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Controlling AI Weapons May Be Impossible, Warns Former US Secretary of State

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

Kai-Fu Lee, a venture capitalist who used to develop AI for Google and Microsoft, predicts that AI will automate 40 percent of the world's jobs in 15 years.

Kill Switch

AI arms control is all “fun and games” until someone accidentally recreates Skynet.

When looking to the future we can’t ignore the possibility of a potential artificial intelligence arms race as nations rush to outpace one another. That’s exactly the sort of future that former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is afraid of. Speaking last Thursday at a three-day event celebrating the opening of a new school of computing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kissinger warned that AI weapons might become harder to control than nuclear ones. Such systems will be developed in secrecy leading to a dangerous arms race, as Kissinger said according to MIT Tech Review, “With AI, the other side’s ignorance is one of your best weapons—sharing will be much more difficult.”

Powder Keg

It isn’t the first time Kissinger, a controversial figure in American foreign policy, has warned of the potential dangers of AI technology. In an op-ed for The Atlantic Kissinger opined that the U.S. government should “consider a presidential commission of eminent thinkers to help develop a national vision” on AI. He’s not alone in that consideration.

Last month, a group of experts — including ethics professors and human rights advocates — called for a ban on the development of AI-controlled weapon systems over fears that there are too many questions left as of yet unanswered such as “who is responsible when a machine decides to take a human life?”

Progress Marches On

Still, despite concerns, nations continue to develop tanks, planes, and bipedal androids. Just last month, President Donald Trump issued an order encouraging the United States to “prioritize AI”, lest the US fall behind other nations in AI development.

While AI still has more jovial applications which are being explored, like generating cat pictures and creating works of fine art, autonomy continues to creep into weapon systems development causing a backlash from the employees of companies like Google and Microsoft. The uncertain future and unbound potential of AI may require more reflection from humanity before we act on AI.

READ MORE: AI arms control may not be possible, warns Henry Kissinger [MIT Tech Review]

More on AI Ethics: Scientists Call for a Ban on AI-Controlled Killer Robots

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Elon Musk Wants to Build a “Permanently Occupied Human Base” on the Moon

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

To the ISS and Beyond

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hasn’t gotten much sleep this weekend. But true to form, he’s already dreaming of something far more ambitious.

“To be frank, I’m a little emotionally exhausted,” Musk said at a post-launch press conference at four o’clock in the morning on Saturday. “Because that was super stressful. But it worked, so far.”

The private space company has achieved a lot within the last 48 hours. Their futuristic passenger spacecraft Crew Dragon launched early Saturday morning from the Kennedy Space Center and successfully docked autonomously with the International Space Station some 26 hours later.

If all goes well, two astronauts will fly on board the spacecraft to the ISS as soon as July.

Beyond Earth’s Orbit

But, as expected, Musk has much bigger plans — for traveling to beyond Earth’s orbit. “We should have a base on the moon, like a permanently occupied human base on the moon, and then send people to Mars,” Musk said at the press event. “Maybe there’s something beyond the space station, but we’ll see.”

The Starship Enterprise

Earlier this year, Musk admitted that he wanted to get to the Moon – and “as fast as possible,” he wrote in a Jan 31 tweet.

The vehicle that could fulfill that dream: the stainless-steel monstrosity dubbed Starship. But getting Starship to the Moon will be a much harder feat to pull off than any NASA project ever.

“It won’t be easy for us or SpaceX,” Walt Engelund, director of Space Technology and Exploration Directorate at NASA, told Business Insider in a February interview.

But one step at a time. “We’ve got to focus on getting [the Crew Dragon missions] right, for sure. That’s the priority,” Musk admitted at Saturday’s press event.

“But then, after that, maybe something beyond low-Earth orbit.”

More on Crew Dragon: Watch SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Dock Autonomously With the ISS

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Watch SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Dock Autonomously With the ISS

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

SpaceX's next-generation passenger spacecraft Crew Dragon has docked itself to a free dock on the International Space Station at 5:51 am EST this morning.

Autonomous Parking

After successfully launching early on Saturday morning from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX’s next-generation passenger spacecraft Crew Dragon has docked itself to a free dock on the International Space Station at 5:51 am EST this morning.

The first @Commercial_Crew mission arrived at the space station today when the @SpaceX #CrewDragon completed soft capture on the Harmony module at 5:51am ET. #LaunchAmerica https://t.co/Bgcgac0O50 pic.twitter.com/KfNFpHxpGx
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) March 3, 2019

The footage, courtesy of the official International Space Station Twitter account, shows Crew Dragon slowly lining up its port with the ISS and approaching slowly.

Crew Dragon docked after visiting a number of other locations outside of the space station, using its thrusters, earlier this morning to test its docking system.

The hatch opened at 8:10 am EST.

Hatch is open! Crew Dragon will now spend 5 days at the @space_station pic.twitter.com/HA9iSWOBVE
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 3, 2019

Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques, two astronauts currently on board the ISS, started preparing to open the hatch that leads to the Crew Dragon from inside the station when it docked. Once they got inside, they were greeted by SpaceX’s dummy “Ripley.”

Astronauts on the @Space_Station have opened the hatch on @SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft! The station crew can now go inside the first American spacecraft to autonomously dock to the orbiting laboratory. pic.twitter.com/z2rP5MWCqu
— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) March 3, 2019

Active Docking

It’s yet another historic moment for the Crew Dragon mission as the docking procedure is quite different this time when compared to previous Dragon missions: “Dragon was basically hovering under the ISS,” said Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of mission assurance at SpaceX during a pre-launch briefing on Thursday. “You can see how it moves back and forth and then the [Canadarm] takes it to a berthing bay.”

In contrast, the Crew Dragon’s docking system is active, he said: “it will plant itself in front of the station and use a docking port on its own, no docking arm required.”

A New Visitor

Five days from now, Crew Dragon will undock and makes its long way back to Earth. This time around, it will splash down in the Atlantic Ocean — previous (cargo) Dragon missions have touched down in the Pacific.

More on Crew Dragon: SpaceX Launches First U.S. Private Passenger Spacecraft to ISS

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Machine-Learning Models Can Help Detect Sepsis in Newborns Earlier

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

Newborn baby in a hospital bed, machine-learning models can help detect sepsis in babies.

Happy Birthday

The world can be a harsh place, particularly in the first few months after a baby is born. During those precious moments, a newborn is exposed to a flurry of new experiences and stimuli including, unfortunately, foreign bacteria. Sepsis, the result of a bacterial infection in the circulatory system, is a major cause of infant mortality even in developed nations.

Rapid diagnosis of ill babies is important but can be a challenge in hospitals due to ambiguous clinical signs and test inaccuracies. Now, researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philidelphia (CHOP) have found that by feeding machine-learning models regularly collected clinical data, they could identify cases of sepsis in newborns hours before they usually would. The research team published its findings in the journal PLOS ONE.

Quick Learners

To develop machine-learning models capable of detecting sepsis, the research team trained algorithms on retroactive sets of data with the goal of identifying sepsis at least four hours before clinicians had suspected the illness.

Using electronic health record data, such as vital signs like blood pressure and temperature, from 618 infants in the CHOP neonatal intensive care unit from 2014 to 2017, the team trained eight machine-learning models to compare vital signs to 36 potential indicators of infant sepsis. Because the data was retroactive, the research team was able to compare the machine-learning models’ accuracy to clinical findings. Of the eight models, six were able to accurately identify cases of sepsis up to four hours earlier than clinicians had.

Dr.Algorithm

The team concluded that with additional data to train on the models could become even more accurate over time. “Because early detection and rapid intervention is essential in cases of sepsis, machine-learning tools like this offer the potential to improve clinical outcomes in these infants,” said Aaron J. Masino, lead author of the study. According to Masino, the team’s findings are a key step in developing a real-time tool for use in hospitals. By following up with more clinical studies the team plans to evaluate the effectiveness of such a system in the hospital setting.

More on Machine Learning: This AI Can Predict Survival of Ovarian Cancer Patients

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Trump’s Campaign Team: Government Should Manage 5G Networks

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

Nationalized 5G?

Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection team is backing controversial plans to have the government manage 5G wireless networks in the U.S., Politico reports.

The plan is for the government to take specific frequencies in the 5G spectrum and sell them off wholesale to U.S. wireless providers.

That would also mean more access to rural Americans according to Trump’s team. “A 5G wholesale market would drive down costs and provide access to millions of Americans who are currently underserved,” Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told Politico. “This is in line with President Trump’s agenda to benefit all Americans, regardless of geography.”

Earlier this year Trump voiced his support for rolling out 5G connectivity on Twitter. “I want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible,” Trump tweeted. “It is far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind.”

Attempt Number Two

A similar plan that leaked in 2018 suggested that the government should provide its own infrastructure and allow carriers to use it. A senior official at the time who spoke with Reuters stated, “We want to build a network so the Chinese can’t listen to your calls.”

But the plans immediately received pushback from the wireless industry. Even Trump’s own FCC chairman Ajit Pai called the idea of a nationalized 5G network “a costly and counterproductive distraction.”

How these newly revealed plans differ is still not one hundred percent clear. The idea is to open up wireless spectrums the Defense Department is currently using and partner with third party operators, Politico reports.

Trump campaign adviser Newt Gingrich pushed for a “public-private partnership” to “spur microelectronics manufacturing” and accelerate 5G rollout in a Newsweek op-ed.

But it will be a hard sell. The plan is unlikely to gain much traction — if previous attempts are anything to go by.

READ MORE: Trump campaign pushes government intervention on 5G [Politico]

More on 5G: Why Cellphone Carriers Are Dreaming of a World Without Wi-Fi

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Former Content Moderators Are Suing Facebook Over PTSD and Trauma

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

On Friday, two former Facebook content moderators signed on to a lawsuit, alleging that they also suffered from symptoms of PTSD.

Indecent Exposure

The Wall Street Journal called it “the worst job in technology” in 2017.

Content moderators at Facebook have the gruesome job of weeding through hundreds of videos of violent murders, hate speech, and even suicides — and that’s bound to take a heavy toll.

On Friday, two former Facebook content moderators signed on to a lawsuit in a California superior court, alleging that they also suffered from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and psychological trauma, CNET reports.

The original lawsuit dates back to September, stating that contractors have to view thousands of “videos, images and live-streamed broadcasts of child sexual abuse, rape, torture, bestiality, beheadings, suicide and murder” every day, according to an official press release — and Facebook is not doing enough to protect them.

“This case has uncovered a nightmare world that most of us did not know about,” Steve Williams, a lawyer for the firm representing the content moderators, said in a statement, as quoted by CNET. “The fact that Facebook does not seem to want to take responsibility, but rather treats these human beings as disposable, should scare all of us.”

Facebook has some 15,000 content reviewers, all of whom don’t actually work directly for Facebook, but have signed contracts with third parties like Accenture and Cognizant.

The Trauma Floor

Friday’s news comes after The Verge reported on the horrible and traumatic working conditions for content moderators at the social media company.

“Part of the reason I left was how unsafe I felt in my own home and my own skin,” an unnamed employee told The Verge, adding that they started carrying a gun to protect themselves after being accosted by other employees.

Others resorted to doing drugs or even having sex as a way to cope with the trauma. “I can’t even tell you how many people I’ve smoked with,” one employee told The Verge.

The Defense

In a November 2018 court filing, Facebook argued that the original lawsuit filed in September should be dismissed.

Bloomberg reported this week that Facebook is working with Accenture, a staffing firm that employs many of Facebook’s content moderators, to ensure that their practices comply with Facebook’s policies.

Messages circulating via internal message boards tried to dispel concerns over the abuse. In a post onFeb 25, Justin Osofsky, VP of Global Operations, wrote: “We’ve done a lot of work in this area and there’s a lot we still need to do.”

“After a couple of years of very rapid growth, we’re now further upgrading our work in this area to continue to operate effectively and improve at this size,” he added.

But whether Facebook’s actions will be enough is still uncertain.

More on content moderators: Facebook Mods Are so Traumatized They’re Getting High at Work

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Neoliberalism – Wikipedia

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

Neoliberalism or neo-liberalism[1] is the 20th-century resurgence of 19th-century ideas associated with laissez-faire economic liberalism and free market capitalism.[2]:7[3] Those ideas include economic liberalization policies such as privatization, austerity, deregulation, free trade[4] and reductions in government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society.[12] These market-based ideas and the policies they inspired constitute a paradigm shift away from the post-war Keynesian consensus which lasted from 1945 to 1980.[13][14]

English-speakers have used the term "neoliberalism" since the start of the 20th century with different meanings,[15] but it became more prevalent in its current meaning in the 1970s and 1980s, used by scholars in a wide variety of social sciences[16][17] as well as by critics.[18][19] Modern advocates of free market policies avoid the term "neoliberal"[20] and some scholars have described the term as meaning different things to different people[21][22] as neoliberalism "mutated" into geopolitically distinct hybrids as it travelled around the world.[5] As such, neoliberalism shares many attributes with other concepts that have contested meanings, including democracy.[23]

The definition and usage of the term have changed over time.[6] As an economic philosophy, neoliberalism emerged among European liberal scholars in the 1930s as they attempted to trace a so-called "third" or "middle" way between the conflicting philosophies of classical liberalism and socialist planning.[24]:1415 The impetus for this development arose from a desire to avoid repeating the economic failures of the early 1930s, which neoliberals mostly blamed on the economic policy of classical liberalism. In the decades that followed, the use of the term "neoliberal" tended to refer to theories which diverged from the more laissez-faire doctrine of classical liberalism and which promoted instead a market economy under the guidance and rules of a strong state, a model which came to be known as the social market economy.

In the 1960s, usage of the term "neoliberal" heavily declined. When the term re-appeared in the 1980s in connection with Augusto Pinochet's economic reforms in Chile, the usage of the term had shifted. It had not only become a term with negative connotations employed principally by critics of market reform, but it also had shifted in meaning from a moderate form of liberalism to a more radical and laissez-faire capitalist set of ideas. Scholars now tended to associate it with the theories of Mont Pelerin Society economists Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, and James M. Buchanan, along with politicians and policy-makers such as Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Alan Greenspan.[6][25] Once the new meaning of neoliberalism became established as a common usage among Spanish-speaking scholars, it diffused into the English-language study of political economy.[6] By 1994, with the passage of NAFTA and with the Zapatistas' reaction to this development in Chiapas, the term entered global circulation.[5] Scholarship on the phenomenon of neoliberalism has been growing over the last couple of decades.[17][26]

An early use of the term in English was in 1898 by the French economist Charles Gide to describe the economic beliefs of the Italian economist Maffeo Pantaleoni,[27] with the term "no-libralisme" previously existing in French,[15] and the term was later used by others including the classical liberal economist Milton Friedman in a 1951 essay.[28] In 1938 at the Colloque Walter Lippmann, the term "neoliberalism" was proposed, among other terms, and ultimately chosen to be used to describe a certain set of economic beliefs.[24]:1213[29] The colloquium defined the concept of neoliberalism as involving "the priority of the price mechanism, free enterprise, the system of competition, and a strong and impartial state".[24]:1314 To be "neoliberal" meant advocating a modern economic policy with state intervention.[24]:48 Neoliberal state interventionism brought a clash with the opposing laissez-faire camp of classical liberals, like Ludwig von Mises.[30] Most scholars in the 1950s and 1960s understood neoliberalism as referring to the social market economy and its principal economic theorists such as Eucken, Rpke, Rstow and Mller-Armack. Although Hayek had intellectual ties to the German neoliberals, his name was only occasionally mentioned in conjunction with neoliberalism during this period due to his more pro-free market stance.[31]

During the military rule under Augusto Pinochet (19731990) in Chile, opposition scholars took up the expression to describe the economic reforms implemented there and its proponents (the "Chicago Boys").[6] Once this new meaning was established among Spanish-speaking scholars, it diffused into the English-language study of political economy.[6] According to one study of 148 scholarly articles, neoliberalism is almost never defined but used in several senses to describe ideology, economic theory, development theory, or economic reform policy. It has largely become a term of condemnation employed by critics and suggests a market fundamentalism closer to the laissez-faire principles of the paleoliberals[who?] than to the ideas of those who originally attended the colloquium. This leaves some controversy as to the precise meaning of the term and its usefulness as a descriptor in the social sciences, especially as the number of different kinds of market economies have proliferated in recent years.[6]

Another center-left movement from modern American liberalism that used the term "neoliberalism" to describe its ideology formed in the United States in the 1970s. According to David Brooks, prominent neoliberal politicians included Al Gore and Bill Clinton of the Democratic Party of the United States.[32] The neoliberals coalesced around two magazines, The New Republic and the Washington Monthly.[33] The "godfather" of this version of neoliberalism was the journalist Charles Peters,[34] who in 1983 published "A Neoliberal's Manifesto".[35]

Elizabeth Shermer argued that the term gained popularity largely among left-leaning academics in the 1970s "to describe and decry a late twentieth-century effort by policy makers, think-tank experts, and industrialists to condemn social-democratic reforms and unapologetically implement free-market policies".[36] Neoliberal theory argues that a free market will allow efficiency, economic growth, income distribution, and technological progress to occur. Any state intervention to encourage these phenomena will worsen economic performance.[37]:12

At a base level we can say that when we make reference to 'neoliberalism', we are generally referring to the new political, economic and social arrangements within society that emphasize market relations, re-tasking the role of the state, and individual responsibility. Most scholars tend to agree that neoliberalism is broadly defined as the extension of competitive markets into all areas of life, including the economy, politics and society.

The Handbook of Neoliberalism[5]

According to some scholars, neoliberalism is commonly used as a catchphrase and pejorative term, outpacing similar terms such as monetarism, neoconservatism, the Washington Consensus and "market reform" in much scholarly writing,[6] The term has been criticized,[38][39] particularly by those who often advocate for policies characterized as neoliberal.[37]:74 Historian Daniel Stedman Jones says the term "is too often used as a catch-all shorthand for the horrors associated with globalization and recurring financial crises".[40]:2 The Handbook of Neoliberalism posits that the term has "become a means of identifying a seemingly ubiquitous set of market-oriented policies as being largely responsible for a wide range of social, political, ecological and economic problems". Yet the handbook argues to view the term as merely a pejorative or "radical political slogan" is to "reduce its capacity as an analytic frame. If neoliberalism is to serve as a way of understanding the transformation of society over the last few decades then the concept is in need of unpacking".[5] Currently, neoliberalism is most commonly used to refer to market-oriented reform policies such as "eliminating price controls, deregulating capital markets, lowering trade barriers" and reducing state influence on the economy, especially through privatization and austerity.[6] Other scholars note that neoliberalism is associated with the economic policies introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom and Ronald Reagan in the United States.[7]

There are several distinct usages of the term that can be identified:[citation needed]

Sociologists Fred L. Block and Margaret R. Somers claim there is a dispute over what to call the influence of free market ideas which have been used to justify the retrenchment of New Deal programs and policies over the last thirty years: neoliberalism, laissez-faire or "free market ideology".[41] Others such as Susan Braedley and Med Luxton assert that neoliberalism is a political philosophy which seeks to "liberate" the processes of capital accumulation.[42] In contrast, Frances Fox Piven sees neoliberalism as essentially hyper-capitalism.[43] However, Robert W. McChesney, while defining it as "capitalism with the gloves off", goes on to assert that the term is largely unknown by the general public, particularly in the United States.[44]:78 Lester Spence uses the term to critique trends in Black politics, defining neoliberalism as "the general idea that society works best when the people and the institutions within it work or are shaped to work according to market principles".[45] According to Philip Mirowski, neoliberalism views the market as the greatest information processor superior to any human being. It is hence considered as the arbiter of truth. Neoliberalism is distinct from liberalism insofar as it does not advocate laissez-faire economic policy but instead is highly constructivist and advocates a strong state to bring about market-like reforms in every aspect of society.[46]According to Naomi Klein, the three policy pillars of neoliberal age are "privatization of the public sphere, deregulation of the corporate sector, and the lowering of income and corporate taxes, paid for with cuts to public spending."[47]

The worldwide Great Depression of the 1930s brought about high unemployment and widespread poverty and was widely regarded as a failure of economic liberalism. To renew liberalism, a group of 25 intellectuals organised the Walter Lippmann Colloquium at Paris in August 1938. It brought together Louis Rougier, Walter Lippmann, Friedrich von Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, Wilhelm Rpke and Alexander Rstow among others. Most agreed that the liberalism of laissez-faire had failed and that a new liberalism needed to take its place with a major role for the state. Mises and Hayek refused to condemn laissez-faire, but all participants were united in their call for a new project they dubbed "neoliberalism".[49]:1819 They agreed to develop the Colloquium into a permanent think tank called Centre International d'tudes pour la Rnovation du Libralisme based in Paris.

Deep disagreements in the group separated "true (third way) neoliberals" around Rstow and Lippmann on the one hand and old school liberals around Mises and Hayek on the other. The first group wanted a strong state to supervise, while the second insisted that the only legitimate role for the state was to abolish barriers to market entry. Rstow wrote that Hayek and Mises were relics of the liberalism that caused the Great Depression. Mises denounced the other faction, complaining that ordoliberalism really meant "ordo-interventionism".[49]:1920

Neoliberalism began accelerating in importance with the establishment of the Mont Pelerin Society in 1947, whose founding members included Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Karl Popper, George Stigler and Ludwig von Mises. The Colloque Walter Lippmann was largely forgotten.[50] The new society brought together the widely scattered free market thinkers and political figures.

Hayek and others believed that classical liberalism had failed because of crippling conceptual flaws and that the only way to diagnose and rectify them was to withdraw into an intensive discussion group of similarly minded intellectuals.[24]:16

With central planning in the ascendancy worldwide and few avenues to influence policymakers, the society served to bring together isolated advocates of liberalism as a "rallying point"as Milton Friedman phrased it. Meeting annually, it would soon be a "kind of international 'who's who' of the classical liberal and neo-liberal intellectuals."[51] While the first conference in 1947 was almost half American, the Europeans dominated by 1951. Europe would remain the epicenter of the community with Europeans dominating the leadership.[24]:1617

In the 1960s, Latin American intellectuals began to notice the ideas of ordoliberalism; these intellectuals often used the Spanish term "neoliberalismo" to refer to this school of thought. They were particularly impressed by the social market economy and the Wirtschaftswunder ("economic miracle") in Germany and speculated about the possibility of accomplishing similar policies in their own countries. Neoliberalism in 1960s meant essentially a philosophy that was more moderate than classical liberalism and favored using state policy to temper social inequality and counter a tendency toward monopoly.[6]

In 1976, the military dictatorship's economic plan led by Martnez de Hoz was the first attempt at establishing a neoliberal program in Argentina. They implemented a fiscal austerity plan, whose goal was to reduce money printing and thus inflation. In order to achieve this, salaries were frozen, but they were unable to reduce inflation, which led to a drop in the real salary of the working class. Aiming for a free market, they also decided to open the country's borders, so that foreign goods could freely enter the country. Argentina's industry, which had been on the rise for the last 20 years since Frondizi's economic plan, rapidly declined, because it wasn't able to compete with foreign goods. Finally, the deregulation of the financial sector, gave a short-term growth, but then rapidly fell apart when capital fled to the United States in the Reagan years.[citation needed] Following the measures, there was an increase in poverty from 9% in 1975 to 40% at the end of 1982.[52]

From 1989 to 2001, another neoliberalist plan was attempted by Domingo Cavallo. This time, the privatization of public services was the main objective of the government; although financial deregulation and open borders to foreign goods were also re-implemented. While some privatizations were welcomed, the majority of them were criticized for not being in the people's best interests. Along with an increased labour market flexibility, the final result of this plan was an unemployment rate of 18.3%[53] and 60%[citation needed] of people living under the poverty line, alongside 29[54] people killed by the police in protests that ended up with the president, Fernando de la Ra, resigning two years before his term as president was completed.[citation needed]

In Australia, neoliberal economic policies (known at the time as "economic rationalism"[55] or "economic fundamentalism") were embraced by governments of both the Labor Party and the Liberal Party since the 1980s. The Labor governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating from 1983 to 1996 pursued economic liberalisation and a program of micro-economic reform. These governments privatised government corporations, deregulated factor markets, floated the Australian dollar and reduced trade protection.[56]

Keating, as federal treasurer, implemented a compulsory superannuation guarantee system in 1992 to increase national savings and reduce future government liability for old age pensions.[57] The financing of universities was deregulated, requiring students to contribute to university fees through a repayable loan system known as the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and encouraging universities to increase income by admitting full-fee-paying students, including foreign students.[58] The admission of domestic fee-paying students to public universities was abolished in 2009 by the Rudd Labor government.[59]

Immigration to the mainland capitals by refugees had seen capital flows follow soon after, such as from war-torn Lebanon and Vietnam. Latter economic-migrants from mainland China also, up to recent restrictions, had invested significantly in the property markets.

In 1955, a select group of Chilean students (later known as the Chicago Boys) were invited to the University of Chicago to pursue postgraduate studies in economics. They worked directly under Friedman and his disciple, Arnold Harberger, while also being exposed to Hayek. When they returned to Chile in the 1960s, they began a concerted effort to spread the philosophy and policy recommendations of the Chicago and Austrian schools, setting up think tanks and publishing in ideologically sympathetic media. Under the military dictatorship headed by Pinochet and severe social repression, the Chicago boys implemented radical economic reform. The latter half of the 1970s witnessed rapid and extensive privatization, deregulation and reductions in trade barriers. In 1978, policies that would reduce the role of the state and infuse competition and individualism into areas such as labor relations, pensions, health and education were introduced.[6] These policies resulted in widening inequality as they negatively impacted the wages, benefits and working conditions of Chile's working class.[52][62] According to Chilean economist Alejandro Foxley, by the end of Pinochet's reign around 44% of Chilean families were living below the poverty line.[63] According to Klien, by the late 1980s the economy had stabilized and was growing, but around 45% of the population had fallen into poverty while the wealthiest 10% saw their incomes rise by 83%.[64]

In 1990, the military dictatorship ended. Hayek argued that increased economic freedom had put pressure on the dictatorship over time and increased political freedom. Years earlier, he argued that "economic control is not merely control of a sector of human life which can be separated from the rest; it is the control of the means for all our ends".[65] The Chilean scholars Martnez and Daz rejected this argument, pointing to the long tradition of democracy in Chile. The return of democracy required the defeat of the Pinochet regime, though it had been fundamental in saving capitalism. The essential contribution came from profound mass rebellions and finally, old party elites using old institutional mechanisms to bring back democracy.[66]

The European Union (EU) is sometimes considered as a neoliberal organization as it facilitates free trade and freedom of movement. It erodes national protectionism and it limits national subsidies.[67] Others underline that the EU is not completely neoliberal as it leaves the possibility to develop welfare state policies.[68][69]

Neoliberal ideas were first implemented in West Germany. The economists around Ludwig Erhard drew on the theories they had developed in the 1930s and 1940s and contributed to West Germany's reconstruction after the Second World War.[70] Erhard was a member of the Mont Pelerin Society and in constant contact with other neoliberals. He pointed out that he is commonly classified as neoliberal and that he accepted this classification.[71]

The ordoliberal Freiburg School was more pragmatic. The German neoliberals accepted the classical liberal notion that competition drives economic prosperity, but they argued that a laissez-faire state policy stifles competition as the strong devour the weak since monopolies and cartels could pose a threat to freedom of competition. They supported the creation of a well-developed legal system and capable regulatory apparatus. While still opposed to full-scale Keynesian employment policies or an extensive welfare state, German neoliberal theory was marked by the willingness to place humanistic and social values on par with economic efficiency. Alfred Mller-Armack coined the phrase "social market economy" to emphasize the egalitarian and humanistic bent of the idea.[6] According to Boas and Gans-Morse, Walter Eucken stated that "social security and social justice are the greatest concerns of our time".[6]

Erhard emphasized that the market was inherently social and did not need to be made so.[49] He hoped that growing prosperity would enable the population to manage much of their social security by self-reliance and end the necessity for a widespread welfare state. By the name of Volkskapitalismus, there were some efforts to foster private savings. However, although average contributions to the public old age insurance were quite small, it remained by far the most important old age income source for a majority of the German population, therefore despite liberal rhetoric the 1950s witnessed what has been called a "reluctant expansion of the welfare state". To end widespread poverty among the elderly the pension reform of 1957 brought a significant extension of the German welfare state which already had been established under Otto von Bismarck.[72] Rstow, who had coined the label "neoliberalism", criticized that development tendency and pressed for a more limited welfare program.[49]

Hayek did not like the expression "social market economy", but stated in 1976 that some of his friends in Germany had succeeded in implementing the sort of social order for which he was pleading while using that phrase. However, in Hayek's view the social market economy's aiming for both a market economy and social justice was a muddle of inconsistent aims.[73] Despite his controversies with the German neoliberals at the Mont Pelerin Society, Ludwig von Mises stated that Erhard and Mller-Armack accomplished a great act of liberalism to restore the German economy and called this "a lesson for the US".[74] However, according to different research Mises believed that the ordoliberals were hardly better than socialists. As an answer to Hans Hellwig's complaints about the interventionist excesses of the Erhard ministry and the ordoliberals, Mises wrote: "I have no illusions about the true character of the politics and politicians of the social market economy". According to Mises, Erhard's teacher Franz Oppenheimer "taught more or less the New Frontier line of" President Kennedy's "Harvard consultants (Schlesinger, Galbraith, etc.)".[75]

In Germany, neoliberalism at first was synonymous with both ordoliberalism and social market economy. But over time the original term neoliberalism gradually disappeared since social market economy was a much more positive term and fit better into the Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle) mentality of the 1950s and 1960s.[49]

The Middle East experienced an onset of neoliberal policies from the late 1960s onwards.[76][77] Egypt is frequently linked to the standardisation of neoliberal policies, particularly with regard to the 'open-door' policies of President Anwar Sadat throughout the 1970s,[78] and Hosni Mubarak's successive economic reforms from 1981 to 2011.[79] These measures, known as al-Infitah, were later diffused across the region. In Tunisia, neoliberal economic policies are associated with Ben Ali's dictatorship,[80] where the linkages between authoritarianism and neoliberalism become clear.[81] Responses to globalisation and economic reforms in the Gulf have also been approached via a neoliberal analytical framework.[82]

Following the death of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping led the country through far ranging market centered reforms, with the slogan of Xiokng, that combined neoliberalism with centralized authoritarianism. These focused on agriculture, industry, education and science/defense.[83]

During her tenure as Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher oversaw a number of neoliberal reforms including: tax reduction, reforming exchange rates, deregulation and privatisation.[84] These reforms were continued and supported by her successor John Major and although opposed by the Labour Party at the time, they were largely left unaltered when the latter returned to government in 1997. Instead, the Labour government under Tony Blair finished off a variety of uncompleted privatisation and deregulation measures.[85]

The Adam Smith Institute, a United Kingdom-based free market think tank and lobbying group formed in 1977 and a major driver of the aforementioned neoliberal reforms,[86] officially changed its libertarian label to neoliberal in October 2016.[87]

David Harvey traces the rise of neoliberalism in the United States to Lewis Powell's 1971 confidential memorandum to the Chamber of Commerce.[83]:43 A call to arms to the business community to counter criticism of the free enterprise system, it was a significant factor in the rise of conservative organizations and think-tanks which advocated for neoliberal policies, such as the Business Roundtable, The Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, Citizens for a Sound Economy, Accuracy in Academia and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. For Powell, universities were becoming an ideological battleground, and he recommended the establishment of an intellectual infrastructure to serve as a counterweight to the increasingly popular ideas of Ralph Nader and other opponents of big business.[88][89][90] On the left, neoliberal ideas were developed and widely popularized by John Kenneth Galbraith while the Chicago School ideas were advanced and repackaged into a progressive, leftist perspective in Lester Thurow's influential 1980 book "The Zero-Sum Society".[91]

Early roots of neoliberalism were laid in the 1970s during the Carter administration, with deregulation of the trucking, banking and airline industries.[92][93][94] This trend continued into the 1980s under the Reagan administration, which included tax cuts, increased defense spending, financial deregulation and trade deficit expansion.[95] Likewise, concepts of supply-side economics, discussed by the Democrats in the 1970s, culminated in the 1980 Joint Economic Committee report "Plugging in the Supply Side". This was picked up and advanced by the Reagan administration, with Congress following Reagan's basic proposal and cutting federal income taxes across the board by 25% in 1981.[96]

During the 1990s, the Clinton administration also embraced neoliberalism[85] by supporting the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), continuing the deregulation of the financial sector through passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act and the repeal of the GlassSteagall Act and implementing cuts to the welfare state through passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act.[95][97][98] The neoliberalism of the Clinton administration differs from that of Reagan as the Clinton administration purged neoliberalism of neoconservative positions on militarism, family values, opposition to multiculturalism and neglect of ecological issues.[84]:5051[disputed discuss] Writing in New York, journalist Jonathan Chait disputed accusations that the Democratic Party had been hijacked by neoliberals, saying that its policies have largely stayed the same since the New Deal. Instead, Chait suggested this came from arguments that presented a false dichotomy between free market economics and socialism, ignoring mixed economies.[99] Historian Walter Scheidel says that both parties shifted to promote free market capitalism in the 1970s, with the Democratic Party being "instrumental in implementing financial deregulation in the 1990s".[100]

In New Zealand, neoliberal economic policies were implemented under the Fourth Labour Government led by Prime Minister David Lange. These neoliberal policies are commonly referred to as Rogernomics, a portmanteau of "Roger" and "economics", after Lange appointed Roger Douglas minister of finance in 1984.[101]

Lange's government had inherited a severe balance of payments crisis as a result of the deficits from the previously implemented two-year freeze on wages and prices by preceding Prime Minister Robert Muldoon who had also stubbornly maintained an unsustainable exchange rate.[102] The inherited economic conditions lead Lange to remark "We ended up being run very similarly to a Polish shipyard."[103] On 14 September 1984 Lange's government held an Economic Summit to discuss the underlying problems in the New Zealand economy, which lead to advocacy of radical economic reform previously proposed by the Treasury Department.[104]

A reform program consisting of deregulation and the removal of tariffs and subsidies was put in place which consequently affected New Zealand's agricultural community, who were hit hard by the loss of subsidies to farmers.[105] A superannuation surcharge was introduced, despite having promised not to reduce superannuation, resulting in Labour losing support from the elderly. The finance markets were also deregulated, removing restrictions on interests rates, lending and foreign exchange and in March 1985, the New Zealand dollar was floated.[106] Subsequently, a number of government departments were converted into state-owned enterprises which lead to great job loss: Electricity Corporation 3,000; Coal Corporation 4,000; Forestry Corporation 5,000; New Zealand Post 8,000.[105]

New Zealand became a part of a global economy. The focus in the economy shifted from the productive sector to finance as a result of zero restrictions on overseas money coming into the country. Finance capital outstripped industrial capital and subsequently, the manufacturing industry suffered approximately 76,000 job losses.[107]

The Austrian School is a school of economic thought which bases its study of economic phenomena on the interpretation and analysis of the purposeful actions of individuals.[108][109][110] It derives its name from its origin in late-19th and early-20th century Vienna with the work of Carl Menger, Eugen von Bhm-Bawerk, Friedrich von Wieser and others.[111] In 21st century usage by such economists as Mark Skousen, reference to the Austrian school often denotes a reference to the free-market economics of Friedrich Hayek who began his teaching in Vienna.[112]

Among the contributions of the Austrian School to economic theory are the subjective theory of value, marginalism in price theory and the formulation of the economic calculation problem.[113] Many theories developed by "first wave" Austrian economists have been absorbed into most mainstream schools of economics. These include Carl Menger's theories on marginal utility, Friedrich von Wieser's theories on opportunity cost and Eugen von Bhm-Bawerk's theories on time preference as well as Menger and Bhm-Bawerk's criticisms of Marxian economics. The Austrian School follows an approach, termed methodological individualism, a version of which was codified by Ludwig von Mises and termed "praxeology" in his book published in English as Human Action in 1949.[114]

The former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking of the originators of the School, said in 2000 that "the Austrian School have reached far into the future from when most of them practiced and have had a profound and, in my judgment, probably an irreversible effect on how most mainstream economists think in this country".[115] In 1987, Nobel laureate James M. Buchanan told an interviewer: "I have no objections to being called an Austrian. Hayek and Mises might consider me an Austrian but, surely some of the others would not".[116] Republican Congressman Ron Paul stated that he adheres to Austrian School economics and has authored six books which refer to the subject.[117][118] Paul's former economic adviser, investment dealer Peter Schiff,[119] also calls himself an adherent of the Austrian School.[120] Jim Rogers, investor and financial commentator, also considers himself of the Austrian School of economics.[121] Chinese economist Zhang Weiying, who is known in China for his advocacy of free market reforms, supports some Austrian theories such as the Austrian theory of the business cycle.[122]

The Chicago school of economics describes a neoclassical school of thought within the academic community of economists, with a strong focus around the faculty of University of Chicago. Chicago macroeconomic theory rejected Keynesianism in favor of monetarism until the mid-1970s, when it turned to new classical macroeconomics heavily based on the concept of rational expectations.[123] The school is strongly associated with economists such as Milton Friedman, George Stigler, Ronald Coase and Gary Becker.[124] In the 21 century, economists such as Mark Skousen refer to Friedrich Hayek as a key economist who influenced this school in the 20th century having started his career in Vienna and the Austrian school of economics.[125]

The school emphasizes non-intervention from government and generally rejects regulation in markets as inefficient with the exception of central bank regulation of the money supply (i.e. monetarism). Although the school's association with neoliberalism is sometimes resisted by its proponents,[123] its emphasis on reduced government intervention in the economy and a laissez-faire ideology have brought about an affiliation between the Chicago school and neoliberal economics.[13][126]

In The Road to Serfdom, Hayek has argued: "Economic control is not merely control of a sector of human life which can be separated from the rest; it is the control of the means for all our ends".[65]

Later in his book Capitalism and Freedom (1962), Friedman developed the argument that economic freedom, while itself an extremely important component of total freedom, is also a necessary condition for political freedom. He commented that centralized control of economic activities was always accompanied with political repression.

In his view, the voluntary character of all transactions in an unregulated market economy and wide diversity that it permits are fundamental threats to repressive political leaders and greatly diminish power to coerce. Through elimination of centralized control of economic activities, economic power is separated from political power and the one can serve as counterbalance to the other. Friedman feels that competitive capitalism is especially important to minority groups since impersonal market forces protect people from discrimination in their economic activities for reasons unrelated to their productivity.[127]

Amplifying Friedman's argument, it has often been pointed out that increasing economic freedoms tend to raise expectations on political freedoms, eventually leading to democracy. Other scholars see the existence of non-democratic yet market-liberal regimes and the undermining of democratic control by market processes as strong evidence that such a general, ahistorical nexus cannot be upheld.[128] Contemporary discussion on the relationship between neoliberalism and democracy shifted to a more historical perspective, studying extent and circumstances of how much the two are mutually dependent, contradictory or incompatible.

In a response to critics he claims accuse him of endorsing "the neoliberalization of academic life," Stanley Fish argues that academics should not engage in civic or democratic action in their role as academics. Fish claims academic freedom applies only within the university and the classroom, which are not the appropriate venues for taking stands on social or political issues. "I dont foreclose the possibility [of academics engaging in civic or political action]; I just want to locate it outside the university and the classroom." Fish claims critics of the neoliberal university like David Harvey view such separation of classroom, society, and state as the university and academics giving up their former roles as crucial players in the public sphere and adopting more instrumental, commercial, and practical roles characteristic of neoliberalism.[129] Fish arguing that academic responsibility only applies in an academic sphere neatly separated from the public, civic, and private spheres echoes the Friedman doctrine, Milton Friedman's argument that corporate social responsibility only applies in a private sphere neatly separated from the public and civic spheres.

Neoliberalism has its share of criticism in both left-wing politics and right-wing politics.[130] Many activists and academics alike have criticized neoliberalism too.[131] Thomas Marois and Lucia Pradella posit that the impact of the global 20082009 crisis has given rise to new scholarship that criticizes neoliberalism and also seeks policy alternatives.[132]

Much of the literature in support of neoliberalism relies on the idea that neoliberal market logic improves a very narrow monetized conception of performance, which is not necessarily the best approach. This focus on economic efficiency can compromise other, perhaps more important factors. Anthropologist Mark Fleming argues that when the performance of a transit system is assessed purely in terms of economic efficiency, social goods such as strong workers' rights are considered impediments to maximum performance, which given the monetization of time means timely premium rapid networks.[133] Using the case study of the San Francisco Muni, Fleming shows that neoliberal worldview has resulted in vicious attacks on the drivers' union, for example through the setting of impossible schedules so that drivers are necessarily late and through brutal public smear campaigns. This ultimately resulted in the passing of Proposition G, which severely undermined the powers of the Muni drivers' union. Workers' rights are by no means the only victims of the neoliberal focus on economic efficiency as it is important to recognize that this vision and metric of performance judgment de-emphasizes public goods that are not conventionally monetized. For example, the geographers Birch and Siemiatycki contend that the growth of marketization ideology has shifted discourse such that it focuses on monetary rather than social objectives, making it harder to justify public goods driven by equity, environmental concerns and social justice.[134]

David Harvey described neoliberalism as a class project, designed to impose class on society through liberalism.[135] Economists Grard Dumnil and Dominique Lvy posit that "the restoration and increase of the power, income, and wealth of the upper classes" are the primary objectives of the neoliberal agenda[136] Economist David M. Kotz contends that neoliberalism "is based on the thorough domination of labor by capital".[37]:43 The emergence of the "precariat", a new class facing acute socio-economic insecurity and alienation, has been attributed to the globalization of neoliberalism.[137]

Sociologist Thomas Volscho argues that the imposition of neoliberalism in the United States arose from a conscious political mobilization by capitalist elites in the 1970s who faced two self-described crises: the legitimacy of capitalism and a falling rate of profitability in industry. Various neoliberal ideologies (such as monetarism and supply-side economics) had been long advanced by elites, translated into policies by the Reagan administration and ultimately resulted in less governmental regulation and a shift from a tax-financed state to a debt-financed one. While the profitability of industry and the rate of economic growth never recovered to the heyday of the 1960s, the political and economic power of Wall Street and finance capital vastly increased due to the debt-financing of the state.[138]

The invisible hand of the market and the iron fist of the state combine and complement each other to make the lower classes accept desocialized wage labor and the social instability it brings in its wake. After a long eclipse, the prison thus returns to the frontline of institutions entrusted with maintaining the social order.

Loc Wacquant[139]

Several scholars have linked the issue of mass incarceration of the poor in the United States with the rise of neoliberalism.[2]:3, 346[140][141][142][143] Sociologist Loc Wacquant argues that neoliberal policy for dealing with social instability among economically marginalized populations following the implementation of other neoliberal policies, which have allowed for the retrenchment of the social welfare state and the rise of punitive workfare and have increased gentrification of urban areas, privatization of public functions, the shrinking of collective protections for the working class via economic deregulation and the rise of underpaid, precarious wage labor, is the criminalization of poverty and mass incarceration.[141]:5354[144] By contrast, it is extremely lenient in dealing with those in the upper echelons of society, in particular when it comes to economic crimes of the privileged classes and corporations such as fraud, embezzlement, insider trading, credit and insurance fraud, money laundering and violation of commerce and labor codes.[141][145] According to Wacquant, neoliberalism does not shrink government, but instead sets up a "centaur state" with little governmental oversight for those at the top and strict control of those at the bottom.[141][146]

In expanding upon Wacquant's thesis, sociologist and political economist John L. Campbell of Dartmouth College suggests that through privatization, the prison system exemplifies the centaur state:

On the one hand, it punishes the lower class, which populates the prisons; on the other hand, it profits the upper class, which owns the prisons, and it employs the middle class, which runs them.

In addition, he says the prison system benefits corporations through outsourcing as the inmates are "slowly becoming a source of low-wage labor for some US corporations". Both through privatization and outsourcing, Campbell argues, the penal state reflects neoliberalism.[149]:61 Campbell also argues that while neoliberalism in the United States established a penal state for the poor, it also put into place a debtor state for the middle class and that "both have had perverse effects on their respective targets: increasing rates of incarceration among the lower class and increasing rates of indebtednessand recently home foreclosureamong the middle class."[149]:68

David McNally, Professor of Political Science at York University, argues that while expenditures on social welfare programs have been cut, expenditures on prison construction have increased significantly during the neoliberal era, with California having "the largest prison-building program in the history of the world".[150] The scholar Bernard Harcourt contends the neoliberal concept that the state is inept when it comes to economic regulation, but efficient in policing and punishing "has facilitated the slide to mass incarceration.[151] Both Wacquant and Harcourt refer to this phenomenon as "Neoliberal Penality".[152][153]

In The Global Gamble, Peter Gowan argued that "neoliberalism" was not only a free-market ideology but "a social engineering project". Globally, it meant opening a state's political economy to products and financial flows from the core countries. Domestically, neoliberalism meant remaking of social relations "in favour of creditor and rentier interests, with the subordination of the productive sector to financial sectors, and a drive to shift wealth, power and security away from the bulk of the working population."[154]

The effect of neoliberalism on global health, particularly the aspect of international aid, involves key players such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. According to James Pfeiffer,[155] neoliberal emphasis has been placed on free markets and privatization which has been tied to the "new policy agenda" in which NGOs are seen as being able to provide better social welfare than governments. International NGOs have been promoted to fill holes in public services created by the World Bank and IMF through their promotion of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) which reduce government health spending and which Pfeiffer criticized as unsustainable. The reduced health spending and the gain of the public health sector by NGOs causes the local health system to become fragmented, undermines local control of health programs and contributes to local social inequality between NGO workers and local individuals.[156]

In 2016, researchers for the IMF released a paper entitled "Neoliberalism: Oversold?", which stated:

There is much to cheer in the neoliberal agenda. The expansion of global trade has rescued millions from abject poverty. Foreign direct investment has often been a way to transfer technology and know-how to developing economies. Privatization of state-owned enterprises has in many instances led to more efficient provision of services and lowered the fiscal burden on governments.

However, it was also critical of some neoliberal policies, such as freedom of capital and fiscal consolidation for "increasing inequality, in turn jeopardizing durable expansion".[157] The authors also note that some neoliberal policies are to blame for financial crises around the world growing bigger and more damaging.[158] The report contends the implementation of neoliberal policies by economic and political elites has led to "three disquieting conclusions":

Writing in The Guardian, Stephen Metcalf posits that the IMF paper helps "put to rest the idea that the word is nothing more than a political slur, or a term without any analytic power".[160]

The IMF has itself been criticized for its neoliberal policies.[161][162] Rajesh Makwana writes that "the World Bank and IMF, are major exponents of the neoliberal agenda".[163] Sheldon Richman, editor of the libertarian journal The Freeman, also sees the IMF imposing "corporatist-flavored 'neoliberalism' on the troubled countries of the world". The policies of spending cuts coupled with tax increases give "real market reform a bad name and set back the cause of genuine liberalism". Paternalistic supranational bureaucrats foster "long-term dependency, perpetual indebtedness, moral hazard, and politicization, while discrediting market reform and forestalling revolutionary liberal change".[164]

Rowden wrote that the IMF's monetarist approach towards prioritising price stability (low inflation) and fiscal restraint (low budget deficits) was unnecessarily restrictive and has prevented developing countries from scaling up long-term investment in public health infrastructure, resulting in chronically underfunded public health systems, demoralising working conditions that have fueled a "brain drain" of medical personnel and the undermining of public health and the fight against HIV/AIDS in developing countries.[165]

The implementation of neoliberal policies and the acceptance of neoliberal economic theories in the 1970s are seen by some academics as the root of financialization, with the financial crisis of 20072008 as one of the ultimate results.[166][42][167][168][37][169]

Nicolas Firzli has argued that the rise of neoliberalism eroded the post-war consensus and Eisenhower-era Republican centrism that had resulted in the massive allocation of public capital to large-scale infrastructure projects throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s in both Western Europe and North America: "In the pre-Reagan era, infrastructure was an apolitical, positively connoted, technocratic term shared by mainstream economists and policy makers [] including President Eisenhower, a praetorian Republican leader who had championed investment in the Interstate Highway System, America's national road grid [] But Reagan, Thatcher, Delors and their many admirers amongst Clintonian, "New Labour" and EU Social-Democrat decision makers in Brussels sought to dismantle the generous state subsidies for social infrastructure and public transportation across the United States, Britain and the European Union".[170]

Following Brexit, the 2016 United States presidential election and the progressive emergence of a new kind of "self-seeking capitalism" ("Trumponomics") moving away to some extent from the neoliberal orthodoxies of the past, we may witness a "massive increase in infrastructure investment" in the United States, Britain and other advanced economies:[171][172]

With the victory of Donald J. Trump on November 8, 2016, the 'neoliberal-neoconservative' policy consensus that had crystalized in 19791980 (Deng Xiaoping's visit to the United States, election of Reagan and Thatcher) finally came to an end [...] The deliberate neglect of America's creaking infrastructure assets (notably public transportation and water sanitation) from the early 1980s on eventually fueled a widespread popular discontent that came back to haunt both Hillary Clinton and the Republican establishment. Donald Trump was quick to seize on the issue to make a broader slap against the laissez-faire complacency of the federal government.[173]

Others such as Catherine Rottenberg do not see Trump's victory as an end to neoliberalism, but rather a new phase of it.[174]

Mark Arthur has written that the influence of neoliberalism has given rise to an "anti-corporatist" movement in opposition to it. This "anti-corporatist" movement is articulated around the need to re-claim the power that corporations and global institutions have stripped governments of. He says that Adam Smith's "rules for mindful markets" served as a basis for the anti-corporate movement, "following government's failure to restrain corporations from hurting or disturbing the happiness of the neighbor [Smith]".[175]

Nicolas Firzli has argued that the neoliberal era was essentially defined by "the economic ideas of Milton Friedman, who wrote that 'if anything is certain to destroy our free society, to undermine its very foundation, it would be a widespread acceptance by management of social responsibilities in some sense other than to make as much money as possible. This is a fundamentally subversive doctrine'".[176] Firzli insists that prudent, fiduciary-driven long-term investors cannot ignore the environmental, social and corporate governance consequences of actions taken by the CEOs of the companies whose shares they hold as "the long-dominant Friedman stance is becoming culturally unacceptable and financially costly in the boardrooms of pension funds and industrial firms in Europe and North America".[176]

Counterpoints to neoliberalism:

Instead of citizens, it produces consumers. Instead of communities, it produces shopping malls. The net result is an atomized society of disengaged individuals who feel demoralized and socially powerless.

Robert W. McChesney[44]:11

American scholar and cultural critic Henry Giroux alleges neoliberalism holds that market forces should organize every facet of society, including economic and social life; and promotes a social Darwinist ethic which elevates self-interest over social needs.[192][193][194]

According to the economists Howell and Diallo, neoliberal policies have contributed to a United States economy in which 30% of workers earn low wages (less than two-thirds the median wage for full-time workers) and 35% of the labor force is underemployed as only 40% of the working-age population in the country is adequately employed.[195]

The Center for Economic Policy Research's (CEPR) Dean Baker (2006) argued that the driving force behind rising inequality in the United States has been a series of deliberate, neoliberal policy choices including anti-inflationary bias, anti-unionism and profiteering in the health industry.[196] However, countries have applied neoliberal policies at varying levels of intensityfor example, the OECD has calculated that only 6% of Swedish workers are beset with wages it considers low and that Swedish wages are overall lower.[197] Others argue that Sweden's adoption of neoliberal reforms, in particular the privatization of public services and reduced state benefits, has resulted in income inequality growing faster in Sweden than any other OECD nation.[198][199]

The rise of anti-austerity parties in Europe and SYRIZA's victory in the Greek legislative elections of January 2015 have some proclaiming "the end of neoliberalism".[200]

Kristen Ghodsee, ethnographer and Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, asserts that the triumphalist attitudes of Western powers at the end of the Cold War and the fixation with linking all leftist political ideals with the excesses of Stalinism, permitted neoliberal, free market capitalism to fill the void, which undermined democratic institutions and reforms, leaving a trail of economic misery, unemployment and rising inequality throughout the former Eastern Bloc and much of the West in the following decades that has fueled the resurgence of extremist nationalisms in both the former and the latter.[201] In addition, her research shows that widespread discontent with neoliberal capitalism has also led to a "red nostalgia" in much of the former Communist bloc, noting that "the political freedoms that came with democracy were packaged with the worst type of unregulated, free market capitalism, which completely destabilized the rhythms of everyday life and brought crime, corruption and chaos where there had once been a comfortable predictability."[202]

Ruth J Blakeley, Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield, accuses the United States and its allies of fomenting state terrorism and mass killings during the Cold War as a means to buttress and promote the expansion of capitalism and neoliberalism in the developing world. As an example of this, Blakeley says the case of Indonesia demonstrates that the U.S. and Great Britain put the interests of capitalist elites over the human rights of hundreds of thousands of Indonesians by supporting the Indonesian Army as it waged a campaign of mass killings which resulted in the wholesale annihilation of the Communist Party of Indonesia and its civilian supporters.[203] Historian Bradley R. Simpson posits that this campaign of mass killings was "an essential building block of the neoliberal policies that the West would attempt to impose on Indonesia after Sukarno's ouster."[204]

In Latin America, the "pink tide" that swept leftist governments into power at the turn of the millennium can be seen as a reaction against neoliberal hegemony and the notion that "there is no alternative" (TINA) to the Washington Consensus.[205]

Notable critics of neoliberalism in theory or practice include economists Joseph Stiglitz,[206] Amartya Sen, Michael Hudson,[207] Robert Pollin,[208] Julie Matthaei[209] and Richard D. Wolff;[187] linguist Noam Chomsky;[44] geographer and anthropologist David Harvey;[83] Slovenian continental philosopher Slavoj iek,[210] political activist and public intellectual Cornel West;[211] Marxist feminist Gail Dines;[212] author, activist and filmmaker Naomi Klein;[213] journalist and environmental activist George Monbiot;[214] Belgian psychologist Paul Verhaeghe;[215] journalist and activist Chris Hedges;[216] and the alter-globalization movement in general, including groups such as ATTAC. Critics of neoliberalism argue that not only is neoliberalism's critique of socialism (as unfreedom) wrong, but neoliberalism cannot deliver the liberty that is supposed to be one of its strong points.

In protest against neoliberal globalization, South Korean farmer and former president of the Korean Advanced Farmers Federation Lee Kyung-hae committed suicide by stabbing himself in the heart during a meeting of the WTO in Cancun, Mexico in 2003.[217] He was protesting against the decision of the South Korean government to reduce subsidies to farmers.[7]:96

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Enlightenment and the Major Religions of the World

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

The truths of every religion originate from the awareness of the mystics who were the avatars upon whom the religions were founded.

These were uniformly, God-realized spiritual geniuses who were able to share their experience, information, and knowledge for the benefit of mankind. Perhaps this experience is available to all in the form of Enlightenment.

But how to reach this point? Is there a definitive path? Do any religions talk of this path?

Several religions describe this experience of God as Enlightenment. Others describe Enlightenment as the "death of the ego."

Hinduism and some sects of Buddhism, and others, share an idea that the moment of enlightenment does come when a soul had progressed through the "lesson plan," and has reached a state of ripeness where God's grace can be bestowed.

They believe that this experience is not something that you acquire, as if you were missing it before, but more like a realization that it was present all along. Much like realizing that the sun was always shining behind the clouds. Life's illusion is lifted, and clarity and understanding replaces it. Remove the obstructions, and all is revealed.

Now these beliefs say it may take many life times to reach this point of readiness but it is something that can be experienced and it is something that every human has the potential for. Perhaps there are even many people on the earth now who have had this experience. Perhaps many of these spiritual geniuses already walk among us. See the video at the bottom of the page to hear one such enlightened soul.

At any rate this alternative path to God does exist according to Hinduism, and others.

Of course in scientific terms this experience is not provable. All we have are the accounts by people who have been through the experience. And in many cases these mystics aren't talking. What is there to say when the experience cannot be described in words. The radical subjectivity of the experience defies words or our own understanding.

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Many enlightened souls are said to have "lost interest in the world." They no longer seem to care about earthly things like feeding themselves. Often their close followers efforts are what keeps them alive. And certainly many show little interest or ability to teach their experience. Perhaps it takes a very special genius to be able to share enlightenment with others.

So the description of the experience is often not shared and certainly not written about. Even Jesus and Buddha wrote nothing of their experiences. Their disciples took it upon themselves to describe what they heard the avatar say. So, at best, the information is second hand.

Here's one description of Enlightenment as shared by Dr. David R. Hawkins as he believed he was about to die from a fatal illness...

The 'person' that had been no longer existed. There was no personal 'I' or self or ego, only an infinite Presence of unlimited power that had replaced what had been 'me'. The body and its actions were controlled solely by the Infinite Will of the Presence. The world was illuminated by the clarity of an Infinite Oneness. All things revealed their infinite beauty and perfection as the expression of Divinity.

As life went on, this stillness persisted. There was no personal will; the physical body functioned solely under the direction of the infinitely powerful but exquisitely gentle Will of the Presence.In that state there was no need to think about anything. All truth was self-evident and no conceptualization was necessary or even possible. At the same time, the physical nervous system felt extremely overtaxed as though it was carrying far more energy than its circuits had been designed for.

It was not possible to function effectively in the world. All ordinary motivations had disappeared, along with all fear and anxiety. There was nothing to seek as all was perfect. Fame, success, and money were meaningless. Friends urged the pragmatic return to clinical practice, but there was no motivation to do so."

Dr. Hawkins goes on to describe this experience as the "death of the ego" which he says is the only real death that anyone can actually experience.

And another from Sufi George...

The key understanding that results from this experience of pure nothing is that one is still alive even when everything is gone. One realizes that one's existence does not depend on anything except awareness itself. One realizes that awareness is the primal reality, the permanent core of ourselves.

The enlightenment experience makes many things immediately clear. It is clear that all there is is awareness. This brings complete relief and liberation. It is clear that life is awareness, and not what awareness experiences.

So the body, the mind, the physical universe as well as dream universes, feelings, knowledge, are all non-essential to being alive. Fear and guilt vanish because awareness is beyond harm and experience is not part of one's being.

It is clear that all experience comes from outside of oneself, that experience merely flows through awareness, and that one is not responsible for the helpless act of experiencing one's experience.

In short, this state of freedom solves every problem by eliminating it, and provides a completely unburdened peace. This is so attractive, so magnetic, that it cannot be actually forgotten, only displaced by the usual contents and concerns of life."

Here is the essence of what those who claim to be enlightened have described...

So, you could say that to these folks God, awareness, and life are one.

Now, before you risk suffering intellectual brain damage in the search for enlightenment, you must have a true fix on God, and the existence of God, ....and that is the purpose of our SPECIAL REPORT, The Case For The Existence Of God, Without A Bible or Any Holy Book.

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Enlightenment and the Major Religions of the World

According to the Catholic Church, are there levels of …

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

I believe you are looking for the three ways or states of the spiritual life.

Our process of conversion to Christ is a journey that takes place over the course of a lifetime. You can probably look back to times in your life where you can remember making great progress on your spiritual journey, and other times when you have felt like you were moving backwards.

The Fathers, theologians, and saints of the Church discuss three stages, or states, of perfection in the spiritual life: the purgative way, the illuminative way, and the unitive way. Each way or state represents an advancement toward sanctityperfectionand total union with God.

Here is a quick synopsis of the ways:

Purgative Way:

This is the state of beginners. In this stage it is often difficult to overcome daily temptations, and practicing the virtues can require an inner battle because of attachment to venial sin. Though the desire for perfection and progress is there, the beginner falls frequently. If a beginner concerns himself seriously with repenting of his sins and has an actionable desire to stop offending God, he may eventually move to the Illuminative Way.

Illuminative Way:

This is the intermediary stage between purification and total union with God. In this stage, there is enlightenment in the ways of God and a clear understanding of his will in ones life. There are now only occasional slips into sin.

Unitive Way:

This is the final stage of Christian perfection. A soul in the unitive state has a constant awareness of Gods presence and habitually conforms to Gods will. In this stage, the soul loves God and others without limit. - The Three Ways or States of the Spiritual Life

Many Catholic authors have written extensively on the subject of these three stages of the spiritual life including Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (in The Three Ages of the Spiritual Life: Prelude of Eternal Life) and St. John of the Cross (in The Dark Night of the Soul).

cf. St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica II-II q. 24 a. 9 c.:

The spiritual increase of charity may be considered in respect of a certain likeness to the growth of the human body. For although this latter growth may be divided into many parts, yet it has certain fixed divisions according to those particular actions or pursuits to which man is brought by this same growth. Thus we speak of a man being an infant until he has the use of reason, after which we distinguish another state of man wherein he begins to speak and to use his reason, while there is again a third state, that of puberty when he begins to acquire the power of generation, and so on until he arrives at perfection.

In like manner the divers degrees of charity are distinguished according to the different pursuits to which man is brought by the increase of charity. For at first [purgative way:] it is incumbent on man to occupy himself chiefly with avoiding sin and resisting his concupiscences, which move him in opposition to charity: this concerns beginners, in whom charity has to be fed or fostered lest it be destroyed: in the second place [illuminative way:] man's chief pursuit is to aim at progress in good, and this is the pursuit of the proficient, whose chief aim is to strengthen their charity by adding to it: while man's third pursuit [unitive way:] is to aim chiefly at union with and enjoyment of God: this belongs to the perfect who "desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ."

It could be noted that the unitive way is the stage which some souls receive the gifts of contemplation and union with God.

It is in this state that the gift of contemplation is imparted to the soul, though this is not always the case; because many souls who are perfect in the unitive way never receive in this life the gift of contemplation and there have been numerous saints who were not mystics or contemplatives and who nevertheless excelled in the practice of heroic virtue. Souls, however, who have attained to the unitive state have consolations of a purer and higher order than others, and are more often favored by extraordinary graces; and sometimes with the extraordinary phenomena of the mystical state such as ecstasies, raptures, and what is known as the prayer of union. - Catholic Encyclopedia.

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According to the Catholic Church, are there levels of ...

Wisefool Press: The Search Is Over

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

Welcome to WisefoolPress, publisher ofthe Enlightenment Trilogy &Dreamstate Trilogy by Jed McKenna.In the more than eighteen years that we have been publishing Jeds books, they have achieved the status of underground classics. They have sold well over a million copies in more than eighty countries and been translated by publishers in Europe, South America and Asia. And, as a look at some of the feedback on this site will show, they have found a very special place in readers hearts.Yes, Jeds books are a joy to read. Theyre full of charm and humor, memorable characters and delightful dialogues. But theyre also full of something seldom found in spiritual books; a stark and unyielding challenge to the reader. In the end, these books are about one thing, moving beyond the ego, and thats a territory many wish to leave unexplored.Jeds books are not all sweetness and light, and theyre not for everyone.The tagline of Wisefool Press is The Search Is Over. We have good reason for saying that. Some readers have called these the last spiritual books anyone will ever need, and theres good reason for saying that too. Jed McKennas books are required reading for anyone who is not afraid to go where honest inquiry leads, and no one who is serious about their spirituality can afford not to read them.The bottom line is that spirituality has a bottom line, and Jed shows us right where it is.

The Search Is Over

DamnedestIncorrect Warfare Dreamstate 3Free Stuff AudioBooks E-Books Quantity Discounts Quotes +

Jed McKenna is not an active teacher, online or off. He does not engage in social media or forums. He does not give classes or workshops or accept money from students. He has no teachings or products other than those offered by Wisefool Press and our international publishing partners. Anyone claiming to be Jed or to speak for him is misrepresenting themselves.

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Wisefool Press: The Search Is Over

Matilda Faltyn – Ego and Spiritual Awakening

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

Its like someone knocking on your door. If you opened the door and are standing on the threshold blinking in the light, there may be a curiosity tinged with uncertainty.

You may be wondering why you feel strangely unsettled and sensitive, not in a negative way, more like a wistful state of alertness. Its almost like you are expecting something to arrive. This sense of arrival is your state of spiritual readiness.

It comes when a person releases much of their irrational fear and need to control, drops any hard-boiled cynicism and pretenses, and decides to live more authentically through their heart (instead of always the head).

Spirituality is as individual as you can get. There are many ways to reach enlightenment, real freedom, or mastery of your life. Unlike religion its not a one-size-fits-all.

At one stage in our conscious evolution, it seemed right that we obey an external authority. Now we are evolved enough (most of us anyway), that we no longer need to obey rules but can take responsibility for our own actions and conscious development. We can even see the role of Jesus crucifixion in the way it was intended to be understood.

For the first time, we have access to information from many sources both credible and, yes, not so credible. But the point is we no longer have to deny our own faculties of discernment and intuition.

This means truth can be felt, perceived, and intuited through direct experience via the practice of spiritual disciplines. Its not merely read about and believed in. It is not passive. It becomes a way of Being and a way of life.

Growing spiritually does not mean you have to make the time for it. There is no sacrifice involved. That is because everything in your life, as it is now, is a vehicle for spiritual growth.

As one of thousands of lightworkers on earth at this time, my specialty is ego. This is notjust philosophy, but wisdom in action. My ego used to run the show that is my life, until I tamed and trained it and began the life-long process of integrating it with my Soul.

The ego is not all that you are its not even the best part of you. In a nutshell, ego is the part of you that goes against the flow of life, is fearful, or holds you back.Check out the sections on Ego and Soul and Ego Alchemy.

If you are curious about practical spirituality in every day life, let me invite you to check out the sections on Spiritual Awakening and Spiritual Armour.

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Matilda Faltyn - Ego and Spiritual Awakening

Spiritual Awakening Process

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

We all need support from time to time in life, and that includes needing help on the spiritual path.

The nature of the ego self is to stay in its patterns. The ignorance of the ego makes it hard to even realize what those patterns are. Left to our own devices, we generally will replicate the same kinds of thinking based off the same kinds of beliefs. As a consequence, we generally do the same types of things over and over again. Even when we feel like we're doing something brand new, how we may be doing it may still follow the same basic patterns.

For example, a person may decide to quit the job that they hate, but then they've gotten hired onto a new job that they found assessing career opportunities through the same lens of ego beliefs. Maybe they like this job better, but it may even be similar in the responsibilities that the person had in the last job. And with so many other possibilities filtered out automatically by the ego, this person would not have even scratched th

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Spiritual Awakening Process

chakras | 90 Days to Spiritual Enlightenment

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

I heard about the chakras when I was barely twenty and in my first years of University.

Though I pursued a spiritual path, I never really got to learn about what the Chakras were

really about. Speed forward twenty yearsafter doing yoga, reading countless spiritual

guidesand doing morning and evening meditations, the chakras kept coming up.

Whenever I heardof the mysterious chakras I became very intrigued. When the stress was

severe I would evendo a chakra cleansing meditation without truly knowing what they

were and what their spiritualrole truly was. Four days after my medical leave I had a Reiki

Level One training session booked.

It was to last the full Sunday and my soul friend had asked me to go months prior. I

struggled withwhether I had it in me to go. It was a full day and I had less than nothing left.

Something in mepushed me to go. It was there that I learned the true purpose of the

chakras and that the Reiki Iwas now attuned with would allow me to both heal my own and

others chakras with Rei Ki loveenergy. The reiki master did a training treatment on me and

said my heart chakra was very ill.

It wasWith this training my world just opened up

When you wake up in the morning think about what in your body, mind or spirit is out

of balance. What experiences have harmed you and how can you heal from them?

Morning Meditiation: Jason Stephenson-Australian Life Coach:

Youtube: 7 Chakras-Spoken WordHealing and Balancing

Journal Entry: Write yourself a love letter

Self Care Ritual: Reiki Healing Session from a Practitioner in your area.

Below is a link to the Canadian Reiki Association:

http://www.reiki.ca/

Reading & Learning: If youd like to learn more about Chakras and their functions

here is a link to a printable PDF from the Big Book of Yoga:

http://www.bigbookofyoga.com/hathayogabook/pdf/hatha-yoga-chakras.pdf

Musical Inspiration: MC Yogi-Chakra Beatbox: This one is fun to chant with

or you can do an energizing yoga sequence like a sun salutation to it.

Music to listen to while going about your day-This is a playlist that can balance all of your

chakras.Listen while you cook, clean, relax, work, hang out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9FfvwHcyAY&index=2&list=PLx3YL31v_16GZLNsSh6gOde0M6KdSUi2g

Art Activity:

Print and colour with watercolour markers, then paint with water:

http://www.amind.co.kr/bbs/board.php?bo_table=otherdesigns&wr_id=4

Here are some beautiful images that you can print, frame or clip and put on your fridge, if you dont have the time to create:

http://www.pinterest.com/elutze/reiki-chakra-soul-art/

Evening Meditation:

Chakra Realignment Therapy-Jason Stephenson-I love his soothing voice:

I hope youve enjoyed exploring the chakras and remember that you

can balance them anytime you like using these and the plentiful videos you can find for

free on the net.

Much Love, Peace and Namaste

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chakras | 90 Days to Spiritual Enlightenment

Spirituality, Religion, Culture, and Peace: Exploring the …

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

Spirituality, Religion, Culture, and Peace: Exploring the Foundation for Inner-Outer Peace in the Twenty-First Century - Groff and Smoker Linda Groff California State University Paul Smoker Antioch College

"If a man sings of God and hears of Him, And lets love of God sprout within him, All his sorrows shall vanish, And in his mind, God will bestow abiding peace." --Sikhism

"A Muslim is one who surrenders to the will of Allah and is an establisher of peace (while Islam means establishment of peace, Muslim means one who establishes peace through his actions and conduct)."--Islam

"The Lord lives in the heart of every creature. He turns them round and round upon the wheel of Maya. Take refuge utterly in Him. By his grace you will find supreme peace, and the state which is beyond all change." --Hinduism

"The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace." --Judaism

"All things exist for world peace." --Perfect Liberty Kyodan "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God." --Christianity

"Peace ... comes within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their openness, with the universe and all its powers and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Tanka, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us."--From The Sacred Pipe, by Black Elk, Lakota Sioux Medicine Man

This paper is about different spiritual and religious traditions in the world and how they have or could in the future contribute to the creation of a global culture of peace. As the above quotations indicate, almost all of the world's religions, in their own sacred writings and scriptures, say that they support "peace". Yet it is a known fact that war and violence have often been undertaken historically, as well as at present, in the name of religion (as is discussed further below). Yet religions profess to want peace. So what is 'peace'? And how have religions historically helped to promote peace, and how might they help create a more peaceful world in the 21st century? These are a few of the questions that this paper will attempt to explore.

Traditionally many people focus on how wars and conflicts are seemingly undertaken for religious reasons, or at least undertaken in the name of religion. Indeed, it is not difficult to find data and statistics in support of this hypothesis. Quincy Wright, in his monumental study, A Study of War , documents numerous wars and armed conflicts that involve a direct or indirect religious component, (Wright, 1941) as does Lewis Richardson in his statistical treatise, Statistics of Deadly Quarrels. (Richardson, 1960) As the Cold War has ended and inter-ethnic conflicts have re-emerged in many parts of the world, it has indeed been a popular thesis of different writers to argue that these inter-ethnic conflicts often have a religious component. A few examples of such recent writing include: Samuel Huntington's, "The Clash of Civilizations," Foreign Affairs (Summer 1993); Daniel Patrick Moynihan's Pandaemonium: Ethnicity in International Politics; and R. Scott Appleby, Religious Fundamentalisms and Global Conflict.

Following UNESCO's lead in holding two conferences on "The Contributions of Religions to a Culture of Peace" (both held in Barcelona, Spain, in April 1993 and December 1994), and other interfaith dialogues between different religions that are occurring in a serious way around the planet--including the World Parliament of Religions, in Chicago, August 1993; 1and the ongoing work of the World Council on Religion and Peace--this paper will focus instead on how religious and spiritual traditions can contribute to creating a more peaceful world via an exploration of the foundations for both inner and outer peace in the twenty first-century. The paper will have four parts:

Part I begins by providing a framework for looking at all the world's religions as having a potential spectrum of perspectives, including: the external, socially-learned, cultural or exoteric part --including different religious organizations, rituals, and beliefs, which are passed down from one generation to the next, and the internal, mystical, direct spiritual experience or esoteric part. In considering the external aspects of religion, principles from the field of intercultural communication are used to explore the creation of tolerance, understanding and valuing of diversity concerning different aspects of socially learned behavior or culture, including religion.

Fundamentalism or religious extremism or fanaticism--when religions claim their version of religion is the only one--are seen as an extreme form of the socially-learned aspect of religion and one not conducive to creating world peace. In considering the internal or esoteric aspects of religion, it is noted that all the world's religions began with someone who had a mystical enlightenment or revelatory experience, which they then tried to share with others, leading often to the formation of new religions--even though this was not the intention of the original founder. Parallels between new scientific paradigms and ancient mystical traditions from the world's religions are then noted to illustrate how contemporary dynamic, interconnected, whole systems ways of experiencing and viewing reality can be seen as providing necessary conditions "within the individual" for creating an external global culture of peace in the world.

Part II continues the exploration of the inner and outer aspects of religion and culture. Here, three different topical areas are explored: first, the work of Pitirim Sorokin on the alternation historically within Western cultures between ideational/spiritual/inner values and sensate/materialistic/outer values; second, the evolution or change historically from female to mixed to male aspects of divinity within different religions and cultures, as this relates to changing values and worldviews; and third, the work of Joseph Campbell and the universal theme of "the hero's journey" (or search for inner meaning) in the myths of all cultures--even though the outer form of the journey can vary from one culture to the next.

Part III traces the evolution of the concept of "peace" within Western peace research, including the recent development of more holistic definitions of peace that are consistent with the ideas explored in Part I of this paper. The conceptual shift involved in moving from peace as absence of war through peace as absence of large scale physical and structural violence (negative and positive peace respectively) to more holistic definitions of peace that apply across all levels and include both an inner and an outer dimension, represents a substantial broadening of the peace concept in Western peace research. Part III then uses the above evolution in the concept of peace as a framework to explore different dimensions of "a culture of peace," as well as different dimensions of "nonviolence." Gandhian, spiritually-based nonviolence is seen as a link between inner and outer forms of peace.

Part IV argues that Western peace research has focused almost entirely on outer peace, but that in future it needs to deal with both inner and outer aspects of peace in a more balanced way. In order to do this, it is suggested that peace research elaborate on the different dimensions and levels of inner peace, just as it has done for outer peace, and that it expand its methodology to include other ways of knowing besides social scientific methods only. Finally, peace research needs to redress the inbalance between negative and positive images of peace by exploring not only what it wants to eliminate, for example war and starvation, but also what it wants to create in a positive sense.

Please note that this paper is an ongoing project that will become a book. At present, some sections of the paper are developed more than others, but the basic framework is here. Please contact the writers in the future for later elaborations of this writing. We offer this version of the paper with humility, aware that further revisions and elaborations are necessary.

Before considering the external and internal aspects of religion, it is important to note that within any religion, there is a potential spectrum of possible perspectives on the teachings of that particular religion or spiritual tradition, including how those teachings relate to world peace. First, there is religion as socially-learned behavior, i.e., as part of culture--what can be called "organized religion." Here religious beliefs, rituals, and institutions are learned and passed down from one generation to the next, and religious institutions are an integral part of the social structure and fabric of culture.

When religious beliefs take the form of rigid dogma, and the believers' beliefs and behavior are known to be right, while those of non believers, or other religions--or even different variants within one's own religion--are known to be wrong, this leads into what has been variously called "fundamentalism" or "fanaticism" or "extremism"--a global trend in almost all of the world's religions today.

At the other extreme are mystical traditions which are based on direct inner spiritual experiences. Here, such mystical, revelatory, or enlightenment experiences (rather than socially learned behavior and beliefs) constitute an important part of one's spiritual life. Such spiritual experiences have also occurred in mystics from all the world's religions throughout the ages. Indeed, the founders of the world's religions were themselves usually mystics, i.e., people who had revelatory or enlightenment experiences which they then tried to share, as best they could, with others--even though they were often not trying to establish a new religion at the time (which was often left to their followers to do).Given these considerations, it is possible to look at any religion as having a potential spectrum of different forms within it, each discussed separately in the paper, as follows:

MYSTICAL/SPIRITUAL______ORGANIZED RELIGION______FUNDAMENTAL TRADITIONS AND BELIEFS OR EXTREMISM

It is interesting that mystics of all religions can usually communicate with each other and appreciate the spiritual or God force operating within each other--no matter what religious tradition the other mystics come from. Organized religion is often tolerant of different religious traditions, as seen in ecumenical movements around the world, but there can be misunderstanding between religions based on differing beliefs and practices. These misunderstandings can be lessened by educational programs focusing on the appreciation and understanding of cultural and religious diversity. But fundamentalism often stresses how one particular interpretation--of religion, scripture, and religious practices--is right and other interpretations are wrong. This difficulty of fundamentalists, from any religion, in dealing with diversity in a tolerant manner presents a major problem for peaceful relations and understanding between religions and cultures and hinders the creation of a global culture of peace.

If the whole world were mystics--who tend to honor the mystical experience in people from all the world's religions--world peace would be easier to achieve than it is today. But mystics are a very small percentage of the world's population and so misunderstandings, conflicts, and wars have often resulted historically, in part at least, over different religious interpretations of what constitutes proper beliefs, practices, rituals, and organizational forms, i.e., over the socially- learned aspects of religion.

This section of the paper will look at exoteric or outer forms of religion, i.e., religion as part of our socially-learned behavior or culture--whether it takes the form of traditional organized religion or a more extremist or fundamentalist form, and how principles from intercultural communication and conflict resolution can help people deal constructively with cultural and religious diversity.

"Religion is man's inability to cope with the immensity of God." Arnold Toynbee

"Rain falling in different parts of the world flows through thousands of channels to reach the ocean...and so, too, religions and theologies, which all come from man's yearning for meaning, they too, flow in a thousand ways, fertilizing many fields, refreshing tired people, and at last reach the ocean." Sathya Sai Baba

One way of looking at religion is as part of culture through socially learned behavior. "Culture" can be defined as learned, shared, patterned behavior, as reflected in technology and tools; social organizations, including economic, political, religious, media, educational and family organizations; and ideas. In this way, religion is shared by a group of people, learned and passed down from one generation to the next, and is clearly reflected in both religious organizations and beliefs. "Socialization" is the process through which culture is learned, including our religious beliefs and practices. The agents or institutions of socialization include language, (a factor individuals are often least conscious of), politics, economics, religion, education, family, and media.

While Anthropologists have often studied one culture, including its institutions, in depth, others have undertaken cross-cultural, comparative studies. More recently the field of intercultural communication has emerged, (Groff, 1992) as witnessed in the emergence of specialist inter-cultural organizations, such as The Society for Intercultural Education, Training, and Research (SIETAR). While cross-cultural studies deal with comparing some aspect of life, such as religious institutions and beliefs, from one culture to another, intercultural communication deals with the dynamic interaction patterns that emerge when peoples from two or more different cultures, including religions, come together to interact, communicate, and dialogue or negotiate with each other. There are general principles of intercultural communication. There are also studies of particular cultures interacting, based on a belief that when persons from any two specific different cultures come together to interact with each other, that they will create their own dynamic interaction process, based on the underlying values of both groups, just as any two individuals will also create their own dynamic interaction process.

A significant problem with organized religion and belief, as this relates to peace and conflict, is individuals and groups often confuse the map (their socially-learned version of reality or culture or religion) with the territory (or ultimate reality), as elaborated below. Thus people believe that their personal or subjective version of reality or religion is valid, while other views are invalid. Instead it can be argued that the many maps are different, but possibly equally valid interpretations and attempts to understand the same underlying reality or territory.

Fundamentalism seems to be a trend in almost all the world's religions today. The term "fundamentalism" had its origins in "a late 19th and early 20th century transdenominational Protestant movement that opposed the accommodation of Christian doctrine to modern scientific theory and philosophy. With some differences among themselves, Christian fundamentalists insist on belief in the inerrancy of the Bible, the virgin birth and divinity of Jesus Christ, the vicarious and atoning character of his death, his bodily resurrection, and his second coming as the irreducible minimum of authentic Christianity." (Grolier, 1993) More recently the concept has been applied not only to conservative, evangelical Protestants, but also to any Christian group which adopts a literal interpretation of the Bible and to groups from other religious traditions who similarly base their religious views on a particular and exclusive, literal interpretation of their holy book. For example, radical Islamic groups, such as Islamic Jihad, are seen as examples of Islamic fundamentalism, although a different term is preferred. In the Islamic tradition the word fundamentalism, when translated into Arabic, has a completely different and positive meaning. In Arab countries the appropriate word for describing literal religious fanaticism is "extremism." (Al-Dajani, 1993) In this paper the term "fundamentalism" is used in the broad sense to portray any religious group or sect from any religious tradition, which adopts purely literal, as opposed to metaphorical or mythical, interpretations of their holy book, and which denies the validity of other interpretations or religious traditions, believing truth resides with their perspective only.

Because fundamentalists in any religion turn the beliefs of their religion into dogma, and also tend to interpret the scriptures of their religion in a literal way only, thus missing the many subtle levels of meaning as well as analogies with teachings from other world religions, they can end up stressing primarily how they are different from other world religions, and even from different interpretations within their own religion, rather than stressing any commonalities they might share with other world religions. This more limited interpretation of their scripture can then lead to dogmatic views that their interpretation of religion, and reality, is correct and everyone else is wrong.

An interesting and important question for peace research and future studies is why there is such an upsurge in fundamentalism in so many of the world's religions in so many different parts of the world today? Of the many possible explanations for this phenomena, two hypotheses will be explored here. The most obvious hypothesis would argue that people are overwhelmed by the increasing pace of change today, and are desperately seeking something that they can believe in as a mooring to help them through all this change in the outer world which is uprooting their lives and creating great insecurities in their lives. In the case of fundamentalism, this can involve returning to some over-idealized vision of their religious roots, which may never have existed in the idealized form that they remember, and trying to literally enforce that interpretation of reality on all the members of their group. In such situations, people may need time to try to go back to a stringently defined earlier way of life and see if they can make it work, and only when they see that the world has changed too much to return to the past will they then be ready to move forward into the future. This hypothesis is consistent with the view that any religious or spiritual tradition needs to be constantly adapted to the world in which it finds itself--if it wishes to remain a living, breathing, spiritual force that people experience in their lives, rather than become an outdated institution based on dogma or rules.

A second related hypothesis, to explain the rise of fundamentalism in the world today, relates to the dual trend towards both globalism, as well as localism. The globalization process of the last 50 years has led to a dramatic increase in global governance structures, including an expansion of the multi- faceted United Nations (UN) system, an increase in scope of regional economic and political organizations, such as the European Community (EC) and the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), and the continuing proliferation and development of International Governmental Organizations (IGOs). The growth in IGOs and the increase in size and scope of United Nations activities, such as the expanded scope of United Nations Peace Keeping operations, has had a major impact on international relations.

A similar expansion of activities can be seen in the work of various international scientific, educational and cultural organizations, as indexed by the continued growth in International Non Governmental Organizations (INGOs). Millions of individuals are routinely engaged in the work of INGOs, whose activities span the whole range of human experience, including agriculture, art, communications, economics, education, environment, health, music, politics, religion, sport and transportation. Additionally, the world has witnessed the growth of an increasingly integrated global economy, as manifested in interdependent national economies and the evolution of multinational corporations (MNCs) and transnational corporations (TNCs) operating in just about every country worldwide. Many of these companies are economic giants, dwarfing all but a few of the world's national economies.

An apparently contradictory worldwide trend towards local identity and ethnicity has also emerged as a major factor shaping events in the world today. In the wake of the end of the old East-West Cold War confrontation, we are witnessing a worldwide increase in local ethnic conflict, sometimes nonviolent but too often violent and very bloody, and often involving a religious dimension. These "local conflicts" are often proving to be intense and intractable, embedded in centuries of mistrust and hatred, and too often crystallized around and sanctioned, implicitly or explicitly, by particular religious institutions.

This localization process is every bit as profound as the overarching trend towards globalization, and in fact it is perhaps best conceived as neither in opposition to, nor separate from, that process. Globalization and localization are so interconnected and interdependent that localization is best conceptualized as an essential complement of the globalization process. This view suggests that the integration of the big system, the creation of a new world order, requires a sense of meaning at the local level, requires human beings to experience coherence and balance within the local socio-cultural context. The rise of fundamentalism, it can be argued, is associated with this interdependence of the globalization and localization processes and the resulting pressures to achieve coherence at the local level in the face of the vast scope of the global supersystems.

The coherence in individuals' lives is, to a greater or lesser degree, associated with culturalization, with what the world means and how meaning in life and death is interpreted. Multicultural interpretations of the globalization - localization interdependency argue, as a consequence, that religion should not be the same in all societies, that it will and must have personal, local and global dimensions that manifest themselves in a rich variety of cultural forms and expressions.

This paper will subsequently further argue that the diversity of organized world religions--if also recognizing a deeper spiritual unity that connects this outer diversity--is a necessary requirement for the creation of a new culture of peace in the 21st century. If, as many believe, the underlying spiritual reality of the world's religions is the same, it can be argued that the cultural expression of that reality in the material world, the world's organized religions, must necessarily be different, in tune with the rich tapestry of our many global cultures, if we are to sustain the dynamic globalization-localization balance in a nonviolent, multicultural form.

"And the question for today is: 'What is Reality?"-- cartoon caption under a group of aliens or space beings [or people from different cultures or religions] sitting around a table.

"The message sent is often not the message received."-- Basic tenet from the field of Intercultural Communication

As noted above, intercultural communication deals with what happens when people from different cultures, including religions, come together to communicate, interact, and even negotiate with each other. Individuals each carry around some different version of "reality" or culture in their heads, based on socialization (or learning) by the different agents or institutions of socialization in their culture, including religion, and based on different individual and collective life experiences. This worldview provides a sense of values and meaning about life. The way that this reality is known is through one's perceptions of it. Unfortunately, perceptions based on evidence from one or more of the five senses are often distorted. Individuals also selectively perceive ideas and information, often accepting information which fits with their preconceived worldview and blocking out information which challenges that worldview--a worldview that they have spent a whole life time putting together.

It is often the case that in everyday interactions individuals, even from the same culture, can misperceive each other. When they come from totally different cultures, including different religious traditions and belief systems, the danger is even greater. It is thus a basic tenet of intercultural communication that "The message sent is often not the message received" It is understandable that individuals tend to expect others to behave the way they would in a given situation or say what they would say in that same situation. When they do not, there is a strong tendency to interpret the motivation or meaning behind the behavior of the other person in terms of what that behavior would mean in one's own culture rather than in terms of what that behavior actually means in the other person's culture, since the other's culture is not really understood. The next step can involve taking a mistaken interpretation of the other person's behavior and then evaluating or judging that behavior, often negatively. This process thus involves moving from a simple factual description of the behavior of someone from another culture, to an interpretation of the meaning of that behavior (often a misinterpretation, based on what that behavior would mean in the individual's own culture, not in the other person's culture.) A final step in this model involves a move to evaluation or judgment of that behavior, as good or bad, in turn often based on an incorrect interpretation. This description, interpretation, and evaluation sequence of events, which individuals do quite often without even realizing they are doing it, is often called DIE for short.

A related theory is Attribution Theory, which hypothesizes that individuals attribute meaning to the behavior of someone from another culture, often based on what it would mean in their own culture, rather than in the context of the other person's culture or religion. As long as an individual remains uninformed about another person's culture or religion, that individual remains vulnerable to repeating this problem over and over in their intercultural and inter-religious interactions. One important component of a solution to this problem is to become better informed about another person's culture and religion so that it is at least possible to interpret another's behavior and words in the proper cultural and religious context within which they occur. Such a strategy will also contribute to an appreciation of the rich cultural and religious diversity that exists in this world and help to counteract the tendencies to judge other's actions and words incorrectly and negatively.

In terms of conflict resolution, it can be argued that if an individual is not conscious of their own cultural or religious socialization or programming--which influences people to a much greater extent than most individuals realize, then their behavior will in many ways be preconditioned, and on automatic pilot: they will be acting out their cultural or religious programming, without being conscious that there are other cultures or religions or ways of experiencing reality. If an individual begins to become conscious of their own cultural or religious programming, often by exposing themselves to other cultures or religions, then they can for the first time come back to their own original culture or religion and begin to see it for the first time, since they now have some basis with which to compare it. Such an individual can begin to act consciously in the world and start to appreciate the rich diversity of the human experience, including the many different outward forms, rituals, and beliefs that have emerged in different religions as human beings have sought different paths for bringing a spiritual force into their lives.

A central problem in intercultural communication, including interactions between peoples from different world religions, is to confuse the map (one's own particular version of culture or religion) with the territory (an ultimate experience of "Reality" or "God" or "Spirit," as opposed to the relative or limited experiences of daily life). Becoming conscious of being socialized into different religions and cultures, coupled with an awareness that individuals as a consequence carry around different versions or maps of "reality" in their heads, can contribute to becoming more tolerant of the different maps or versions of reality that others also carry around in their heads, while also recognizing that something much more basic and essential underlies all the apparent outer diversity.

In looking at diversity, it should also be noted that it is a basic principle of systems theory that the more complex a system is, the more diversity there needs to be within the system for it to maintain itself. The discussion of globalization and localization in the first part of this paper suggests the evolution of a more complex global system with increasing diversity within it. It is a thesis of this paper that such diversity is ultimately a strength, not a weakness, but only if it is consciously dealt with. Otherwise, we will expect people from different cultures to think and behave the way we do, and when they do not, we will tend to misinterpret and then judge their beliefs or behavior negatively (the Description, Interpretation, Evaluation problem discussed above), thus creating misunderstanding and conflict between peoples. Nonetheless, cultural diversity in the global system, like ecological diversity within an ecosystem, is ultimately an asset, if it is valued and contributes to openness to learn from other groups and cultures. Another thesis of this paper is that every culture, just as every religion (or species), has something important to contribute to the world, and no culture has all the answers. Thus every culture has both strengths as well as weaknesses. There are thus important things that we can each learn from each other--if we are open (and humble enough) to do so.

"There are many paths to God." - Common mystical view.

"Look at every path closely and deliberately....Then ask yourself...one question...Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't it is no use." - Carlos Castaneda

"The Tao that can be named is not the Tao." - Lao Tsu

According to mystics, the mystical experience focuses on a direct inner experience of God or spirit, in which a person becomes one with the ultimate, invisible, creative force and divine intelligence at work in the universe or with the infinite void beyond creation. Via such an inner experience of enlightenment, God, oneness or spirit, one has an inner "knowing" that cannot be adequately described in words (indeed, "the Tao that can be named is not the Tao"). This experience totally transcends the world of outer beliefs--which we learn from our social and religious institutions. This inner knowing occurs on a much deeper level of one's being and is not vulnerable to all the distortions of our regular five senses, on which we depend for all our learning in the world.

It is interesting that almost every one of the great religions of the world originated with someone who had such a direct, inner revelatiory or enlightenment experience. Jesus who became the Christ, Buddha, Moses, Zoroaster, and various other evolved beings are obvious examples. After achieving enlightenment, such persons (who usually did not themselves intend to start a new religion) have always returned to society to minister, teach, and share their spiritual experiences and enlightenment as best they could with others. Eventually, the original teacher/ Master passed on and the followers were left to interpret, and later record, the original founder's teaching. But these followers have often not had the same enlightenment experiences themselves, and so with time, the original teachings became codified as beliefs, rituals, even dogmas. In this way, an original esoteric, mystical experience is changed over time into an exoteric form of organized religion. Nonetheless, since most people begin their spiritual path with some exoteric form of religion, it can be hoped that with time, at least some of these people will eventually turn inward to seek and experience the truth of God or spirit within.

While all religions usually began with someone who became enlightened, it is also interesting that mystical traditions continue to be dominant in Eastern religions, but were often overshadowed, though not lost, in Western religions by a focus more on organized religion and learned beliefs and principles to live by in the world. Nonetheless, there has been an interesting recent revival of interest in mystical/spiritual traditions in the West, along ironically with equally strong or stronger fundamentalist movements. Perhaps this indicates the great desire in people to find some deeper meaning to their lives, amidst all the changes in their external lives and in the world, although by sometimes very different paths. Such a hypothesis would be consistent with the globalization-localization hypothesis discussed earlier.

It is also interesting that while the traditional, exoteric religious path requires learning about different practices and beliefs, the mystical, esoteric path often involves unlearning or using various meditative techniques to clear the mind of thoughts about the external world, so that it is possible to come to a place of inner stillness or emptiness of the external world--what Zen Buddhists call "No Mind." This still, inner state enables individuals to experience the godforce, spirit, or pregnant void within, without the distortions of everyday needs, beliefs, and limited consciousness intervening, and thus to go beyond the limited self or ego so that spirit can make itself manifest in their lives. Thus many mystical traditions focus on ways to quiet the overactive mind in meditation, and thus bring one's inner self to a state of peace.

In such spiritual traditions, only true inner peace within the hearts of people can bring about true outer peace in the world, because if individuals are plagued by inner conflicts, doubts, fears, and insecurities, they will tend to project them outwardly onto others, blaming others for their problems, without even realizing what they are doing. It is thus necessary for all of us as individuals to 'wake up' and become increasingly conscious of our own thoughts and feelings, and how these are creating certain results or consequences in the world, so that we may each become increasingly responsible for the type of world that we are creating--including whether this world is a peaceful one or not.

"Religion without science is blind. Science without religion is lame." -- Albert Einstein

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science." -- Albert Einstein

There are a number of new paradigms, or overarching worldviews, under which scientists conduct their research, in science today. These paradigms can be seen as differing versions of a dynamic, interdependent, whole systems worldview, which various writers have suggested parallels the mystical, spiritual experience of mystics from different religions around the world. (Capra, 1991; Capra, 1982; Chopra, 1990; Davies, 1992) In effect, mystics experience this dynamic, interdependent, whole systems worldview on the inner planes, while scientists have used scientific methods and analysis of the external world to arrive at related conclusions. It can be argued that the scientific and the spiritual paths are just two different ways of trying to study or know the same ultimate reality; that one can go infinitely outward scientifically into space and infinitely inward spiritually in meditation, and that ultimately these two paths converge with parallel worldviews. Nonetheless, it needs to be pointed out that physics or science can only study or measure reality within the space-time framework of the created, physical universe. Science itself cannot provide the mystical experience of the mystery or ultimate beyond space & time, which may be one reason why the greatest scientists all eventually became mystics themselves, including DeBroglie, Einstein, Eddington, Heisenberg, Jeans, Plank, Pauli and Schrodinger. (Watson, 1988; Davies, 1992)

The old, Newtonian paradigm in physics saw reality as a clockwork universe made up of separate parts, existing within a static or equilibrium model of reality, which operated by fixed laws that could in theory predict how A effected B. This paradigm sought the ultimate physical building blocs of matter and was based upon the assumption that science, in principle, could arrive at total truth or understanding of reality within its' materialistic, reductionist, mechanistic worldview. In contrast, the New Physics has a totally new worldview, based on Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity and then later his General Theory of Relativity, followed by Quantum or Subatomic physics. With regard to quantum physics, however, it is interesting that Einstein himself could not totally accept Heisenberg's "uncertainty principle," expressed in Einstein's famous saying: "God does not play dice with the universe" or allow unpredictability. Thus Einstein himself only accepted part of what has come to be called "the New Physics."

Before noting further characteristics of the new paradigm view of reality in the New Physics, it should be noted that this new paradigm does not negate the Old Physics paradigm. Instead it says that the old Newtonian worldview works within certain parameters, and is thus still valid within those parameters, but beyond those parameters a new paradigm is necessary. Likewise, with the other new scientific paradigms (discussed further below), there is a tendency at times to conclude that they make the older scientific paradigms totally obsolete, but this is seldom the case and needs to be stressed. The old paradigms still work within certain parameters and under certain conditions, while the new paradigms work beyond those parameters, when the underlying conditions change. Recognition of this fact is part of creating a balance between different world views, and knowing when each is appropriate, that is a primary thesis of this whole paper.

The characteristics of this new paradigm--which in physics exists especially on the very macro level of the whole universe and on the very micro subatomic levels--are as follows. The New Physics (according to Capra, Davies and others) includes a dynamic, interdependent, whole systems worldview, where matter is concentrated energy and there are no ultimate building blocs of matter to find. In addition, one cannot predict an absolute relationship between A and B, and one cannot predict ahead of time whether something will, for example, be a particle or a wave. Unlike the old paradigm where the scientist was a pure, theoretically objective, outside observer, the new paradigm admits that the scientists' presence in the situation, in making a scientific measurement, can affect the outcome of the measurement, and thus there is no such thing as a purely detached objective, scientific observer anymore, instead one's mere presence in a situation can effect the outcome. The new paradigm is thus holistic, dynamic, and interdependent; there are no separate parts, only relationships; and reality is not totally predictable, except in terms of statistical probabilities. The old paradigm focuses on analysis of separate parts and either/or thinking (beginning with Aristotle), while the new paradigm focuses on synthesis and dynamic interrelationships, as well as both/and thinking.

In addition to the New Physics, there are other new scientific paradigms in science that also exhibit this dynamic, interdependent, whole systems worldview, as opposed to the old paradigm view of reality as a static, equilibrium model, which saw reality as made up of separate, unconnected parts, in a mechanistic, reductionist worldview. (See Figure 2) Some of these other new scientific paradigms follow below.

Whole, dynamic systems and living systems paradigms are illustrated in the work of the Society for General Systems Research. Evolutionary paradigms--such as those of Teilhard de Chardin, Peter Russell, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Erich Jantsch, John Platt, Erwin Lazlo, and Stephen Jay Gould's Puctuated Equilibrium Theory in biology--see change within a system as sometimes taking quantum jumps. Ilya Prigogine's Nobel Prize winning Theory of Dissipative Structures--which reconciles the entropy of physics with the increasing order and complexity of biology--shows how open systems can change via perturbations or new energy of some kind within a system, which can cause that system to break down, releasing the energy of that system to be reorganized at a higher level of order and complexity.

Rupert Sheldrake's Hypothesis of Formative Causation, or Theory of Morphogenetic Fields, hypothesizes that the universe operates more by habits, that build up over time, than by fixed laws. Under this theory, the first time a member of a species does something new is the hardest, but each successive time this new behavior becomes easier, until finally a critical mass is reached, and then suddenly everyone in the species knows how to do that new behavior. James Gleick's Chaos Theory hypothesizes that everything in the universe is interconnected--a butterfly flapping its wings in one hemisphere can effect the climate in another hemisphere, for example--and there is always order emerging out of chaos and chaos emerging out of order in the universe.

It is significant is that all of these new paradigms and scientific theories are versions of a dynamic, interdependent, whole systems worldview, just as the New Physics is. In medicine and health care, new notions of health, healing and treating the whole person are fast gaining ground. (Chopra, 1992) In environmental science, the Gaia hypothesis presents a new paradigm where the Earth as a whole is seen as a living entity, a self-regulating system of which we humans are a part. (Lovelock, 1991) In the life sciences, new thinking is challenging traditional notions of biological evolution and developing new interdependent conceptions of what constitutes a person and a society. (Watson, 1988) In each of these cases, as well as in many other examples of the development of new thinking in areas such as management and economics, (Wheatley, 1992; Hawley, 1993) the relationship and interaction between parts and the whole has been reconceptualized. Holistic paradigms, where the overall pattern of interaction between the parts is as important as the parts themselves, have emerged across a broad spectrum of disciplines and issues.

"Everything has changed except our way of thinking." --Einstein

"Oh, Great Spirit, let us greet the dawn of each new day, when all can live as one and peace reigns everywhere." --Native American Quote

The relevance of "new thinking" or a shift in consciousness--as seen in the dynamic interdependent, whole systems views in the new scientific paradigms and experiences of mystics from different religious traditions--to world peace can be seen as follows. Once our consciousness shifts from seeing the world as divided up into separate, unrelated parts (whether individuals, groups, nation-states or whatever), where the goal is to win for one's own self or group or nation, without adequate concern for others, to a new more dynamic interdependent, whole systems worldview, where everything is interconnected, and whatever happens in any part of the system effects all the other parts of the system--it becomes apparent that the only way that individuals or separate parts of the whole can "win" is if other peoples and parts of the whole also win. A fundamental shift from win-lose to win-win thinking then ensues, which seems a fundamental prerequisite and framework for creating a global culture of peace.

The previous section of this paper described some of the new paradigms, which are emerging in a range of areas. It can be argued that it is no accident that these holistic paradigms have developed at this time. Indeed, one of the founding fathers of peace research, Pitirim Sorokin, suggested some 60 years ago that this would be the case. (Sorokin, 1933) Sorokin, in his classic text, Social and Cultural Dynamics, elaborated a theory of socio/cultural evolution that can be summarized as follows.

In any society or social system, there are four ways in which integration can occur. Two of these are for our purposes here quite trivial, namely spatial integration (when entities simply occupy the same space and nothing more) and external integration (when two or more entities are linked to each other through some other entity, for example grass and flowers may grow together at the same rate because of the external factors of sun, soil and rain). The third, functional integration, is far from trivial. This, for Sorokin, describes the interlocking interdependencies we now recognize as crucial in complex systems. Indeed for many scientists "functional integration," or its modern cybernetic equivalent "syntegration," (Beer, 1993)--the dynamic interdependence of entities that are in symbiotic interaction with each other--is of the utmost importance. Whole societies, whole systems, are held together by their mutually interdependent functional interactions and, following Wright's model, any changes in one will need changes elsewhere in the system to restore dynamic equilibrium.

Sorokin also proposed a fourth level of integration, which, in his view, was the highest form of integration. He called it "logico meaningful integration," to try to describe the underlying idea that things are held together because of what they mean, because of deep values in the culture. Sorokin argued that this level of integration not only provides coherence in life to individuals through the underlying meanings in their culture, but also results in these deep values being manifest in all aspects of a culture, from science to religion. For Sorokin, a culture at its peak will be integrated in both functional and logico-meaningful ways. He approached the problem of meaning in the following way.

Sorokin argued that the macro cultures in Western Civilization evolved through stages that could be understood in terms of their central meanings. At one end of a continuum, these underlying meanings were essentially sensate, that is reality was defined entirely in terms of the physical world and the truth of the senses. At the other end, reality was "ideational," by which Sorokin meant spiritual in the sense that the eternal infinite spiritual reality is real, while the material world is an illusion. In this case truth of faith is the only truth. Halfway along this continuum was the "idealistic" point, where truth of faith and truth of senses were balanced through "truth of reason." Sorokin identified seven types of culture mentality on the sensate-ideational continuum. Table 1 gives the main elements of the sensate, ideational and idealistic forms.

Table 1: Three Types of Culture Mentality (Sorokin): Active Sensate, Ascetic Ideational, and Idealistic (Combining Both)

Active Sensate

Ascetic Ideational

Idealistic

Reality

Sensate, material, empirical

Non-sensate, eternal transcendental

Both equally represented

Main needs and ends

Manifold and richly sensate

Spiritual

Both equally represented

Extent of satisfaction

Maximum

Great, but balanced

Method of satisfaction

Modify external environment

Self modification

Both ways

Note: Sorokin elaborated seven types of culture mentality. The three listed above are the two extremes--Active Sensate and Ascetic Ideational, as well as a middle point, the Idealistic culture type.

Table 2: Three Types of Culture Mentality (Sorokin): Weltanschauung, Power and Object of Control, and Activity

Active Sensate

Ascetic Ideational

Idealistic

Weltanschauung(or World View)

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Gene Therapy Retrovirus Vectors Explained

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

A retrovirus is any virus belonging to the viral family Retroviridae. All The genetic material in retroviruses is in the form of RNA molecules, while the genetic material of their hosts is in the form of DNA. When a retrovirus infects a host cell, it will introduce its RNA together with some enzymes into the cell. This RNA molecule from the retrovirus must produce a DNA copy from its RNA molecule before it can be considered part of the genetic material of the host cell. Retrovirus genomes commonly contain these three open reading frames that encode for proteins that can be found in the mature virus. Group-specific antigen (gag) codes for core and structural proteins of the virus, polymerase (pol) codes for reverse transcriptase, protease and integrase, and envelope (env) codes for the retroviral coat proteins (see figure 1). Figure 1. Genome organisation of retroviruses.

The process of producing a DNA copy from an RNA molecule is termed reverse transcription. It is carried out by one of the enzymes carried in the virus, called reverse transcriptase. After this DNA copy is produced and is free in the nucleus of the host cell, it must be incorporated into the genome of the host cell. That is, it must be inserted into the large DNA molecules in the cell (the chromosomes). This process is done by another enzyme carried in the virus called integrase (see figure 2).

Now that the genetic material of the virus is incorporated and has become part of the genetic material of the host cell, we can say that the host cell is now modified to contain a new gene. If this host cell divides later, its descendants will all contain the new genes. Sometimes the genes of the retrovirus do not express their information immediately.

Retroviral vectors are created by removal op the retroviral gag, pol, and env genes. These are replaced by the therapeutic gene. In order to produce vector particles a packaging cell is essential. Packaging cell lines provide all the viral proteins required for capsid production and the virion maturation of the vector. These packaging cell lines have been made so that they contain the gag, pol and env genes. Early packaging cell lines contained replication competent retroviral genomes and a single recombination event between this genome and the retroviral DNA vector could result in the production of a wild type virus. Following insertion of the desired gene into in the retroviral DNA vector, and maintainance of the proper packaging cell line, it is now a simple matter to prepare retroviral vectors (see figure 3).

One of the problems of gene therapy using retroviruses is that the integrase enzyme can insert the genetic material of the virus in any arbitrary position in the genome of the host. If genetic material happens to be inserted in the middle of one of the original genes of the host cell, this gene will be disrupted (insertional mutagenesis). If the gene happens to be one regulating cell division, uncontrolled cell division (i.e., cancer) can occur. This problem has recently begun to be addressed by utilizing zinc finger nucleases or by including certain sequences such as the beta-globin locus control region to direct the site of integration to specific chromosomal sites.

Gene therapy trials to treat severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) were halted or restricted in the USA when leukemia was reported in three of eleven patients treated in the French X-linked SCID (X-SCID) gene therapy trial. Ten X-SCID patients treated in England have not presented leukemia to date and have had similar success in immune reconstitution. Gene therapy trials to treat SCID due to deficiency of the Adenosine Deaminase (ADA) enzyme continue with relative success in the USA, Italy and Japan.

As a reaction to the adverse events in the French X-SCID gene therapy trial, the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) sent a letter to Principal Investigators Conveying RAC Recommendations in 2003. In addition, the RAC published conclusions and recommendations of the RAC Gene Transfer Safety Symposium in 2005. A joint working party of the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee and the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) in the UK lead to the publication of an updated recommendations of the GTAC/CSM working party on retroviruses in 2005.

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Gene Therapy Retrovirus Vectors Explained

Gene Therapy | Pfizer: One of the world’s premier …

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

Gene therapy is a technology aimed at correcting or fixing a gene that may be defective. This exciting and potentially transformative area of research is focused on the development of potential treatments for monogenic diseases, or diseases that are caused by a defect in one gene.

The technology involves the introduction of genetic material (DNA or RNA) into the body, often through delivering a corrected copy of a gene to a patients cells to compensate for a defective one, using a viral vector.

Viral vectors can be developed using adeno-associated virus (AAV), a naturally occurring virus which has been adapted for gene therapy use. Its ability to deliver genetic material to a wide range of tissues makes AAV vectors useful for transferring therapeutic genes into target cells. Gene therapy research holds tremendous promise in leading to the possible development of highly-specialized, potentially one-time delivery treatments for patients suffering from rare, monogenic diseases.

Pfizer aims to build an industry-leading gene therapy platform with a strategy focused on establishing a transformational portfolio through in-house capabilities, and enhancing those capabilities through strategic collaborations, as well as potential licensing and M&A activities.

We're working to access the most effective vector designs available to build a robust clinical stage portfolio, and employing a scalable manufacturing approach, proprietary cell lines and sophisticated analytics to support clinical development.

In addition, we're collaborating with some of the foremost experts in this field, through collaborations with Spark Therapeutics, Inc., on a potentially transformative gene therapy treatment for hemophilia B, which received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the US Food and Drug Administration, and 4D Molecular Therapeutics to discover and develop targeted next-generation AAV vectors for cardiac disease.

Gene therapy holds the promise of bringing true disease modification for patients suffering from devastating diseases, a promise were working to seeing become a reality in the years to come.

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Gene Therapy | Pfizer: One of the world's premier ...

We are using witchcraft, Satanism and magic confesses …

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

some Prophets are stopped from having sex with their wives, they have sex with a snake

Coming in the wake of self-acclaimed Prophet Shepherd Bushiris stunts that he has called miracles, Malawian Prophet Trevor Kautsire made a rare confession on modern day Prophecy.

Prophet Kautsire (right) with host Brian Banda

In an interview on one Malawian television talkshow that was followed by Malawi24, Prophet Kautsire made the chilling claims that modern day Prophets are not using the power of the Holy Spirit to perform their so-called miracles.

I was in South Africa and I met the who-is-who of the gospel, what they told me is heart-breaking, said Kautsire.

He disclosed that when he was in South Africa he was told of rituals that he had to perform if he were to become a renowned Prophet. Kautsire disclosed that the ritual involved sacrifices that included the killing of family members or church members.

I am speaking this from experience, some Prophets have had to sacrifice their church members to gain fame. You have heard of people dying in places of worship, it is because they are using the people as sacrifices, said Kautsire, a comment which commentators said was referring to the Nigerian teleprophet TB Joshua at whose church over a hundred people died.

Kautsire further said that it was easy to decipher fake Prophets because they do miracles for no important reason.

A miracle is supposed to meet a need, however when a Prophet does a miracle that does not meet any need there is no reason to believe that Prophet, he said. Commentators have thought that he was apparently referring to Bushiri who has been in the news for the walk-in-the air stunt which does nothing to glorify the name of the Lord.

He said that Prophets are using magic, witchcraft and Satanism to perform miracles.

There are some who are told to keep a worm and keep feeding it, the worm grows into a snake and when it comes to that stage where it is a snake, it brings them money. The catch is that one should never sleep with their wife but the snake, said Kautsire disclosing the secrets in the dark world of Prophecy.

Johnny Depp Claims Amber Heard Cheated on Him With Elon Musk …

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

Johnny Depp is accusing ex-wifeAmber Heard of "spending time in a new relationship" withElon Musk a month after they got married, while the Tesla founder says he and the actress started seeing each other only after the marriage ended.

The 55-year-oldPirates of the Caribbean star made the claim in a $50 million defamation lawsuit he filed against the 32-year-old actressafter she wrote a Washington Post op-eddepictingherself as a domestic abuse victim. He has denied her allegations of domestic abuse, which she had made while filing for divorce in May 2016 to end their 15-month marriage.

Depp and Heardwed in February 2015. His lawsuit, filed on Friday, states, "Unbeknownst to Mr. Depp, no later than one month after his marriage to Ms. Heard, she was spending time in a new relationship with Tesla and Space X founder, Elon Musk."

"Only one calendar month after Mr. Depp and Ms. Heard were marriedwhile Mr. Depp was out of the country, filming in March 2015Eastern Columbia Building personnel testified that Ms. Heard received Musk 'late at night' at Mr. Depp's penthouse," the documents say. "Specifically, Ms. Heard asked staff at the Eastern Columbia Building to give her 'friend Elon' access to the building's parking garage and the penthouse elevator 'late at night,' and they testified that they did so. Building staff would then see Ms. Heard's 'friend Elon' leaving the building the next morning."

The lawsuit adds, "Musk's first appearance in Mr. Depp's penthouse occurred shortly after Ms. Heard threw a vodka bottle at Mr. Depp in Australia, when she learned that Mr. Depp wanted the couple to enter into a post-nuptial agreement concerning assets in their marriage. Ms. Heard's violently aimed projectile virtually severed Mr. Depp's middle finger on his right hand and shattered the bones. Mr. Depp's marriage to Ms. Heard came to an end in May 2016.

Media-Mode / Splash News

A rep for Musk told E! News, "Elon and Amber didn't start seeing each other until May 2016, and even then it was infrequent. Their relationship didn't become romantic until some time later."

Musk, 47, and Heard were first photographed togetheras a couple inApril 2017 andbroke upthat summer.

Heard's rep has not commented directly on Depp's accusations of cheating. Her lawyer commented on his lawsuit in general, saying in a statement, "Thisfrivolous action is just the latest of Johnny Depp's repeated efforts to silence Amber Heard. She will not be silenced.Mr. Depp's actions prove he is unable to accept the truth of his ongoing abusive behavior. But while he appears hell-bent on achieving self destruction, wewill prevail in defeating thisgroundless lawsuit and ending the continued vile harassment of my client by Mr. Depp and his legal team."

Depp's attorney said in response to the statement, "'They want to silence Amber Heard' doesn't sound like a denial by Ms. Heard of Mr. Depp's 40-page, evidence-packed complaint. We hardly intend to silence Ms. Heardto the contrary, we intend to subpoena and compel evidence from her, her three hoax-assisting friends, andElon Musk. We look forward to holding the overwhelming video, photographic and eyewitness evidence we finally possess up against Amber Heard's (so far silent) attempts to explain the inexplicable."

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Elon Musk changes Twitter name to ‘Elon Tusk’ amid SEC …

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

Tesla CEO Elon Musk's strange week on Twitter took another turn Tuesday night.

Shortly after tweeting that "some Tesla news" would be announced at 2 p.m. PT on Thursday, the billionaire changed his name to "Elon Tusk" and added an elephant emoji to the end.

Musk began his week with an accusation from the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday evening that he had violated his $20 million agreement to be monitored by a designated securities lawyer on tweets that could affect Tesla's stock price.

The stock market regulator alleges that Musk may have misled investors last week when he tweeted that Tesla would produce 500,000 vehicles this year. He corrected himself a few hours later, lowering that number to 400,000.

"SEC forgot to read Tesla earnings transcript, which clearly states 350k to 500k," he tweeted. "How embarrassing "

That response, however, lived on Musk's Twitter timeline next to memes about Musk's name that could have sparked the rhyming name change.

Elon Tusk memes were already popular on sites like Reddit, where members of the fandom Musk has amassed were already coming up with their own pun versions of his name. Elon Tusk rose in popularity roughly a week ago, next to classics like "Elongated Muskrat."

It's also possibly a reference to the scam cryptocurrency accounts that would try to emulate Musk's verified account one of which went by the name Elon Tusk shilling coins to those fooled by the name. Eventually, it prompted a tweet from Musk.

Last week, Musk hosted the latest episode of "Meme Review" with the megapopular YouTuber PewDiePie. You can read all the highlights here.

Tesla’s biggest problem is not Elon Musk’s Twitter – Business …

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Danzig

Tesla's latest crisis was provoked by CEO Elon Musk making what, in the context of the global auto industry, would be a rounding era. He tweeted that the company would make 500,000 vehicles in 2019, while Tesla had earlier communicated that it would produce just 400,000.

Musk corrected himself, but by then the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating whether he'd violated the terms of his 2018 settlement over a failed plan to take Tesla private. Ultimately, the SEC asked a court to hold Musk in contempt.

Auto-industry executives speculate all the time about how many vehicles they might produce and sell, but nobody cares because the global auto industry is good at dialing up and cutting back production. In the US alone, 17 million vehicles were sold last year. Investors, analysts, and journalists take for granted the competent management of this aspect of the business.

Read more: I put Tesla's high-performance Model S and Model 3 up against the BMW M5 and M3 to see how they compared here's the verdict

The auto industry is also constantly introducing new vehicles and refreshing old ones. Myself and my colleagues at Business Insider can joyfully expect to report on a test drive dozens of cars and trucks each year that have updated stories attached to them.

Elon Musk at the unveiling of Tesla's new Roadster. Tesla

Tesla, by contrast, introduces a new vehicle every year or so and infrequently makes significant physical changes to its lineup while pumping out a steady stream of software improvements. This is because Tesla is a small carmaker it has just three vehicles for sale that believes one of its cars should serve an owner for a long time and consistently get better over time not through hardware, but through computer code.

That, unfortunately, is pretty boring. This month, by contrast, the auto industry will convene at the Geneva motor show to show off all manners of thrilling sheet metal. Auto journalists will have plenty to keep them busy for a few weeks.

Tesla won't be at Geneva and isn't cranking out anything in the way of product news. In this information vacuum goes the attention span of the small army of money and media folk who obsessively monitor the carmaker of the future. All they really have to work with that's substantial i.e., not Musk's weird Twitter musings is production and deliveries. It's literally the only simple, hard data available.

True, Tesla is a very new car brand; GM and Ford have been around for over a century. Tesla's history goes back a decade and a half, and it's really just been making automobiles in meaningful numbers for about three years. With so little to go on, and with a disproportionately enormous market capitalization, it's understandable that investors would cling to every scrap and twig.

Except that most of Tesla is owned by Musk (he has over 20%) and a few major institutional shareholders. They expect Tesla to make more cars in the coming years. They also figure that the annual totals could be volatile, given that Tesla's manufacturing footprint is relatively modest. They can ignore the noise and think long-term.

The Tesla Model 3. Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Maybe you can figure out where I'm going with this, given that I've freely complained before about Tesla being treated like a veteran carmaker when in fact it's a rookie. The fixation and I stress fixation on production is a shining example of demand for Tesla news rather than actual Tesla information.

The bottom line is that Tesla can't produce that much news. Nor should it. If it produced four times as many models, it would still be unable to satisfy the non-news appetite. And if Musk were suddenly inactive on Twitter and my colleague Troy Wolverton thinks Musk should hang up his handle there would be a reckoning. Tesla would then have to be scrutinized as a business, rather than as a media phenomenon.

To be honest, while I think Tesla would benefit from this, it's not clear that Musk really wants things to chill out. He's the company's biggest marketer, its chief salesman. Tesla spends effectively zero on advertising and sold 250,000 vehicles last year.

Minus the constant, free buzz, Tesla would probably have to commit millions to marketing. The company is a stupendous example of Sean Parker's view that advertising isn't cool and that you can succeed wildly without it while supporting some epic mojo.

But regardless of that motive for Musk to keep on tweetin', what we're dealing with here is a company with a dramatic mission than as an enterprise isn't capable of doing something fantastic and shiny every single week. Don't forget, Tesla primarily makes cars and increasingly, mass-produced cars. Mass-production isn't interesting, except to scholars of manufacturing, for a reason: it's the background noise of a successful industrial economy.

With each passing year, Tesla becomes a bigger part of that economy. So prepare yourselves the better Tesla gets at making cars, the less news it should logically generate.

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