wife and two children, are actively participating in this process and share the feeling, although now and then my children talk about some of the “cool stuff” people have. My children have perhaps benefited most from this exercise because they no longer have the huge pressure that the “American Dream” represents, hanging over them. Consequently they have blossomed. They are both wonderful musicians, artisans, technicians, hard working craftsperson’s, highly social, and physically active. All of this on their own leisurely schedule (and we thought if we didn’t constantly ride them they would never do anything, ha!).

I don’t kid myself that it will be easy or that it is even going to happen but I am optimistic that a new way is possible.

My current passion is to create a labor movement where people can perform simple, useful tasks in return for food, shelter, clothing, etc. combinned with a central gathering location for fun and entertainment like music, reading/storytelling, plays and productions, games, and stuff.